Solar panels generally come in two types: one that warms water and another that creates electricity. Power Panel is getting ready to distribute a hybrid version of the two that accomplished both tasks.
The
TechTown-based startup has created a prototype of what it calls a co-generating solar panel and a system to support it. That solar panel generates electricity and heats water at the same time. "Basically we double the return on investment," says Garth Schultz, president & CEO of
Power Panel.
That solar panel has earned the 3-year-old Power Panel a place in the
Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition semi-finals. Schultz and his team of about half a dozen people hope to use the $1 million competition as a launch pad for it to nail down some more seed capital.
"Our final push is to land some liquid cash," Schultz says.
That cash should allow Power Panel to install its first prototype units on the roof of
Next Energy's building in TechTown in early 2011. It should also allow the startup to begin the selling the new solar panels to both residential and commercial buildings in Metro Detroit, starting next summer.
Source: Garth Schultz, president & CEO of Power Panel
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at
SEMichiganStartup.com.
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