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SmartSynch Makes BusinessWeek Top 25 Intriguing Energy InnovatorsBusinessWeek and GreenBiz.com Identify 25 Intriguing Energy Innovators New York, NY — July 18, 2009 SolarCity, Clean Current Power Systems, and SmartSynch, among others, have been named to the BusinessWeek/ GreenBiz.com list of green energy innovators. To help readers get a handle on the fast-changing scene, BusinessWeek teamed up with GreenBiz.com, a cleantech information service, to identify 25 intriguing energy start-ups. Say “energy company” to most people, and they’ll probably think of an oil giant such as ExxonMobil or their local utility. But, in a burst of innovation that could rival the info-tech revolution, global demand for alternative energy is spawning a broad and bewildering array of tiny companies with big ambitions. Many are now hitting the market with products and services—in the thick of the worst U.S. recession in decades. Because the companies on the list are private, there are no public data on cash flow or profits. But these innovators have the brainpower, intellectual property, and ambition to play a role in the coming energy revolution. Since the focus here is strictly under-the-radar, BusinessWeek and GreenBiz.com have excluded famous green startups such as battery maker A123 and electric-car ventures Tesla Motors and Better Place. But like those well-publicized players, all the ones on this list have lined up significant venture backing. As the roster of 25 startups shows, advanced green technologies are finally graduating from the lab and taking root commercially. AltaRock Energy of Sausalito, Calif., is building its first U.S. power plant in Northern California, tapping geothermal heat in “basement rock” deep in the ground to boil water in artificial reservoirs. And Coulomb Technologies in Campbell, Calif., is on track to install more than 1,000 curbside recharging stations for electric cars across the U.S. this year, up from just 100 last year. Several startups say they are close to price parity with carbon-based fuels. One common benchmark is to produce electricity at around 10¢ per kilowatt hour. That would still be about 40% pricier than power from coal plants, but it’s on a par with the gas-fired plants utilities rely on during peak times. “If you can make power that can compete with a gas-fired plant, you can have a huge market,” says Joseph Laia, CEO of Santa Clara (Calif.)’s MiaSolé, which is marketing solar panels made from low-cost, flexible materials. It is always risky to predict the fate of tiny startups in a fast-changing industry. That is true for all 25 companies on the BusinessWeek/GreenBiz list. But together they showcase both the potential breakthroughs and business models needed to make green energy viable. The BusinessWeek/GreenBiz.com list is featured in the July 27, 2009 issue of BusinessWeek, on newsstands July 17th. Expanded content, including a slideshow and interactive table, is available at www.businessweek.com/go/09/cleanenergy.
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