The Strategic Partnerships Office (SPO) at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, has signed a partially exclusive license agreement for gear bearing technology with Bahari Energy LLC, of Rockville, Maryland, for use in its Energy Wind Tower designed for the urban environment. 

"NASA's gear bearing technology will allow significant improvement in our Wind Energy Towers electrical generation efficiency," said Habib Bahari, founder and CEO of Bahari Energy LLC. "Our estimates predict that NASA's technology could result in an electrical output increase of up to 40 percent."

Bahari's innovative Energy Wind Towers are designed for use in urban environments and can generate significantly more electrical output than the helix-style turbines of the same weight, height and base, at a significantly reduced cost.

This agreement will allow Bahari Energy to use NASA Goddard developed gear bearing technology within Bahari's patented Energy Wind Towers. Goddard's gear bearings combine gear and bearing functionality into a single unit that can significantly improve gear drives across the board for electrical, internal combustion and turbine motors.

"We are excited to have this license agreement with Bahari Energy and we look forward to their successful commercialization of our gear bearings technology in their wind towers," said Eric McGill, a technology manager in Goddard's SPO.

"It's been a great experience working with Eric McGill and Darryl Mitchell in Goddard's Strategic Partnerships Office," said Bahari. "Their professionalism and expertise has made the process of licensing NASA's gear bearing technology quick and easy. We are eager to integrate NASA's gear bearings as part of our Energy Wind Tower technology."