Blockchain
Energy Publishes Results of Q&A
Session With Inventor of Industry
Changing Technology
Sacramento, CA -- March
14, 2018 -- InvestorsHub NewsWire -- Vortex Brands Co. (OTC:
VTXB) published the results today of a recent Q&A session
with Bob Widner, who led his family's efforts in inventing Phase
Angle Synchronization (PAS), the first project to be launched by
Blockchain Energy, Inc.
Q: Thank you for your time
today, Mr. Widner. Tell us, what is Phase Angle Synchronization and
how long have you been working on this
technology?
A: Do you realize that up
to 40% of the electricity provided by the utility companies is
wasted? When you think about what that means on a worldwide basis
and the billions of dollars involved, that stat alone was
intriguing enough for me and my brothers to begin looking for a
solution to this problem and we began working on this project over
25 years ago. Some say it became an obsession with us and I guess
you could say that's accurate, but the risk vs reward was so great
that we just couldn't let it go. We were driven and determined to
find a solution. Back in the day, we attended countless meetings
with engineers, utility company managers, utility experts, we
attended conferences, think tanks, etc. This flurry of activity all
began long before smart phones or even the internet really. The
more we learned, the more we realized that with the right
components, computational power and technical configuration, we had
a chance of pulling it off.
Q: So can you tell us
about the PAS technology?
A: In the simplest of
terms, the technology is a solution to a problem that has always
been a major concern in the utilities industry; line congestion
resulting from inefficient power consumption. 40% is a lot of
waste. The waste is inherent in how energy is provided and
consumed, it's costly and over time, it's detrimental to the grid
itself. This technology allows what was once wasted to now be
recycled resulting in huge cost savings and less stress on
infrastructure. This project is a massive undertaking and the
process is detailed and would take us hours to walk through all
that it entails. With that in mind, we've put together a video
explaining the technology in more detail and I would encourage you
to visit YouTube and review it when you get a chance and maybe
provide a link so that others might be able to review as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHy45odWh6g
Q: Okay. So after you
spent all those years researching the problem and looking for a
solution, when did you have what you'd consider that breakthrough
moment?
A: I would say from the
mid 90s until around 2004 we started to realize limited success,
since that's the year we originally patented the theory of Phase
Angle Synchronization. We actually began to produce working models
early on, but were limited by technology. Back then it took two
computers to make the system work and required a technician on site
in the event of a power outage or if there was a need to reboot the
system. It was not cost effective back then, but over time, we saw
improvements with each iteration of the PAS units. We felt we were
definitely on the right track.
Q: So it sounds like you
guys were ahead of your time. When did the technology finally catch
up with the project so to speak?
A: You might say that the
early 2000s all the way up until 2015 were the most frustrating for
us. My brother Ed passed away during that time, my brother Jim, and
Ed's son Dan and I continued working to perfect the process, but it
was not until the year 2015 that technology finally caught up to
our needs.
Q: So it sounds like the
three or four of you were pioneers of sorts.
A: I guess you could
say that. Ed was a genius at both electronics and computer
programming. Jim and I have extensive experience in electronics as
well. Dan as it turns out is a whiz at computer programming and
wrote part of the initial code in a machine language so the needed
calculations could be performed quick enough to make the required
corrections and improvements over time. All of us played integral
roles. In fact, there are 14 members of the Widner family that have
played a role in getting us to where we are
today.
Q: Okay, so 2015 comes
along and that's when you said the technology finally caught up to
the project?
A: Yes. That's the
year that we perfected our computer configuration and developed
software and proprietary code that catapulted our results forward
in less than two years. You might say that the last two years were
as important if not more important than the prior 25 or so combined
as it pertains to perfecting the system.
Q: You mentioned the
patent, but didn't that lapse?
A: Yes. The
intellectual property itself is in the computer configuration, the
software and the software code and that's the engine that drives
the units themselves. As of late 2017, as you've seen with our demo
unit in Sacramento, the units can now be built to be plug and play
ready. As part of the setup, the technology is designed to prevent
tampering and has a built in feature that wipes the program clean
in the event of someone tampering with the unit. The intellectual
property is proprietary to Tripac Systems.
Q; So that's your company.
Where does Blockchain Energy, Inc. come into
play?
