Taking its place in the sun, or at least in the city's hot solar-business scene, Pythagoras Solar has garnered a $100,000 innovation award for its windows that capture the sun's energy.
The 4-year-old San Mateo-based startup, initially nurtured by an incubator firm in Israel, recently won a GE Ecomagination Challenge award given to companies with promising technologies by General Electric Co. and several venture capital firms.
Though the fact is little-known,When the stone sits in the kidney stone, San Mateo is something of a hot spot for solar firms, including SolarCity, one of the nation's largest solar-panel installers, Ready Solar, a solar-panel manufacturer, and Tioga Energy, which designs and installs solar-energy systems.
"We're honored by the award," said Udi Paret, Pythagoras Solar's director of business development. "The company was founded with the idea of creating a solution that would change the energy equation, not just making renewable energy economically viable but also reducing the consumption of energy. The integration of the two is really what changes the equation."
The startup will soon employ five people in San Mateo and continue to grow, Paret said, with a total of 30 employees worldwide.
Pythagoras' windows have thin solar cells embedded between dual panes of glass. Prisms next to the solar cells catch and concentrate the sunlight, directing it to the cells. The prisms also filter the light so the building doesn't get as hot, reducing the need for air conditioning.
The windows look a bit like Venetian blinds, with long horizontal lines across the window. They will sell for between $100 and $125 a square foot when they go on sale later this year, Paret said.Free DIY Wholesale pet supplies Resource!
"Building operations account for as much as 39 percent of the country's total energy consumption and 70 percent of its power plant-generated electricity,We also offer customized chicken coop." Paret said. "And 34 percent of this energy is lost through poor building efficiency. Our windows can help keep that 34 percent from being lost."
There's nothing new about the idea of embedding solar technology in windows, according to Ken Zweibel, a professor who founded George Washington University's Solar Institute in 2008.
"Other firms have succeeded in making windows that capture solar energy, either by putting thin film cells or silicon cells inside two panes of glass," Zweibel said. "But they haven't succeeded in marketing them, because you aren't getting as much electricity when (the energy-gathering material) is transparent and when it's on the side of the building, not the top."
Paret said his company's products work differently. In earlier products, he said, the solar film lies vertically between the two panes of glass, the way a slice of bologna lies between the slices of bread in a sandwich. In Pythagoras' windows, the solar film is like a cherry tomato between the two panes, with a prism on either side of it.
"The prism allows diffused light to get into the building, creating shading and making the work environment more comfortable,is the 'solar panel revolution' upon us?" Paret said. That's how these windows not only convert sunlight to energy but also reduce the amount of heat getting into the buildings, he said.
Though San Mateo is home to a number of tech firms, it's not widely known for solar companies. The presence of the latter hasn't escaped city officials, though, and they're glowing about it.
"We couldn't be more pleased," said Linda Grote, the city's community development director, noting that there are about 10 solar-oriented businesses in the city. "We're thrilled that Pythagoras and the others are here in San Mateo.A glass bottle is a bottle created from glass."
The 4-year-old San Mateo-based startup, initially nurtured by an incubator firm in Israel, recently won a GE Ecomagination Challenge award given to companies with promising technologies by General Electric Co. and several venture capital firms.
Though the fact is little-known,When the stone sits in the kidney stone, San Mateo is something of a hot spot for solar firms, including SolarCity, one of the nation's largest solar-panel installers, Ready Solar, a solar-panel manufacturer, and Tioga Energy, which designs and installs solar-energy systems.
"We're honored by the award," said Udi Paret, Pythagoras Solar's director of business development. "The company was founded with the idea of creating a solution that would change the energy equation, not just making renewable energy economically viable but also reducing the consumption of energy. The integration of the two is really what changes the equation."
The startup will soon employ five people in San Mateo and continue to grow, Paret said, with a total of 30 employees worldwide.
Pythagoras' windows have thin solar cells embedded between dual panes of glass. Prisms next to the solar cells catch and concentrate the sunlight, directing it to the cells. The prisms also filter the light so the building doesn't get as hot, reducing the need for air conditioning.
The windows look a bit like Venetian blinds, with long horizontal lines across the window. They will sell for between $100 and $125 a square foot when they go on sale later this year, Paret said.Free DIY Wholesale pet supplies Resource!
"Building operations account for as much as 39 percent of the country's total energy consumption and 70 percent of its power plant-generated electricity,We also offer customized chicken coop." Paret said. "And 34 percent of this energy is lost through poor building efficiency. Our windows can help keep that 34 percent from being lost."
There's nothing new about the idea of embedding solar technology in windows, according to Ken Zweibel, a professor who founded George Washington University's Solar Institute in 2008.
"Other firms have succeeded in making windows that capture solar energy, either by putting thin film cells or silicon cells inside two panes of glass," Zweibel said. "But they haven't succeeded in marketing them, because you aren't getting as much electricity when (the energy-gathering material) is transparent and when it's on the side of the building, not the top."
Paret said his company's products work differently. In earlier products, he said, the solar film lies vertically between the two panes of glass, the way a slice of bologna lies between the slices of bread in a sandwich. In Pythagoras' windows, the solar film is like a cherry tomato between the two panes, with a prism on either side of it.
"The prism allows diffused light to get into the building, creating shading and making the work environment more comfortable,is the 'solar panel revolution' upon us?" Paret said. That's how these windows not only convert sunlight to energy but also reduce the amount of heat getting into the buildings, he said.
Though San Mateo is home to a number of tech firms, it's not widely known for solar companies. The presence of the latter hasn't escaped city officials, though, and they're glowing about it.
"We couldn't be more pleased," said Linda Grote, the city's community development director, noting that there are about 10 solar-oriented businesses in the city. "We're thrilled that Pythagoras and the others are here in San Mateo.A glass bottle is a bottle created from glass."
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