Sopogy
Encyclopedia
Sopogy a solar thermal technology supplier was founded in 2002 at the Honolulu, Hawaii
based clean technology incubator known as Energy Laboratories. The company began its research on concentrating solar thermal energy to produce steam
and thermal heat for absorption chiller. The company has also developed applications that incorporate its solar collectors to generate electricity
. Sopogy's name origin comes from industry key words "SO" from Solar "PO" from "Power" and "GY" from "Energy and Technology" The company has a Research and Development team located in Honolulu, HI, with a Silicon Valley
manufacturing facility.
installations that include ground mounting or rooftops. The technology operates similarly to conventional parabolic trough systems used in California since the mid 1980's but modified to reduce the physical size and is similarly manufactured to fluorescent lighting luminares or automotive parts. The package ships flat and unassembled. The system uses an integrated 270 degree tracking, customized stands, and controls.
Image of SopoNova 4.0
The name SopoLite supposedly comes from the term Satellite as the device is designed to be a stand-alone instrument. Sopogy is deploying similar SopoLite’s across the US and around the World in an effort to collect relevant solar data useful for evaluating locations across the globe to determine the quality of their solar resources.
was announced for a MicroCSP deployment at the Avista Clean Energy Test Site
In 2008, a joint announcement between Sopogy of the USA, Inypsa of Spain and Omniwatt of Germany was made discussing a 50 megawatt project in Toledo Spain.
In 2009, Sopogy inaugurated a .1 Megawatt Holaniku MicroCSP Solar Thermal Plant project on the Big Island of Hawaii at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority
. This project is connected to the Hawaiian Electric Industries
grid under a Power Purchase Agreement
and is only one of a small handful of grid connected solar thermal power plants in the United States. It was also the first MicroCSP Power project in the World.
Also in 2009, Sopogy introduced a solar air conditioning
project with Southern California Gas Company
In 2010, Sopogy completed a hybrid electricity and H2O system at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg Florida. In November of that year Kalaeloa Solar One and the State of Hawaii Department of Hawaiian Homelands announced a 5MW electrical project using Sopogy Solar technologies. In December 2010, Yu Hao Long announced a Memorandum of Understanding to purchase 200MW of Sopogy's solar technology for the development of a Concentrating Solar Power project with the Chinese National Grid
In July 2008 Sopogy was awarded the New Product of the Year Award from the National Society of Professional Engineers for its SopoNova 4.0 product. This was the first solar technology to have received the award. Past recipients include Boeing for the 777 and Mercedes Benz for the M-Class.
In September 2008 Sopogy was selected as a finalist for Platt's Global Energy Awards
In 2008 Sopogy won the Pacific Business News' Business Leadership Award for Innovative Company of the Year
Also in 2008 it was the recipient of Hawaii Governor's Innovation Award.
In March 2009, Sopogy's SopoNova 4.0 product was selected as the Winner of Plant Engineering Magazine's Product of the Year 2008 Gold Award.
In 2010, Sopogy was awarded the Hawaii Business Magazine Smallbiz Success Award
investment totaling over $20 million. In 2007 Sopogy was autorized $10 million in Special Purpose Revenue Bonds by the State of Hawaii and in 2008 the company received an additional $35 million.
Several sources including NREL claim the site generates a net output of between 2MW and 500 KW. Prevedouros’ research, including conversations with equipment suppliers to the project, suggests the plant generates less than 100 KW, one fifth to one twentieth of the figures claimed.
Mr. Prevedouros notes that Hawaii Electric Industries’ 2010 Annual Report does not show any power supplied by the Sopogy plant to the Big Island’s grid.
The project’s cost is stated as $20 million, with an output of 100KW, resulting in a cost of $200/watt. The article suggests this compares poorly with the approximately $5/watt cost of photovoltaic panels.
Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...
based clean technology incubator known as Energy Laboratories. The company began its research on concentrating solar thermal energy to produce steam
Steam
Steam is the technical term for water vapor, the gaseous phase of water, which is formed when water boils. In common language it is often used to refer to the visible mist of water droplets formed as this water vapor condenses in the presence of cooler air...
and thermal heat for absorption chiller. The company has also developed applications that incorporate its solar collectors to generate electricity
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
. Sopogy's name origin comes from industry key words "SO" from Solar "PO" from "Power" and "GY" from "Energy and Technology" The company has a Research and Development team located in Honolulu, HI, with a Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
manufacturing facility.
MicroCSP Technologies
Sopogy coined the term "MicroCSP" in which Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) collectors are based on the designs used in traditional Concentrating Solar Power systems found in the Mojave Desert but are smaller in collector size, lighter and operate at lower thermal temperatures usually below 600 °F (315.6 °C). These systems are designed for modular field or rooftop installation where they are easy to protect from high winds, snow and humid deployments.SopoHelios
SopoHelios™ is Sopogy’s high heat classification collector (50-326 degrees C or 122-620 degrees F). It is a single-axis tracking parabolic trough solar collector designed to reduce the cost of ground mounted MicroCSP solar fields. SopoHelios collectors have 7.61 meters squared (82 square feet) of reflective area for greater field efficiency and include a lightweight structural core for improved torsion, strength and durability; component parts for quicker installation; and improved optical efficiency. SopoHelios is used in Solar Thermal Air Conditioning, Power Generation and High Temperature Heat Processes including Hydraulic Fracturing for Natural Gas extraction.SopoNova
SopoNova™ is Sopogy’s medium heat classification collector (50-270 degrees C or 122-518 degrees F) designed for distributed generationDistributed generation
Distributed generation, also called on-site generation, dispersed generation, embedded generation, decentralized generation, decentralized energy or distributed energy, generates electricity from many small energy sources....
installations that include ground mounting or rooftops. The technology operates similarly to conventional parabolic trough systems used in California since the mid 1980's but modified to reduce the physical size and is similarly manufactured to fluorescent lighting luminares or automotive parts. The package ships flat and unassembled. The system uses an integrated 270 degree tracking, customized stands, and controls.
