Business & Tech

Columbia Company Hopes to Revolutionize Home Solar Power

Residential solar tracking units can be installed on the ground by a handy homeowner.

 

The front of Advanced Technology and Research Corporation's offices in Columbia’s Gateway business park are fairly nondescript—brick and concrete building, a security guard at the front to sign you in. But go behind the building and you quickly understand what they’re up to. 

Just outside the back entrance are multiple large solar panels equipped with ATR's latest technology. Every 10 minutes they shift slightly, constantly angling toward the sun.

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In fact, every solar panel setup the company has made, some of which are located in Australia, shift at the exact same time, every 10 minutes, thanks to their internal GPS clocks.

“That’s kind of cool,” said Rob Lundahl, ATR’s vice president of energy systems.

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ATR has a knack for creating cool automation technology. When Patch toured their offices and manufacturing facility in early June, the company was testing warehouse technology that would automatically flip over postage boxes if their labels weren’t facing up. Near that was a complicated-looking rope and pulley system being designed to lift cargo from one naval ship to another in heavy seas.

But it’s their recent innovations in solar power technology that has people in this area interested.

For example, over the last two months the company has unveiled an array of home neighborhood center and showed off a at Win Kelly Chevrolet in Clarksville.

The company’s business previously involved developing robotics and automation technology for the Postal Service and military clients, but after the recession those contracts declined, according to Lundahl.

That’s when they turned toward solar technology on their own and developed the solar tracking setup. The technology is basically a mount with an electronic panel and GPS unit installed in it that shifts the solar panels so they face the sun as it crosses the sky.

Lundahl said by using the trackers, the panels generate about 34 percent more power.

Using this technology, the company developed four systems over the past three years. The first was a tracker built on light poles to power streetlights. The second was a tracker mounted on a wind turbine to give wind farms the ability to generate both wind and solar energy. The third, which company officials hope will eventually generate “viral” sales, is a home kit solar tracker and the fourth is the electric vehicle charger.

The residential model currently costs $2,620 and should generate enough additional power in five to six years to pay for itself, according to Alan Cohen an ATR spokesperson. Also, it can be installed by a handy homeowner using basic tools, a significant advantage over rooftop units that pose installation risks for homeowners, according to ATR.

“You can put them behind a garage or shed and make a pretty big dent in your power bill,” said Lundahl.

The company finished the design of the residential model at the beginning of the year, according to Lundahl. He said they’ve sold about 100 of them so far, but hope to be selling 100 per week eventually.

“Right now we’re selling handfuls,” said Lundahl, “and that’s fine. To make a business, we need to be shipping hundreds per week out of here.”

Lundahl has lofty goals for the technology, which has been brought to market with the help of a $1.1 million Maryland Energy Administration grant that used federal stimulus funds. He said he’s not aware of any other companies marketing a home solar panel model like the one they’ve developed. He hopes to bring the cost down to around $1,000 per unit by using an economy of scale and market them to hardware stores or possibly even developing countries.

“In undeveloped countries they have a tremendous problem with the power grid,” said Lundahl. “For a less-developed country, low-tech mounting would be huge.”

Editor's Note: Correction - the original version of this story stated the solar technology was brought to market with a $1.2 million grant, that grant was in fact $1.1 million. We regret the error.


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