AccuStrata Inc., a company in the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech) Technology Advancement Program incubator developing a control system that increases the power solar cells generate, has received a $432,000 phase II small business innovation research (SBIR) grant from the National Science Foundation, university officials announce today.

The grant is the sixth the company has won in the past 18 months.

AccuStrata is developing a real-time process control system, called TF Auto-Pilot, which detects manufacturing flaws in solar panels and allows manufacturers to correct the panel and return them to their targeted specification, enabling higher-power panels and fewer product rejects.

“Solar cells manufactured with our system can produce 15-20 percent more power,” says AccuStrata President George Atanasoff. “With this funding, we are developing an improved prototype system and validating it for the two most widely used thin film solar panel manufacturing technologies.”

Decreasing flawed and rejected panels “on the fly” as products are made increases solar panel efficiency and manufacturing yield, reduces manufacturing costs, and increases revenue and profit for manufacturers.

In March 2010, AccuStrata received a $70,000 phase I SBIR grant from the Environmental Protection Agency. In January 2010, the company received a $35,000 phase II SBIR grant from the National Science Foundation. In December 2009, the company won a $150,000, phase I Department of Energy SBIR grant. In August 2009, the company won a DOE Supply Chain grant for $150,000. In June 2009, AccuStrata received a National Science Foundation phase I SBIR grant for $100,000. The company also received funding from the Maryland Technology Development Corporation through the Maryland Technology Transfer Fund.

AccuStrata was selected as the Maryland Incubator Company of the Year in 2008 and was again nominated for Maryland Incubator Company of the Year in 2009.

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The Holiday Inn Gaithersburg was honored at the 2009 Gaithersburg Planning Awards for its completion of specific projects that exhibited excellence in planning and development within the city of Gaithersburg.  The Planning Commission considered projects that were completed between the years 2003 and 2009.  Categories for the awards include residential, commercial, general and mixed used projects, environmental practices, grassroots initiatives, planning advocacy and master plan implementation.

In March of 2009, the Holiday Inn Gaithersburg, a hotel in Gaithersburg, Maryland, completed an extensive multi-million dollar renovation.  Both the interior and exterior of the property were substantially improved.  All of these projects were guided by the hotel’s “Our Big Green” mission, which stresses conservation of resources, reduction of waste, and a commitment to recycling.

As a green hotel, the property replaced every window and frame, installed compact fluorescent bulbs, and improved water flow through the addition of 1.0 gallon low-flow toilets in every guestroom during the renovation.  Along with the other green initiatives, they are also actively promoting “Green Meeting Practice” to their clients that reduce paper consumption, utilize recycled products, use filtered water to eliminate plastic bottles, and purchase local produce when it is available.

Popularity: 27% [?]