Nathaniel Group Receives $250,000 State Grant To Fund the Development of Innovative Concentrated Photovoltaic Demonstration Project

Nathaniel Group, Inc. has received a $250,000 grant from the Clean Energy Development Fund through the Vermont Department of Public Service to build a working prototype of a Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) system for generating electricity from the sun. CPV technology represents a great leap forward in the efficiency of solar electricity generation. The demonstration project will be installed at Nathaniel's facility in Vergennes and should be producing power in the summer of 2009.

"CPV technology has game-changing potential in the economics and efficiency of renewable energy generation," said Nathaniel Group president Joel Melnick. "For many years, there have been marginal improvements in the way photovoltaics work, but CPV has the potential to close the economic gap with fossil fuels. We could see CPV become a more cost-effective source of energy than anything else available."

CPV technology uses lenses or reflectors to "concentrate" the sun's energy onto a photovoltaic solar cell. By concentrating the sun's energy to 500-suns, a one square centimeter solar cell will produce the same amount of electricity as 500 square centimeters without concentration. Generally, CPV requires about 1.5-2 times less module surface area relative to a traditional flat panel.

The commercially available CPV solar cell, originally developed for extraterrestrial satellite applications, has reached a 36% conversion efficiency, almost twice that of flat panel PV. The savings in semiconductor area, in conjunction with higher cell efficiency, make the use of CPV modules a more cost-effective renewable energy alternative to traditional fuel sources. Additionally, the reduction of high grade silicon and its processing make CPV technology an environmentally superior option to flat panel PV.

Nathaniel’s innovations lie in the design, material selection and manufacturing techniques of the reflector, cell cooling apparatus and module assembly. These innovations promise to offer the commercial market and eventually the residential market, an energy source with clear environmental benefits at a competitive cost relative to current alternatives.

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About Nathaniel Group

Founded in 1984, Nathaniel Group, Inc. is a design, engineering and manufacturing firm with proven capabilities in high-end optics, medical equipment and electronics. Based in Vergennes, Vermont, Nathaniel's staff of 41 includes multi-disciplined engineers and a team dedicated to the full life cycle of the products that they conceive, produce and service. A member of the Vermont Business Roundtable and Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility, they are the recipient's of this year's Small Business Leader Terry Ehrich award for excellence in socially responsible business practices. Nathaniel was also recently honored by the State of Vermont for its practices in employing people with disabilities.