Clean Technology and Sustainable Industries Organization Opens Utility Technology Challenge for Submissions

AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Clean Technology and Sustainable Industries Organization (CTSI) today opened the third Utility Technology Challenge (UTC). This year, CTSI and its partner, Fraunhofer TechBridge, are expanding the Challenge to include $100,000 in pilot project awards for promising utility and building energy technologies.

"The UTC has been highly successful as a technology-matching program that catalyzes partnerships between utilities and companies with relevant, promising early-stage clean technologies," said CTSI President and Founding Chairman Matthew Laudon. "With our partner, Fraunhofer TechBridge, we are now expanding the Challenge to include funded demonstration projects and to address the building energy technology space."

Selected early-stage technologies may be featured in Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems' Building Technology Showcase, a first-of-its-kind deep energy efficiency retrofit of a historic building that will be a "living laboratory" of building-integrated energy research projects in Boston.

Organizations with pilot-ready or early-commercial stage solutions targeting utilities and large customers should apply at: http://www.techconnectworld.com/Cleantech2012/program/UtilityTechnologyChallenge.html.

Key technology solution areas for the contest include: smart grid technology areas including: transmission and distribution, demand response, and power electronics. This year, there is a new emphasis on demand-side building energy technologies, such as energy efficiency measures (e.g., HVAC, lighting, and building management), as well as distributed generation systems (e.g., building-integrated solar photovoltaics and combined heat and power).

"We're excited to be working with CTSI to help accelerate the adoption of new technologies. The collaboration on the Utility Technology Challenge brings the benefits of Fraunhofer's new Building Technology Showcase to technologies most deserving of additional testing and public visibility," said Nolan Browne, Managing Director of Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems (CSE). Fraunhofer TechBridge is a program of CSE.

Companies participating in the Utility Technology Challenge will gain visibility with the utility and industry partner group. Sponsors include: the US Department of Energy Innovation Ecosystem Development Initiative, Austin Energy, National Grid, Shell, and the Anaheim Center for New Energy Technologies (AC-NET). Other regional partners include: the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, the New England Clean Energy Foundation, the Association of CleanTech Incubators of New England (ACTIONetwork), the Austin Technology Incubator and the Clean Energy Trust. Over the course of several review rounds, this group will select top solutions to present at the Clean Technology 2012 Conference at the Santa Clara Convention Center in California, June 18-21, 2012. These semifinalists will have an opportunity to network with the utility partner group and other potential partners and customers in attendance, and several winners will receive funded services for pilot projects.

About CTSI

Clean Technology & Sustainable Industries Organization (CTSI) is a 501c6 non-profit organization with the goal of commercializing clean technologies through technology integration between corporations, utilities, government, and academia. CTSI presents the Utility Technology Challenge, the Defense Energy Technology Challenge, the ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit, and other initiatives. For more information, visit http://ct-si.org.

About Fraunhofer TechBridge and Center for Sustainable Energy Systems

Fraunhofer's TechBridge commercialization program helps emerging sustainable energy startups to develop their technologies, bridging the gap from laboratory to market introduction. The Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems (CSE) is an applied research and development nonprofit laboratory dedicated to the commercialization of clean energy technologies. CSE's partnerships with private companies, government entities, and academic institutions, performing research that broadly benefits firms, industries, and society include confidential co-development programs, third-party technology validation, and joint applications for grant programs. Major lab and field-testing initiatives focus on energy-efficient building technologies and PV module design and manufacturing.

Founded in 2008 with support from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center and other entities, the CSE is affiliated with the international research network of Germany's Fraunhofer Society, Europe's largest contract R&D organization. For more information, visit http://cse.fraunhofer.org.

Media Contacts:
Laura Benold, CTSI
[email protected]
512-800-9798

Emily Dahl, Fraunhofer CSE
[email protected]
617-714-6517 

SOURCE CTSI