Cleantech to Market

1. Cleantech to Market Beverly Alexander and Cyrus Wadia, Co-Directors Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley

2. Cleantech to Market (C2M) • Innovative Partnership • A partnership between UC Berkeley graduate students and scientists to bring clean energy technologies to market • Twofold Mission • Help commercialize new low carbon energy technologies • Develop next generation of energy leaders

3. C2M – Where (Berkeley!) • Unique Combination of Talent & Innovation Culture • Top 10 graduate programs • Premier Labs at or near UCB • Silicon Valley • East Bay Green Corridor

4. C2M – Who • Berkeley graduate students • Business • Engineering • Law • Sciences • Energy Resources Group • Inventions from • Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory • UC Berkeley Office of Technology Licensing • Joint BioEnergy Institute • Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society

5. C2M – Students • Applications: 118 for 42 seats • Diverse Backgrounds: • 14 MBAs with technical degrees & experience • 12 MBAs with deep business backgrounds • 9 PhDs in science and engineering • 4 JDs, variety of backgrounds • 3 ERG students, extensive energy training • Work Experience: 130+ combined years • product design, engineering, manufacturing, marketing & pricing • banking, finance, insurance, consulting • planning, logistics, process engineering, quality control • energy, telecom, aerospace, military • biology, chemistry • electrical, mechanical & chemical engineering • material sciences, public health, toxicology

6. C2M – What • Technology analysis • Advantages that distinguish from existing technologies • Revenue potential and IP issues • Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats (SWOT) • Cost sensitivity • Target customer profiles • Possible venture or industry partners • Market sector analysis • Trends • Companies • Government policies • Useful sources of information

7. C2M - Why • Many worthy technologies never manage to cross . . . • Valley of Death: The long dry stretch when startup investment exceeds sales revenue • Mountain of Death: Clean energy technologies also face the “mountain of death” because they typically require very large capital investments

8. C2M – Closing Gaps • C2M helps close Department of Energy identified gaps that keep promising technologies stuck in the labs • “ Commercializing technologies requires both a technical and business skill set” • C2M students bring business skills • “Technical language often sounds like gibberish to the business community” • C2M students prepare materials to promote the technology • “Funding is more likely to go toward business plans than research papers” • C2M students prepare plans to take the technology forward • Scientists may not have latest market data • C2M students provide feedback to make the technology more marketable – at times suggesting back to the drawing board http://www1.eere.energy.gov/commercialization/abouttheprogram.html

9. C2M – Next Generation Energy

10. C2M – Smart Grid • MEMS Sensors:The “smart” grid will require sensors that are inexpensive to make, simple to install, and easy to maintain. Researchers have developed current and voltage sensors that are wireless, inexpensive, small, durable, and have a wide variety of smart grid uses • “Smart Dust” Platform: The Pico Cube is a wireless node platform that integrates: energy scavenging, printed circuitry, and ultra-low power radios into a single device. Together, these provide a valuable tool for remote sensing and energy asset management. Pico Cube prototypes on the macro scale are being brought to the micro-scale.

11. C2M – Energy Management • Home Energy Management:Researchers are developing a home energy management system that would allow homeowners to pre-program their consumption and efficiency across a range of appliances and devices. They are coupling this with a communicating thermostat. • “OpenADR”:Standard communication protocols would enable wide participation in demand response programs. Researchers have developed an open architecture demand response protocol (OpenADR) that will allow multiple players to automate electric load management.

12. C2M - Batteries • Silicon & Polymer Binder Anode: Improving lithium-ion batteries will require materials that are conductive, stable, and can tolerate high volume anode changes. Researchers have found polymers that may triple the operational time of current technology when using silicon instead of graphite in a lithium-ion battery anode. • Printable Battery: For smart grid and other applications, it is helpful for devices to store their own power. Researchers have developed techniques for “printing” solid state batteries directly on the surfaces of electronic devices using a solution-based deposition technique. These printable batteries have the potential to scale up to household level energy storage.

13. C2M – Solar • Iron Pyrite & Copper Sulfide Solar Cells:To make solar more affordable we can look beyond silicon. Two promising alternatives are iron pyrite and copper sulfide, which are abundant, easily mined, nontoxic, and have good absorption. Spin casting techniques may further reduce manufacturing costs. • Improved Silicon Solar Cells: A common belief is that crystalline silicon solar cells have a cost floor due to the sub-optimal absorption properties of the material. Researchers have found ways to better engineer the material properties to enhance absorption, thereby paving the way toward a lower-cost thin film crystalline silicon solar cell.

14. C2M – Biofuels • Enzyme to Breakdown Cellulose:A key to biofuels is finding the right enzymes to break cellulose down into sugars. Researchers have developed one that has the potential to reduce production steps, costs, and time. • Improving Algae Production:Plants and algae tend to have antenna that block the light for lower layers in batch production. Researchers have developed shorter antenna, thereby increasing mass production efficiencies.

15. Join C2M Launch • Many ways to participate • Mentors for student teams • Guest speakers for class • Professional panels for student “pitch” presentations • Information on technologies and market sectors • Potential business partners • Donations/funding • Contact • beverly_alexander@haas.berkeley.edu • cyrus@haas.berkeley.edu