How Green Companies are Cashing In (part 2 – Infinia)

Building solar power systems with the help of auto manufacturers.

Infinia has persuaded top auto-parts suppliers (who are currently eager for work) to build solar power collectors using old auto engines.  The old-fashioned Stirling engines they are utilizing run as long as one end of the engine is kept hotter than the other, regardless of the source of heat.  Infinia can convert 24% of sunlight hitting an immense metallic dish into electricity with the Stirling as a generator, which is a better conversion rate than most solar panels have.

Infinia is using the engineering skills of auto-industry suppliers to manufacture the solar Stirling engines in bulk.  Working with the Stirling engines is comparatively easy for the auto suppliers since internal combustion engines are far more complex.  Infinia is currently employing 60 engineering companies, most of which are in the U.S.  Autoliv and Cosma, two top-tier auto suppliers, are in charge of manufacturing the most important pieces—the dish and the engine.  Other auto supply companies are actively pursuing Infinia to be involved in the growth industry of solar energy.

The long-term plan is to build solar farms that can be hooked up to the electric grid.  Their goal is to produce 100,000 Infinia Solar Systems in 2010, with an initial price of $15,000 each.  If they scale up to meet this ambitious goal, Infinia will be able to support a variety of green-collar jobs, including technicians, construction and maintenance contractors. 

Since 2005, Infinia has managed to secure $70 million in funding from venture firms such as Vulcan Capital, owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.  With 145 employees, Inifinia earned $8.6 million of revenue in 2008 alone.  As a renewable energy company, Inifinia is also eligible for some of the stimulus plan’s $50 billion in clean energy provisions—which includes $8 billion in loan guarantees for innovative technology, and $11 billion for expanding and upgrading the nation’s electric grid.  The stimulus bill is supporting green energy in a significant way, and Infinia is in the right place at the right time.

The influx of government funding for clean energy companies certainly makes the business case for accelerating or starting green projects.