Well another move and it looks like we have filled out next venue very well. As Kris mentioned, this is where we started watching the Boulder New Technology Meetups and imagined the Green Tech equivalent.  Colorado Green Tech keeps growing and we’re excited to be part of it.

Announcements

• BCBR held a Green Summit  Event at the Millennium Harvest House on June5th
• Meg Hendriks has left to work at NREL and the green tech Group is looking for a volunteer to help with the Job Board director
• Clean Tech Open, is a business plan competition  with a 50K prize package at the regional level and winners go on to compete at the national level for a 250K prize package. The program started 3 years ago and holds competitions in the Pacific Northwest, California and the Rocky Mountain regions.
• Paul Jerde announced the new director of TEAM, Trent Yang
• Upcoming Renewable Energy Technologies (RETool) workshop is taking place July 9-11,  for professionals and decision-makers wanting to learn more about the renewable energy sector. This 2 day course is held at the CU Boulder campus.
• Upcoming NREL Industry Growth Forum

Speakers

Nick Sowden, US Director of Business Development, ToughStuff
Solar Power Made Appropriate for the Developing World

ToughStuff is a social enterprise that makes very inexpensive solar products for low-income people in developing countries.  Their focus market today is the 1.4 Billion people that have limited access to electricity. Without many options thee poorest inhabitants of these countries turn to their cheapest and most accessible options, which in many cases are not eco-friendly and typically dangerous to their health.  For lighting in a small family dwelling,  many turn to kerosene lamps which are smoky, sooty and lead to health issues in their children.

Using kerosene lamps is like lighting a little bottle of gasoline and letting it run all night

Even with all these side effects,  kerosene lighting does not generate enough light for reading.  Another source of pollution is cheap batteries used by people to run devices, in lieu of electricity, which are left on the ground and then make its way into the water supply.

The average expenditure by families on power is on average $122/year, and this figure amazingly is based on people with incomes levels close to one dollar a day.  The Toughstuff products are designed to tackle the cost/environmental problem faced by these groups with the core product being a $6 solar panel (1watt, 5.6V). The solar panel will power lighting, mobile phones and small appliances. The solar panel can charge an LED light product, an accessory that is sold separately, in 6 hours.  This can run for 30hrs in low light mode and on the highest setting (enough to read by) it will run for 5 hours. Another key product line is mobile phone connectors, designed for the most popular phones and plugs phones directly into a solar panel for charging.

ToughStuff has streamlined all their processes & costs and have applied the feedback, (from testing in Madagascar) to design their products and prices for the base of the pyramid consumers. All their products are designed for a lifetime of 5 years and have a payback of 2 months. One key design consideration was to build a solar panel that utilized no glass. It was very important for their product cosumers that the panel  be durable, lightweight and strong. The panel can be run over by a car or get wet and still function. Once the panel had recouped it’s cost in the first two months, it starts saving $98/yr in electricity costs for its consumer. Based on the projected sales,  ToughStuff products will have the ecological benefit of displacing 200K tons of carbon by 2012.  The significant environmental impact of batteries in the waste stream will also be diminished by the applying solar panels to displace battery usage.

The business economics of ToughStuff is calculated both as a private business and also as a Social Enterprise. In order to be more accessible, they use commercial distributors and work on a thin margin. There are many potential partners and opportunites in this market segment. Work is expanding through agreements with NGOs/Governments and through entrepeneurial toolkit called “Business in a Box” which includes 10 solar panels & marketing material.  Exposure and hard work has paid off with an award by the Dutch government of funding to provide $750K to 1000 Village Entrepreneurs (VEs) over the next 2 years. ToughStuff Just incorporated in Mauritius and works in China to manufacture products. Today they have a staff of 5 people in their offices on Pearl St. in Boulder.

The company is started as a philanthropic venture investment and was launched by 5 partners. Today they are Just about to hit a sales milestone of 100 thousand products sold since their inception. Nick invited people to join their newsletter on their website or donate $25 to launch a Village Entrepreneur. Nick proceeded to answer questions, indicating that they anticipate the solar panel will be copied but expect to retain the IP, and staying ahead with their design (patented connectors and lamps) is also key for them. The solar panel is not recyclable yet, but the rechargeable unit they sell is repairable. Their rechargeable battery system is based on NiCad technology because it lasts longer, is cheaper and needs to operate reasonable efficient at 40C. Their choice of VE’s to fund is typically based on vulnerable groups such as child soldiers and single moms. A person from the audience mentioned that their was illegal traffic selling cooking fuel in Congo and that solar cookers were a great alternative. The main founder of ToughStuff lived in Madagascar for 20yrs and they are looking to develop their business in other African countries such as Kenya, Liberia, Uganda and South Africa.

