Petra Solar

Petra Solar, Inc., is a privately-owned company which specializes in solar power electronics. It was founded in 2006 and has its headquarters in South Plainfield, New Jersey. It aims to reduce costs through the use of innovative electronics, and hold ten patents in the field of power electronics. These items were originally invented for the Air Force and NASA. The company had acquired $54 million of venture capital in the three years up to 2010. Petra In The Middle East Petra Solar purchased the Jordanian company, EnergyFlow Consulting LLC, which provide hard- and software to consumers and produces of energy. This will expand Petra's presence in the Middle East. In a statement, Petra's CEO, Shihab Kuran, said, "EnergyFlow Consulting is a huge asset to us as we expand our business.? The customers of EnergyFlow include water and power utilities, gas and oil producers, and chemical companies. It offers project development consultancy. Petra In Noo Joizee Petra is providing solar panels for use on utility and street light poles throughout Jersey City and other suburban and urban areas of New Jersey. As there are hundreds of millions of such poles in the United States, the potential for growth is tremendous. The system is known as SunWave. The five foot by two-and-a-half foot panels are attached around 15 feet above the ground, and are tilted south to face the sun. Each generates about 225 W of electricity, which is helping utilities to meet governmental renewable power stipulations. Kuran said that rapid and cheap deployment was possible because there was no need to obtain land, and no transformers and substations have to be constructed. Permitting and nimbyism are also obviated. Petra's Contract Petra is halfway through it $200 million commitment to supply 40 MW of solar power to six cities. The contract is with the Public Services Enterprise Group Inc., which is the largest utility in Jew Jersey. Generation capacity currently stands at 20 MW, which is obtained by around 95,000 panels and is sufficient to power 3,250 homes. In this way, pressure is taken off power stations. Utility companies are responsible for maintenance over the expected 25 year lifespan on the equipment. Installation of a panel takes only 30 minutes, which is preferable considering the high labor rates of New Jersey. Power is fed directly to power lines, at a rate of 200 W per panel, which will soon rise to 225 W. Electricity lines are monitored remotely, which facilitated a faster response when power outages followed Tropical Storm Irene's appearance in New Jersey. Petra Won An Award The SunWave system was one consideration which earned Petra the title of Clean/Green Company of the Year from the New Jersey Technology Council. Other contributory factors were the company's growth rate, success in the marketplace, contribution to industry standards, and impact on the industry. In 2009, Petra was the first business to receive funding from New Jersey's Clean Energy Manufacturing Fund. In the same month, the Department of Energy awarded Petra a prestigious grant of millions of dollars for research. Petra In California Petra hopes to repeat its success in New Jersey in California, where regulatory, litigious, and environmental concerns prevent the construction of large solar plants in the Mojave Desert. Only about 100 panels have so far been set up. In a recently-released white paper, Petra estimated that addities lityit nng solar panels to half the utility poles in California would increase generation capacity by 720 MW. Around 10,000 MW is presently generated from the sun in California. Petra In Bahrain Plans are afoot by Bahrain's National Oil and Gas Authority to install SunWave solar panels in that country. A pilot project is underway.