Cool Earth Solar: News Archive

When the 2008 California Clean Tech Open launched this week in the San Jose City Hall Rotunda, there was no talk about a green bubble.

A green balloon, yes. A green bubble, no.

The judged event, now in its third year, awards cash prizes to entrepreneurs who come up with ideas for energy efficiency, alternative transportation, renewables and three other categories. Winners get a "start-up in a box" prize that includes $50,000, office space for a year and other services.

Mayor Chuck Reed challenged solar companies to make photovoltaic panels more affordable for homeowners. Steve Jurvetson, clean-tech guru and managing director of the Draper Fisher Jurvetson venture firm, talked about the possibilities of a $1 trillion energy market.

But it was Eric Cummings and his solar balloon that wowed the crowd. Cummings, founder of Cool Earth Solar in Livermore, told about the late nights and a shoestring budget that led to his second-place finish in the first Clean Tech Open, in 2006.

Since then, his company merged with Radiant Energy, a power-plant builder, and raised $21 million in VC money.

Cool Earth makes what it calls inflated mirror concentrators that gather sunlight and focus it on solar panels to create electricity. Arrayed on towers, these huge balloons consist of two pounds of plastic and five pounds of compressed air. The company's premise is that reflective balloons are much cheaper than mirrors, and are lightweight enough to be tethered to the ground using much less steel.

Now, if someone could only figure out how to create electricity from those runaway ''Happy Birthday'' balloons that escape from backyard birthday parties.

Edition: Morning Final
Section: Business
Page: 3C
Memo: Tech Notebook

Copyright (c) 2008 San Jose Mercury News