The Northwest Cleantech Open 2012 Semifinalists Announced at WCTA Annual Meeting

John Martin, director of the Cleantech Open, announced the selection of 17 semifinalists for the Northwest region, including seven from Washington. The national final competition will take place in November.

  • Distributed Energy Management, Bremerton, WA– A business-intelligence service that quantifies the operational costs of energy allocations, allowing businesses to make cost-effective, energy saving decisions.
  • Global Green Energy Corp., Tumwater, WA – An efficient DC-to-AC converter that reduces waste in the transfer from solar panels and other renewable generators to the electricity grid.
  • Profile Composites, Bremerton, WA – Offers a method for forming carbon composite structures using less heat and energy.  This provides a cost-effective switch for vehicle fleets to natural gas fuel.
  • Pterofin, Seattle, WA – A new flow-energy generation concept in wind or water based on the pivot motion of a bird’s wings or fish fins.
  • Sunreps, Redmond, WA – A high-tech fabric that provides solar heated fresh air, reducing the need for traditional heaters.
  • TriboTeX, Pullman, WA – A privately owned nanoparticle bio-lubricant that, when applied, results in a 10-20% reduction in friction and efficiency improvement in machinery like wind power gearboxes.
  • Wave Engine Solutions, Camas, WA – A new engine design that substitutes the ‘crankshaft’ with a ‘wave barrel’ by keeping the connecting rod and piston vertically balanced throughout the compression cycle.  It reduces friction and increases thermal efficiency by 30-50%.
  • Ameristar Solar, Banks, OR – A patent-pending dual-axis tracker system for solar panels primarily for remote, off-grid and emergency installations.  It is easy to transport, costs less and captures more energy than single and fixed tilt solar panel system.
  • Earthfort, Corvallis, OR – Method involving soil microorganisms for bioremediation of contaminated agricultural soil.
  • Emigh Design, West Linn, OR – A patended linear-roller bearing design that increases efficiency of Stirling thermal engines.
  • GR Green, Burnaby, B.C. – A patented production process for ecological synthetic roofing and siding with a complete cradle-to-cradle life cycle. The material is comes from limestone waste, recycled milk bottles and grocery bags.
  • NADAC Systems, Portland, OR – A system that manages energy allocation based on real occupancy.  This software and hardware concept prevents heating, cooling and lighting in empty spaces.
  • Retrolux, Boise, ID – Offers software that collects data from existing lighting and proposed energy-efficient lighting, in order to execute mobile audits.
  • Regenergy365, Hillsboro, OR – A patented technology that uses the exhaust of commercial and industrial HVAC/refrigeration systems to generate on-site electricity. Thereby, lowering operating costs and reducing energy waste.
  • Ryno Motors, Portland, OR – A single-wheel, electric personal transportation product. Likened to a single wheel motorcycle with a unique-balancing technology.
  • Solensphere, Klamath Falls, OR – A patented Hybrid SolarConcentrator that joins solar thermal energy capture with photovoltaic cells.  At a lower cost than traditional PV panels, the product’s required surface area of PV cells is reduced by a factor of 1000 while still collecting 72% of the solar energy.
  • Vÿykn, Boise, ID – An on-site water purification system that is network-controlled and generates pure, pH-balanced, ionized and oxygen-infused water.