Company description
By adding Electro’s technology to heat pumps manufacturers, distributers and installers will be able to realize higher IRRs and shorter payback periods for their customers.
While PCM technology can be combined with either air source or ground source heat pump systems, Electro Energy Solutions is focused on the ground source heat pump market because of higher growth potential, additional government incentives and an overall weaker competitive landscape.
PCMs are capable of improving efficiencies GSHP systems by up to 20% over traditional GSHP systems, further reducing energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions. PCMs are materials that undergo solid to liquid transitions, soaking up huge energy per unit quantity of PCM. The PCMs are placed around a finned heat exchanger and then housed in a porous drainage pipe. The unit is then installed in a GSHP system which expedites the heating and cooling process, further improving the efficiency of the system.
Electro has chosen to manufacture PCM technology because we believe GSHP systems provide tremendous value to the consumer and the market is poised for significant growth in the next five to ten years. By focusing on a specific component rather than entire GSHP systems Electro will be able to gain entry to the market without directly competing with current GSHP system manufacturers. Existing companies in the market will actually be partners rather than competition because our product will help to make their current systems more efficient. This technology is also attractive because it is currently patented by the Department of Energy (DOE) but licensing fees would be drastically reduced through the current “America’s Next Top Energy Innovator” program, in conjunction with the “Startup America Initiative”. More on these programs in the IP and Defensibility section. Finally, the PCM manufacturing process primarily uses off the shelf components and manufacturing can begin on a small scale before more wide spread commercialization is undertaken. This means Electro can be operational at a small scale based exclusively on a combination of Small Business Loans, principal contributions and business plan competition winnings.
Team
Mike Beverly, Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Mike is a second year MBA student at the University of California, Irvine. Before coming back to business school he worked for three years at CIGNA Healthcare in the Underwriting department. The reason he came back to school was to focus on his passion which is cleantech and renewable energy technology. He believes that the clean energy and energy efficiency industries will become the leading driver in global growth and development over the coming decades.
During his first year at UC Irvine Mike has been involved in several energy related projects. He worked as an intern at CleanTechOC, a local trade organization that promotes the growth of the cleantech industry within Orange County. Mike also interned as an equity research analyst at ROTH Capital Partners in the Cleantech division where he performed financial analysis and market research focused on publicly traded solar and fuel cell companies. In addition to these internships, Mike has worked on projects for several energy technology companies headquartered in Orange County including Amonix, Quantum Technologies and One Cycle Control. Mike is also Co-President of the UCI chapter of Net Impact and Co-founder of the UCI Cleantech and Energy Partnership.
Additional Team Members
Electro is currently seeking additional team members who are interested in GSHP and/or energy efficiency technology. Experience with cleantech start-ups and/or backgrounds in chemical engineering are preferred.
Business model
Electro Energy Solutions manufactures GSHP components that use phase change material to increase system efficiency by up to 20%. The company will be responsible for the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of these products. The target market is GSHP wholesale and retail distributors, installers and other system component manufactures. The GSHP market is small, with approximately 25 companies operating in this target market as of 2009.
Competitive advantage
The value proposition to the end user is increased system efficiency and increased energy savings. This means that the GSHP system will save more money over the life of the system and will decrease the payback period. For the manufacturers, distributes and installers the value proposition is also an improvement in the overall efficiency of GSHP systems which makes them more competitive compared to alternatives like solar and other efficiency measures. Also, adding DOE patented technology to their system will increase the value in the eye of the consumer and give them a competitive advantage over other GSHP systems.
