"BIRD Energy" Announces $3.5 Million in Cooperative Clean Energy Projects

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Dec 17, 2012, 07:00 ET

TEL AVIV, Israel, December 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Israel's Ministry of Energy and Water Resources (MEW) have selected four projects to receive $3.5 million under the 2012 Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Energy program. Each of the cooperative projects includes a U.S. and Israeli partner and addresses energy challenges and opportunities of interest to both countries, while focusing on commercializing clean energy technologies that improve our economic competitiveness, create jobs, and support innovative companies. The selected projects will leverage private sector cost-share for a total project value of above $10 million:

Bromine Compounds Ltd., Beer Sheva, Israel and Sustainable Innovations LLC, Glastonbury, CT will develop a Hydrogen-Halogen Regenerative Fuel Cell (HHRFC) utilizing a flexible architecture that provides low cost, transportable, modular energy storage capability.
Bar Ilan Research and Development Company Ltd., Ramat-Gan, Israel and Pellion Technologies, Cambridge, MA will develop high-energy, rechargeable Mg batteries, which are superior to Li-ion technology in the key areas of size, weight, lifetime, and cost.
B.G. Negev Technologies Ltd, Beer Sheva, Israel and Southwest Solar Technologies Inc., Phoenix, AZ will jointly develop a concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) system, based on an innovative, actively-cooled, CPV module.
Pythagoras Solar, Petach Tikva, Israel and BISEM Inc., Sacramento, CA will provide electricity producing windows from solar energy (BIPV) of high transparency and insulation.

Dr. Eitan Yudilevich, BIRD's Executive Director, said: "In a global market which is becoming increasingly challenging for young renewable energy companies, partnering is critical to accelerate development and reduce risks. We are pleased to be able to support these four promising U.S.-Israel collaborations selected from a highly competitive group of proposals."

About the BIRD Foundation (http://www.birdf.com)

The BIRD (Binational Industrial Research and Development) Foundation works to encourage cooperation between Israeli and American companies in the various areas of technology, and provides assistance in locating strategic partners from both countries for developing joint products.

During its 35 years, the BIRD Foundation has invested in more than 800 projects, which have yielded direct and indirect revenues of about $8 billion.

The BIRD Foundation supports projects without receiving any rights in the participating companies or in the project itself. The financial assistance is repaid as royalties from sales. The Foundation provides support of up to 50% of a project's budget, beginning with R&D and ending with the initial stages of sales and marketing. The Foundation shares the risk and does not demand that the investment be repaid if the project fails to reach the sales stage.

Ms. Limor Nakar
+44(0)3-6988300
[email protected]

SOURCE The BIRD Foundation