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Skyline Solar Receives Accelerated Patent Approval Under Green Technology Pilot Program
Thursday, May 06, 2010
Skyline Solar Awarded Patent on Fundamental Technology for High Gain Solar Architecture; Company Receives Patent only Ten Weeks after Applying for Fast Track Program
Mountain View, CA -- Skyline Solar, a manufacturer of High Gain Solar (HGS) arrays for the commercial, industrial, government and utility markets, today announced that the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued patent number 7,709,730, which covers fundamental aspects of Skyline Solar’s HGS architecture. The patent issuance makes Skyline Solar one of the first companies to receive patent approval under the USPTO’s Green Technology Pilot Program.
The expedited examination provided by the USPTO program highlights the commitment by the US government to maintain leadership in green technology innovation in the face of increasing competition from other countries. Traditionally, green technology companies could expect to wait several years before being issued a patent.
“The Green Technology Pilot Program is already working as it was intended for companies like Skyline Solar,” said Bob MacDonald, CEO and co-founder of Skyline Solar. “The program has turned what used to be a multi-year delay in patent issuance, into a process where we received a Notice of Allowance on this application slightly more than two months after acceptance into the program. By dramatically accelerating the patent issuance process, the US government is stimulating green innovation and reducing risk for technology investors.”
Accelerated approval of its patent application titled “Dual Trough Concentrating Solar Photovoltaic Module,” is not the first recognition that Skyline Solar has received from the federal government for its technology innovation. In late 2008, the company was selected by the US Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Technologies Program (SETP; formerly, the Solar America Initiative) for a PV Incubator sub-contract. The program’s goal was to accelerate promising technology into pilot production. The awarding of the contract recognized Skyline Solar for developing a technology that “could make solar energy cost-competitive with conventional forms of electricity.”
In October 2009, little more than a year after being awarded the SETP incubator sub-contract, Skyline Solar initiated pilot production of its HGS system with Cosma International, a major metal-stamping contract manufacturer and an operating unit of Magna International, Inc. By selecting Cosma as its partner, Skyline Solar began the process of helping retool some U.S. manufacturing capacity previously utilized by automotive manufacturers.
About Skyline Solar
Skyline Solar manufactures High Gain Solar (HGS) arrays incorporating industry-proven silicon cells, durable reflector materials and single-axis tracking into a complete, easy-to-deploy system. Skyline HGS delivers ten times more energy per gram of silicon than traditional flat panel systems. Built primarily out of commodity materials and assembled using globally available manufacturing processes, Skyline HGS simultaneously improves financial payback and scalability, thereby accelerating the path to grid parity.
Skyline was founded in 2007 and is led by veterans of the solar energy and high volume manufacturing industries. The company is funded by NEA, other VCs and strategic investors, and by a US Department of Energy (DOE) grant. Skyline went from prototype to first grid connected customer in less than one year and is in commercial manufacturing. For more information, visit www.skyline-solar.com
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