The 2012 CleanTech Challenge Results

Winner: Sunuru

Solar panel prices are lower than ever; “grid-parity” is reality in a growing part of the world. Soon, panel prices will be no holdback anymore. The next big challenge is finding enough space.

Locations for solar panels face strict demands. Panels need to be oriented correctly and supported under fixed tilt. Heavy support and balancing structures are necessary. In practice, only building roofs and far-out fields are economically feasible locations.

Wouldn’t it be great if solar panels could be perfectly integrated into any urban situation?

Sunuru offers a highly customizable, lightweight solution that is easily installed under any angle, above, onto or in front things. Due to the patented support system, Sunuru boosts revenues up to 50%. Your parking lot, building façade or driveway can be turned into a source of green energy within a day.

Team

Natasha Gosteva       Management of Technology @ Technical University Delft
Jan van Kranendonk Mechanical Engineering       @ Technical University Delft
Thomas de Leeuw    Mechanical Engineering       @ Technical University Delft
Joost Schulze             Industrial Design                   @ Technical University Delft

Runner-Up: CLAMETech

Every day, 20% of the energy used by industry is lost due to system inefficiencies.  In the transportation sector, this figure is 71%.  Of all this lost energy, about one-fifth is due to mechanical vibration.  According to Bloomberg, lost energy due to mechanical vibration represents a potential worldwide market of $450 billion.  What’s more, this figure does not include the opportunity presented by all of the natural vibrational energy created each day by wind and tides.  Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be this way.  

CLAME Tech has developed a unique solution to recover this wasted energy and reuse it as electricity.  Our technology has two significant advantages to existing methods of harvesting vibrational energy: first, we utilize a combined magneto-electric and piezo-electric system, and second, we capture energy along all three dimensions of motion rather than only along two dimensions or linearly.  Additionally, the modularity of our systems makes them easily and cost-effectively scalable, and all of the materials used within our design are completely recyclable.  The net result of our solution is a higher return on investment than other vibrational energy harvesting technologies, and the ability to serve larger scale and diverse applications due to the modularity of our design.

Team

Luca Carlucci: B.Sc. Economics and International Trade, IESE MBA Class of 2012

Elia Marin: M.Sc. Mechanical Engineer, Ph.D. In Metallurgical Engineering UniPD

Runner-Up: BioPumps

Technology enabling bacteria to pump out biofuels and fine chemicals

Team

Christopher Grant (Eng.D, University College London)

Maria Villegas-Torres (PhD, University College London)

Dawid Deszcz (PhD, University College London)

Vugar Akhundov (MBA, London Business School)

Amritha Appaswami (MBA, London Business School)

Finalist: QuenchPower

The QuenchBox controller and QuenchStore battery form the system’s backbone. Fundamentally, the system stores electricity when cheap (periods of low demand) and releases it back to the household in preference to buying standard “peak” price electricity. This smart self-learning system will evolve over time to incorporate interfaces to home automation devices, smart meters and on-site micro generation such as PV, micro CHP and wind.

To make the system even more effective, QuenchPower offers users a QuenchJuice electricity supply and services contract whereby, in exchange for a deeply discounted energy tariff, QuenchPower is given the right to transparently and remotely control charging and discharging of the user’s QuenchBox. When aggregated, this creates a virtual power plant (VPP) which can provide valuable system balancing functions.

Contact Details:-

Web:                     www.quenchpower.com

Contact:               This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Twitter:                @quenchpower

Team

Paul Anderson, Imperial College London, MSc Sustainable Energy Futures
MBA (London Business School), BSc (Hons) Electronic Engineering (Southampton University)

Stephen Buryk, London School of Economics, MSc Environmental Economics
BA Economics (Lehigh University)

Peter O’Leary, Imperial College London, MSc Sustainable Energy Futures
BSc (Hons) Natural Sciences (Birmingham University)

Eamonn Boland, Imperial College London, MSc Sustainable Energy Futures
BE (Hons) Civil and Environmental Engineering (University College Cork)

Finalist: TrAXi

High efficient custom electric motor design for industrial electric applications, electric transport applications and sustainable energy conversion based on patented axial-flux permanent-magnet machine technology

Team:

Hendrik Vansompel, Master of Science in Electromechanical Engineering - main subject Electrical Power Engineering, Ghent University, Belgium

Olga Zamisnaia, Master in General Management, Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School, Belgium

Finalist: GreenE4

Finalist: Re-Charged

Finalist: FF Energy

Finalist: Nanosurfs

Finalist: ACSC

Past Winners

Since the competition began in 2009, the breadth and depth of the winners has continued to strengthen. Past winners have included MBA, PhD and Masters students from: