R. Dixon Thayer, who has run a variety of companies, will take over for Frank Greco as CEO of Southwest Windpower. The tranisition occurs Dec. 8.

Southwest is one of the leaders in the small, but maybe finally growing, market for small wind turbines. Southwest specializes in turbines that can generate approximately one to three kilowatts, but are small enough to put on residences or small industrial buildings. The company claims that the turbines can provide 40 percent to 90 percent of a home's power, depending on electricity use, the number of turbines, and the quality of the prevailing winds (see Small Wind Spreading Its Wings).

General Electric joined a group of investors and put $10 million into the company in April.

Small wind has often been the crazy uncle of greentech: a nice idea, but impractical compared to passive systems like solar panels. A study by the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust found that at 21 sites, the projected power output was three times the actual power output. A green retrofitting contractor who installs small wind turbines recently described small turbines to us as "eye candy."

Nonetheless, the technology has slowly and steadily improved. The Massachusetts study noted that it wasn't the turbines that were at fault. It was how they were implemented. Southwest's sales have been growing rapidly, thanks in part to tax incentives. Other companies such as Makani Power and Magenn have recently entered the market.

Like green window specialist Sage Electrochromics, Southwest is a new name to a lot of people, but it is not startup. It began approximately 23 years ago.