Image of SopoNova 4.0
SopoFlare
Sopogy, Inc. introduced SopoFlare at Solar Power International 2009 in Anaheim. SopoFlare is the first commercially available Concentrating Solar Power technology designed specifically for rooftop installations. The technology is used to create steam, solar thermal air conditioning, drying, dehumidification, desalination, hot water.SopoLite
SopoLite is a mobile concentrating solar power unit used to collect solar radiation and weather data. In addition the Sopolite can be used to generate energy for portable applications including power, air conditioning or heat.The name SopoLite supposedly comes from the term Satellite as the device is designed to be a stand-alone instrument. Sopogy is deploying similar SopoLite’s across the US and around the World in an effort to collect relevant solar data useful for evaluating locations across the globe to determine the quality of their solar resources.
Projects
In 2007 a collaboration between Sopogy and Avista UtilitiesAvista Utilities
Avista Utilities is an energy company with its headquarters in Spokane, Washington in the United States. It employs nearly 2,000 people who work in five western states...
was announced for a MicroCSP deployment at the Avista Clean Energy Test Site
In 2008, a joint announcement between Sopogy of the USA, Inypsa of Spain and Omniwatt of Germany was made discussing a 50 megawatt project in Toledo Spain.
In 2009, Sopogy inaugurated a .1 Megawatt Holaniku MicroCSP Solar Thermal Plant project on the Big Island of Hawaii at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority
NELHA
The Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority administers the Hawaii Ocean Science and Technology Park . NELHA also administers a small site in Puna on the eastern side of the Island of Hawaii for geothermal research. NELHA was founded in 1974...
. This project is connected to the Hawaiian Electric Industries
Hawaiian Electric Industries
Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc.. is the largest supplier of electricity in the state of Hawaii, suppling power to 95% of Hawaii's population through its electric utilities: Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc., Hawaii Electric Light Company, Inc. and Maui Electric Company, Limited. In addition, HEI...
grid under a Power Purchase Agreement
Power Purchase Agreement
Power Purchase Agreements are contracts between two parties, one who generates electricity for the purpose of sale and one who is looking to purchase electricity . There are various forms of Power Purchase Agreements; these are differentiated by the source of energy harnessed...
and is only one of a small handful of grid connected solar thermal power plants in the United States. It was also the first MicroCSP Power project in the World.
Also in 2009, Sopogy introduced a solar air conditioning
Solar air conditioning
Solar air conditioning refers to any air conditioning system that uses solar power.This can be done through passive solar, solar thermal energy conversion and photovoltaic conversion . The U.S...
project with Southern California Gas Company
In 2010, Sopogy completed a hybrid electricity and H2O system at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg Florida. In November of that year Kalaeloa Solar One and the State of Hawaii Department of Hawaiian Homelands announced a 5MW electrical project using Sopogy Solar technologies. In December 2010, Yu Hao Long announced a Memorandum of Understanding to purchase 200MW of Sopogy's solar technology for the development of a Concentrating Solar Power project with the Chinese National Grid
Awards
In January 2008 Sopogy was named the "Venture Capital Deal of the Year,"In July 2008 Sopogy was awarded the New Product of the Year Award from the National Society of Professional Engineers for its SopoNova 4.0 product. This was the first solar technology to have received the award. Past recipients include Boeing for the 777 and Mercedes Benz for the M-Class.
In September 2008 Sopogy was selected as a finalist for Platt's Global Energy Awards
In 2008 Sopogy won the Pacific Business News' Business Leadership Award for Innovative Company of the Year
Also in 2008 it was the recipient of Hawaii Governor's Innovation Award.
In March 2009, Sopogy's SopoNova 4.0 product was selected as the Winner of Plant Engineering Magazine's Product of the Year 2008 Gold Award.
In 2010, Sopogy was awarded the Hawaii Business Magazine Smallbiz Success Award
Investors
The company has secured 4 rounds of venture capitalVenture capital
Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...
investment totaling over $20 million. In 2007 Sopogy was autorized $10 million in Special Purpose Revenue Bonds by the State of Hawaii and in 2008 the company received an additional $35 million.
Controversy
In July of 2011, Panos Prevedouros, a professor of civil engineering at the University of Hawaii, published an article challenging Sopogy's claims regarding a power plant on the Big Island of Hawaii that uses Sopogy products. The article states that Sopogy generated power is inefficient and expensive and encourages the State of Hawaii Department of Hawaiian Homelands and the Hawaii Public Utility Commission to seriously question cooperating in further Sopogy projects.Several sources including NREL claim the site generates a net output of between 2MW and 500 KW. Prevedouros’ research, including conversations with equipment suppliers to the project, suggests the plant generates less than 100 KW, one fifth to one twentieth of the figures claimed.
Mr. Prevedouros notes that Hawaii Electric Industries’ 2010 Annual Report does not show any power supplied by the Sopogy plant to the Big Island’s grid.
The project’s cost is stated as $20 million, with an output of 100KW, resulting in a cost of $200/watt. The article suggests this compares poorly with the approximately $5/watt cost of photovoltaic panels.