Initial light bulb.

• Author: Peterson, Eric
• Position: TECH STARTUP

INITIAL LIGHT BULB: Bill Lowstuter conceived of SunTrac Solar's flagship product--sun-tracking solar collectors -as a high school student in 1978, but the plans quickly found a long-term home "literally" in his garage.

After a successful career as a supply-chain consultant entailing some 300 projects with nearly 100 companies, Lowstuter decided it was time to pull his concept out of the mothballs in 2006. "It'd been hibernating for 30 years," he says. After founding a solar installation company, Energistic Systems, Lowstuter set out to hone his original blueprint and develop the leanest manufacturing process possible. "The system was designed with that in mind. It's capital-efficient."

Four years later, Lowstuter is on the third generation of his resurrected invention. In April, clean-energy consultant Adam Rentschler took the reins as CEO of the company, which he says has "3 1/2" full-time employees.

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IN A NUTSHELL: SunTrac Solar's system is based on concentrating solar power (CSP) technology, as opposed to photovoltaic (PV). Most extant CSP systems are large, centralized facilities that heat water to steam to turn turbines and generate electricity. SunTrac builds much different systems: small, decentralized, and used to heat water for use onsite rather than generate electricity.

The critical innovation: motor-driven parabolic mirrors that track the sun and focus its energy directly onto black pipes to heat the water. Rentschler says the moving parts have lasted the equivalent of more than 200 years on a test panel; installation and maintenance don't require specialized skills.

At about $1,800 a panel, the cost of one of SunTrac's tracking panels is on the high end of the market, but they are smaller--meaning they require far less roof space--and considerably more efficient than competing technologies. At temperatures more than 200 degrees Fahrenheit, they operate at more than 30 percent efficiency, while standard flatplate CSP systems don't function at all.

SunTrac's panels are also greener--typically requiring only six months before they're carbon-positive. Rentschler says the company also plans to give back to the community in the form of subsidized systems for...