A: Although I'm
close to retirement, I'm committed as ever to seeing this project
through and will be there every step of the way. As I said, this
rollout is going to be a massive undertaking. Blockchain Energy has
assembled a team to begin the manufacturing of the PAS units at our
facility in Sacramento. Tripac Systems has agreed to supply
Blockchain Energy with components preloaded with the operating IP,
the brain behind the brawn, so to speak. It's a young energetic
group that I trust to make this project go. When word gets out, I
expect tens of thousands of units to be coming off the line.
Additional support staff will be hired as we gear up and begin
larger scale production and installation. This is such a big
project that we have other companies signed on and ready to support
our efforts. For example, a company local to Sacramento called
Fazync, owned by experienced electrical contractors will support
installation of the units so that Blockchain can stay focused on
the manufacturing. They envision training energy service companies
across the country or ESCOs that will most likely play key roles in
this project, including nationwide installations where necessary.
We've already had several conversations with industry executives
and I'll tell you what I tell all of them. Come to Sacramento. See
the demo, talk with our team and we're confident that you'll be
just as excited as we are about this project and its massive
revenue potential.
Q: Why do you say that
with such confidence?
A: Let me put it to
you this way. What I would consider to be low hanging fruit for
this project would be your mid-level manufacturers, big box stores,
etc. Our estimation is that there are approximately 66,000 of these
types of accounts in California alone. We've estimated that the
cost savings to the utility company for each unit installed is a
conservative $9,000 to $16,000 per month. Per month. All of our
projections are built around a conservative $3,000 per month per
unit being captured by Blockchain, so you do the math and like I
said, that's just one state. Once word gets out, this will be in
high demand.
Q: So now you've hit on
another question. How do you keep up with that
demand?
A: Well, first
things first. Our initial plan is to build out 100 units, some of
which may end up as installations in two or three locations where
there's already an interest. The majority of those initial units we
plan to install in a consolidated geographical area in order to
allow one utility company to see not only the 20% or so savings
behind the meter, but also the 20% of so savings from what's
currently being provided as burn-off that's contributing to line
congestion. I'm convinced that this is key to the utility companies
seeing the true value of the PAS units and why they will come to
see the units as invaluable to their bottom
lines.
Q: So back to demand. How
does a start-up company handle the demand if it gains the traction
you're expecting?
A: At some point,
our manufacturing facility will most likely become a training unit.
In other words, if the demand is great enough, we could very well
have utility companies contracting with us to build the units
themselves. The final installation of the computers and software
would still remain in house and proprietary, but 90% of the build
out and installation could be done by a contract manufacturer that
would build to our specifications on a much larger scale and at a
much faster pace.
Q: So if I understand this
correctly, Tripac Systems is your company, Blockchain Energy is the
manufacturing arm of this project, companies like Fazync will
handle installation, the ESCOs may serve as middle men I guess and
Tripac earns a residual royalty for all of the work completed by
all involved, is that correct?
A: You've got it.
That sums it up pretty nicely.
Q: Well, Mr. Widner,
there's all sorts of information floating out there about PAS, and
Tripac and Fazync and Blockchain and some of it goes back decades,
so I'm grateful to you for clearing this up for us. Anything else
you'd like to share with us as we wrap this up?
A: I'll just leave
you with this. I've watched the electrical utilities industry
struggle with the inefficient power consumption issues for the
entire 25 plus years we've been working on this solution. While
countless dollars have been lost to this phenomenon, countless more
have been spent trying to find solutions. Plus, I think the
electric utility market needed to mature to a point that it fully
understood the threat that wind and solar creates to their business
model and the strain on the grid.
Over almost three decades,
I've witnessed the utilities deploy numerous policies and offer
various incentives to entice the end user to fix their own
inefficient power consumption issue. I've seen gimmicky products
come and go and had we approached any of these companies before we
were ready, we'd have been lumped in with the rest of what most
consider to be those types of gimmicky products. Without a viable
plug and play solution ready for market, we would not have been
taken seriously. It's been a long time coming, but now is our
time.
We have the right
team in place with Blockchain Energy, a huge facility in Sacramento
with expansion space available, several support companies lined up
or being lined up, contacts being made and we could not be more
excited about where this project is headed. The electric utility
market has reached the stage where after trying for decades to fix
this problem, they are now complacent and have simply accepted the
inherent inefficiency of power consumption. They've accepted this
fate and most think the problem is unsolvable and have built in a
30-40% inefficiency to their business model as a
result.
But times and
circumstances do change, my friend and I'm here to tell you that
when you think about the impact this technology will have across
the country, the world for that matter, at some point you'll begin
to feel as positive as I do that this will be one for the record
books.
Souce:
Vortex Brands Co.