Stellaris PowerTile(TM) Captures Indirect Light & Reduces Cost
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 05.13.06
Final winners of the 2006 Ignite Clean Energy Business Presentation Competition have been announced and the first place entry, "Stellaris, expects to build a vibrant company in Lowell, MA, capturing its share of the growing $11 billion in annual worldwide solar energy panel sales... Stellaris solves the high cost of solar energy systems by decreasing the solar module size by 40% while increasing the efficiency of its energy-generation by more than 20%. The Stellaris PowerTile(TM) captures and concentrates indirect light via a translucent panel that can be used in conventional windows, patio tiles, and skylights, combining architectural appeal with energy production". Reportedly the panels have a unique aesthetic that will appeal to designers and architects, include 6mm diameter non-imaging optics, and have a holgram like function. Be sure to look at the Stellaris applications page for explanation of how the technology could be incorporated into building envelopes, skylights, and so on.
Started in 2005 by the Energy Special Interest Group (ESIG) of the MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge, the Ignite Clean Energy Competition provides training, mentoring, coaching, $125,000 in prizes and services to clean-energy entrepreneurs, with one overarching goal - to build a thriving clean-energy industry in Massachusetts.
