LOCAL BUSINESSMAN HAS OPPORTUNITY

  

A local businessman had the opportunity to make a difference in the electric usage in the country.  Darrell Schmidt, owner of Schmidt Boat Repair, had the opportunity several years ago to make a difference in the electric usage in electric motors.  Due to his friendship with Dr. George Mitri, holder of several patents for electric motor design, they formed DSE Technologies, Inc.  He designed an electric motor using rare-earth magnets, that uses half the power that a normal electric motor does.  The design can be used on AC and DC motors.  They tried to market the motor to the consumer market first, but had considerable opposition to changing the way in has been done in the past. They then tried to market it to the oil industry, for use on the pump-jacks, and had more luck.  A pump-jack has a large electric motor that uses electricity 24-7.  They reduced the electric usage so much that operating a pump-jack on solar power is doable now.  They have a pump-jack near Caldwell that has been operating on solar power for the past year.  They also have a pump-jack that is connected to the electric grid that is using half of the power of a normal pump-jack. The technology is adaptable to other things, as they have a solar powered air compressor near Snook that supplies air to a pneumatic system.

The successes that they have had in the pump-jack market has not been without some downfalls.  Darrell Schmidt said that oil companies want to see a return on their expenditures after a year.  That has made it difficult to market the technology to them as modified electric motors cost more than normal ones.  Schmidt said he may try to market the technology to the consumer market again now that they have had success in the pump-jack market.