Company gets science grant for solar power system
Thursday February 05, 2009
Cool Energy Inc. that is building a presence in Roane County, TN, was awarded a $500,000...
Cool Energy Inc., a Colorado-based clean energy technology company that is building a presence in Roane County, TN, was awarded a $500,000 Phase II Small Business Innovation Research Grant from the National Science Foundation grant for a system it has developed to use solar power to provide both heat and electricity to homes and small buildings.
"The grant will help us finish development and do the first test fittings," said Sam Weaver, Cool Energy chairman. "We've been through the design phase with the first two prototypes and we expect to do a field installation toward the end of the year."
According to the Roane Alliance and Cool Energy, the company will employ about 400 people who will be paid an average of $45,000 a year. Research and development on the SolarFlow System took place in Boulder, but the units will be built at the Roane business park.
Weaver plans several buildings in the park, ranging in size from 10,000-20,000 square feet, but these may be expanded as needed.
The Roane Alliance anticipates this will be a boom to the county as production will take place at Roane Regional Business and Technology Park
The SolarFlow System will use solar energy collectors to furnish hot water and to heat buildings. When the solar energy it collects is not needed for heat, the system converts the energy to electricity for the building.
"The renewable energy sector is pretty active right now," Sam Weaver said. "People are feeling the pressure of the economic situation."
More information is online at http://www.coolenergyinc.com/, http://www.sesusa.org/ and http://www.roanealliance.org/.
Source: Knoxville News Sentinel
