Date: Apr 23, 2013 Author: David Mills Source: San Francisco Business Times
An ordinary potato chip bag may hold the future of Cool Earth Solar, a Livermore company seeking new ways to provide cheap solar power.
Since 2007, Cool Earth has been looking for the right stuff — a solar panel material that could be used minimally to drive down the cost and acreage needed to produce power. The answer, they found, was the thin plastic film used in gift wrapping and potato chip bags. Five billion pounds of it are produced every year in the United States.
“It’s really cheap and it’s really abundant,” said Chief Executive Officer Rob Lamkin.
That thin plastic film supports all of Cool Earth’s plans: its 146-acre lease in Alameda County, a public-private partnership with Sandia National Laboratories and ongoing negotiations to sell power through the Modesto Irrigation District. Without a product on the market yet, the 23-employee company still operates on the $21 million in venture funding it’s raised, mainly from venture firm Quercus Trust.
Cool Earth started out with a plastic balloon-shaped device that used the film to reflect sunlight onto a photovoltaic cell. About a year ago, their researchers developed a system with three film-covered tubes that refracts the sunlight onto a small photovoltaic cell about one-20th the size of a traditional solar cell. That was less expensive and worked even better.
In February, Cool Earth signed a five-year agreement with nearby Sandia National Laboratories to test its technology on five acres there, setting up one solar system and planning about six more by summer’s end. The five acres is expected to eventually produce 1 megawatt of power, enough for 500 homes during daylight hours.
No money is exchanging hands between Sandia and Cool Earth, but both parties benefit. Cool Earth gets some acreage as well as the expertise of Sandia scientists, who will monitor and study the company’s system. Sandia gets the clean power that Cool Earth Solar’s system produces.
Lamkin hopes Sandia can help improve Cool Earth’s systems and validate the company’s claims about their efficiency, affordability and productivity. “If you put something out there with all those smart people, the product will improve,” said Lamkin.
Cool Earth’s systems are a perfect tenant for the Livermore Valley Open Campus, said Andy McIlroy, LVOC’s senior manager of development. The 110-acre space, operated by Sandia and Lawrence Livermore Lab, allows scientists to conduct collaborative work outside of the labs’ secure walls.
McIlroy likes that Cool Earth’s lightweight system doesn’t take up a lot of land and will help drive down the cost of solar energy. It also fits in with Sandia’s goal to improve the nation’s security by helping the country become energy independent.
“Energy security is an important issue and solar is a big part of that,” McIlroy said.
Cool Earth also leases a 146-acre rural site on the eastern edge of Alameda County. It hopes to sign an agreement soon with the Modesto Irrigation District to hook into the agency’s electrical distribution system. From there, the company can sell the 20 megawatts of power that its equipment is expected to produce to utilities such as Pacific Gas & Electric Co. Cool Earth hopes to have the electricity flowing out by this winter and revenue flowing in next year.
Minh Le, manager of the Department of Energy’s SunShot initiative, said companies like Cool Earth can help the country reach the program’s goal of producing solar electricity for $1 a watt. In 2010, it cost $3.80 a watt.
“It’s a lofty goal, but I think we can do it,” said Le, whose Washington-based program encourages innovative solar technology. “There’s not just one pathway to this goal, but I’m excited about the pathway Cool Earth is pursuing.”
But there are still obstacles to overcome. Ed Cahill, an analyst with Lux Research, points out that the thin plastic film only lasts three to five years before needing replacement. Most solar energy systems are designed to last 25 years.
Tony Chen, Cool Earth’s business development director, compared its system to a car where parts are replaced at different intervals. He said the film is easy and inexpensive to trade out.
Cahill said the company still needs to either make the film last longer or ensure customers the film will be replaced even if Cool Earth goes out of business. He added that Cool Earth’s technology has a “bankability” issue because its systems haven’t been thoroughly tested yet. That issue could scare off future investors or even customers, although the company’s five-year program at Sandia Labs may take care of that problem.
Cahill does like Cool Earth’s approach. “Anything to drive down the cost is the way to go in solar,” he said.
Cahill noted there were 31 gigawatts of photovoltaic solar power installed worldwide in 2012. He expects 61 gigawatts in 2018.
“It’s a significant market and it’s growing,” he said.