Peter Lilienthal, CEO and Ted Ladd, COO, HOMER^® Energy LLC.
Clean Power Everywhere

HOMER optimizes the design of high penetration renewable and hybrid power systems.  It models wind, solar, biomass power, hydro, hydrogen and multiple types of conventional generation, co-generation, and storage.  Peter gave the audience a multiple choice question on the origin of the name:

Does Homer stand for:
A) Hybrid Optimization for Electric Renewables
B) Homer the Greek poet and father of civilization
C) Bart Simpson’s Dad

The focus of the Homer product is the distributed energy industry specifically for managing and optimizing hybrid energy mixes (that may include energy source mixtures and batteries) and renewable energies. The mission of Homer Energy is to provide services, software and a community to help the distributed energy industry grow. Taking on the issues of managing hybrids with storage in a least-cost approach has proven difficult to many developers of energy hybrids. In essence, renewables such as solar and wind are variable but in a large grid that variability is small enough and can be absorbed so as to not effect the end client. For smaller and more diffuse power grids in developing countries, the variability is significant and this is where Homer comes in to optimize the power and make it cost-effective for the end customer.

How do changes in average wind speed and fuel price affect the feasibility of adding wind turbines to a diesel-only system design?

The company’s origins take it back to NREL, where the software grew and gave developing nations the ability to customize their grids and was combined with training, forums. This outreach helped provide the future client base for the Homer software consultancy.   Today there is a growth market for the private industry to help provide islands, some of which are the richest countries in the world, with the ability to optimize their variable power sources. The software has been available since 1998 and was developed out of research that started in 1992.  There are 31,000 users today, with up to 1K users/downloads being added every month. To ensure it maintains its legacy user base, Homer provides a free version but uses this as a platform for customization and consulting services.

The software can take into account any number of attributes such as wind speed, fuel price or the price of PV based watts and then provide graphs to show what combination’s ( e.g.  30% wind and 70% PV) or technology provides the most optimal mix for the client to build into their local grid. Peter also emphasized that they let customers provide the data, which can be very specific such as dealer margins, import tariffs and installation costs. Their current software can analyze power sources such as PV/Hydro/Wind/Biomass in a grid/isolated/cogeneration scenario. The software has been downloaded by almost every country in the world and is available for licensing in a Software as a Service (SaaS) model.

Software clients range from academic, to product suppliers, NGOs, individuals and groups in remote areas such as Alaskans living in a remote area.  An example client is the Bermuda Electric Light Company. The expectation with the new community collaboration software is that the company will harvest important statistics from their clients on their usages/needs to help further Homer’s business. Upcoming software updates will support concentrated solar/thermal storage capabilities and be available in 6 months.

Rebecca Alexis, Gino Figurelli, Matt Plahutta, Radiant Glass Industries
Power*e Glass. Power-e™ Heated Windows for Homes and Offices

Radiant Glass Industries is originally a regular window manufacturer based in Denver that has developed a new radiant glass as a sustainable building product. Their windows insulate and heat by increasing the temperature of the inside pane of glass. The current market is large and their product solves one of the principle energy inefficiency costs for buildings: 50% of house heat loss is through windows.  This cost incurred by home/building owners and is a source of discomfort.

The current average window has a R value (the ability for a material to resist heat flow) that varies from 0.9 to 4.1. A normal wall has an R value between R13-R60. The standard is set by  American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). New building standards are calling for more efficient heating systems while at the same time requiring the need for more daylight sources (e.g. windows) to reduce the electricity usage for lighting which causes more heat loss.

The Power-e heated window system claim is that it stops 100% heat loss (window is hotter then interior) through a window and uses 40% less energy than a conventional heat source, (proven at Kansas State University) . Its core design uses a low DC voltage source to power the window. The window radiate 85% of its source energy into the interior target space and also reduces condensation and resulting wood rot. Existing windows can be retro-fitted and even be installed as mirrors or internal windows. The Power-e windows also avoid hot-spots by more evenly distributing heat and when measured, it uses only 1.4Kw energy versus forced air which uses 2.4Kw. An example referenced was a 2800 sq. ft. house in Keystone, CO where over $450/month in electric heating bills were incurred, dropped to under $100/month by using Power-e heated windows. The case study in Keystone had a calculated ROI of 4 years. Another aspect of retrofitting historic/landmark buildings is that window removal may not be an option but a second interior heating window is permitted, allowing for greater efficiency.

