Bergey Windpower announced this week that its BWC Excel 10 wind turbine has now received full “AWEA Small Wind Turbine Performance and Safety Standard” certification. What’s interesting about this? This is the first small wind turbine to get this certification.

“This new standard is the most significant milestone in the history of the small wind industry because it provides, for the first time, third-party verification of real world performance and a highly technical review of a turbine’s strength and safety,” said Mike Bergey, president of Bergey Windpower and the 2011 president of the Distributed Wind Energy Association. “This is huge for consumers because it addresses the ‘hucksters and hype’ problem in the small wind marketplace. We are very proud to be the first to achieve this game-changing certification.”