Unveils Innovative New Solar Solution

Skyven Intelligent Mirror Array™ installed at Copses Farm in Valley Falls, New York

Ken Desbois from the Radiant Store in Troy, NY installed this renewable industrial steam solar system at Copses Farm in Valley Falls, NY. Photo courtesy of Terrence Moag.

George Harvey

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) runs the 76West competition to encourage growth of clean energy. According to its website, it is “designed to further develop the regional community of clean energy technology innovators, industry experts, educators, and investors, as well as help startups get early users for their technologies.” The competition is limited as to the types of businesses involved and how they can have impact in the eleven counties the rules designate as the Southern Tier (http://bit.ly/NY-76West).

In 2017, the 76West Grand Prize went to Skyven for a technology the NYSERDA called one of the first renewable solar solutions for industrial steam in the world. Now the first installation of that technology, manufactured in New York, has been completed. Skyven calls the array the Intelligent Mirror Array™. It was installed at Copses Farms in Valley Falls, New York. This is the second installation of the technology in the country.

Skyven’s technology concentrates sunlight on a thermal collector, and the heat is transferred to water. Skyven, which is based in Texas, worked with Cameron Manufacturing and Design, which is based in the Southern Tier town of Horseheads, NY to build systems locally.

Copses Farm is a 2,600-acre dairy operation with 720 cows. Each time its equipment is used, it must be cleaned thoroughly. To do this, it needs 50,000 of very hot water annually. Heating this water requires a lot of energy, but with the Skyven mirror system, this energy can be renewable and free of emissions. The system at the Copses Farm is not large, as it has only nine solar panels. The panels appear to be about the size of a large solar photovoltaic panel. The system was designed and installed in a collaborative effort between Skyven and the Radiant Store. Ken Desbois from the Radiant Store installed the system.

As the Grand Prize winner, Skyven was awarded $1 million in 2017. Arun Gupta, founder and CEO of Skyven, said he was attracted to doing business in New York by the 76West competition. Because the award required a business presence in the Southern Tier. He looked at the local businesses to see which he thought was best, and partnered with Cameron Manufacturing and Design in the end.

Another New York business with experience with Skyven’s new type of solar system is The Radiant Store. Terrence Moag, CEO of Radiant Store Inc., said, “Skyven’s Intelligent Mirror Array™ is a giant step forward in the solar thermal market by providing concentrated solar technology to industrial and commercial businesses on a global scale at a fraction of the cost. The market for this technology is truly massive. I am really impressed with the performance of the system and thrilled our technical team at Radiant had the opportunity to install the system which will help New York reach its clean energy goals.”

The 76West competition is held every year. Each year, its Grand Prize awards $1 million. A second- place winner gets $500,000, and four other awards are made, each coming to $250,000, so the amount awarded is $2.5 million annually. The competition is now four years old.

The Skyven system is sold for industrial use only, at present. We do not have information on when, or whether, it might become available for residential use. The company, however, is rather young, as all 76West contestants must be, and will doubtless continue to develop this new technology.

Learn more from Terrence Moag at the Radiant Store: tmoag@theradiantstore.com or 518.376.1884.