A business plan directs them to engage the domestic market but patents have already been filed in Canada, EU and Japan as well as the United States. They expect to use green building grants and tax incentives to drive their adoption. They are actively promoting distribution channels and licensing for new construction as well as the retro-fit market.  They also intend to market to the large HVAC/Window manufacturers with the enticement that manufacturing of their windows is low-cost to the target plant. Along with distribution and licensing, they are seeking joint venture opportunities.

There was an abundance of questions with some inquiries on their independent certification of the window performance which is amazingly proficient for physically reasons that are not fully understood. Their window effectiveness when rating beside one of Anderson Windows top windows is about 3x more efficient. The internal electronics converts a normal interior 100Vac supply to 25VDC for the window supply. The window will not overheat and uses a windowstat to turn it off once it reaches the desired temperature which can also be wired to an internal thermostat. It usually takes windows about 5-11 minutes to heat up to the desired temperature. Part of the innovation of the window is a coating the keeps the heat from going through the window and this also helps to ensure the overall loss to the outside is 15%.

Jim Fournier & Lopa Brunjes, Biochar Engineering Corporation
Solutions for Climate Change, Energy & Soil Fertility

Biochar Engineering builds biochar production equipment. They design, develop, and deploy industrial equipment that uses waste biomass, such as agricultural or forestry waste, to produce biochar. Jim started the presentation with a question to the group of what bio-char really is?

Bio-Char was first discovered in amazonian soils left from previous inhabitants that amended the soil and significantly improved their crop yield. The soil was found to have unusual properties to allow farming with 80% less nitrogen and effects fungus/bacteria growth in a way to improve plant growth along with improving water retention/drought resistance in the soil. It works to amend poor soil, improving yields by 200%.  With such a reduction in nitrogen, today’s modern farming is much “dirtier” through its extensive usage of Nitrogen based fertilizer that creates NOx emissions, a fact that concerns scientist along with more tradition carbon green house gases. A primary interest for the sustainability movement is that charcoal can stably capture and hold carbon for thousands of years (providing a carbon sink) and remove/reduce greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

Some of the value streams available from biochar is soil fertility, sequestration and energy generation through the production of gas, heat, electricity and liquid fuel (e.g. methanol, dimethyl ether, diesel). Bichar Engineering has found a sweet spot or lowest capital investment by creating heat (through a gas) from biochar. Their product is a modular unit that can be scaled to the biomass feedstock chain. Early prototype units takes and burns 100 ton/day of biomass . By creating heat from biomass, you maintain 40% of carbon from the plant (or 25% by weight), that was locked-up, avoiding it’s release into the atmosphere as it decays, and keeping it into a stable bio-char medium. An example of this is the Pine-Beetle infested wood.  If left to rot, it will produce green house gases. Currently the forestry services have not allowed permits to create bio-char until they finish the last of their studies on environmental impact.

New models and joint venture span both wood chips with a model in 2009 to  lignocellulosic biomass based units. Additionally tested are examining the efficiency of the byproduct glycerin from biodiesel as a feedstock to the process. From forest management (where beetle infested trees can be turned to bio-char) to an Italian gasification plant, they are involved in a number of partnerships examining the various usages and efficiencies for biochar.

Today developing countries may value the bio-char more then the cooking fuel. An example raised by the audience was that the Congo Basin Forest Fund that has awarded money to the Biochar fund to support it’s usage. Many of these efforts are also using the value of sequestration to stop deforestation. For many of these feedstocks and processes, the Greenhouse Gas(GHG) Lifecycle Analysis is proving to be instrumental to determine the value per feedstock of sequestration.   BEC’s technology mimics nature’s intelligence, creating valuable co-products, ultimately including biochar and process heat with or without electricity or liquid fuels. Biochar engineering has also found that there are many good feestocks but dryness, about 20% moisture is a good amount to support optimal bio-char generation. They aim for about 25% yield of char and this will produce about 40% sequestration.  Yields generated above this has diminishing returns.