Picasolar Wins Bronze Edison Award

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Picasolar Inc., a solar start-up company affiliated with the University of Arkansas, was recognized on Thursday, April 23, with a 2015 Edison Award.

Picasolar won a bronze Edison Award for its patent-pending hydrogen super emitter at the Edison Awards Annual Gala, held in New York City.

“We are honored to win this prestigious award,” said Douglas Hutchings, Picasolar’s chief executive officer. “Our technology could save an average-sized solar panel manufacturer $120 million annually, making the panels, and solar energy, more affordable for consumers.”

The awards, inspired by Thomas Edison’s persistence and inventiveness, recognize innovation, creativity and ingenuity in the global economy. More than 3,000 senior business executives and academics from across the nation judged the nominees in categories ranging from automotive solutions to personal computing.

Picasolar’s hydrogen super emitter was a finalist in the hydrogen power category. Upp, a portable hydrogen fuel cell, won the gold and Hyundai Motor America’s Hyundai Tucson fuel cell took silver.

The super emitter, invented by Seth Shumate, a doctoral candidate in microelectronics-photonics at the U of A and chief technology officer for Picasolar, could improve the efficiency of solar cells by 15 percent. If successful, the emitter represents the single largest technology leap in solar power in 40 years, Hutchings said.

Both Picasolar and its sister company, Silicon Solar Solutions, are Genesis Technology Incubator clients at the Arkansas Research and Technology Park at the University of Arkansas. Hutchings founded Silicon Solar Solutions in 2008 while a graduate student at the university. He earned a doctorate in microelectronics-photonics in 2010.

Two other firms associated with the U of A have won Edison Awards.

In 2014, NanoMech, a company founded by Ajay Malshe, Distinguished Professor of mechanical engineering at the U of A, won a silver Edison Award in the processing materials category for TuffTek, its patented nanoengineered advanced coating technology incorporated into cutting tools and wear parts for machining materials used in automotive, aerospace, energy and other sectors, and critical wear parts for machines and vehicles.

In 2012, cycleWood Solutions Inc., a company founded by University of Arkansas graduates Nheim Cao and Kevin Oden, won a bronze Edison Award in the safety and sustainability category for its trademarked single-use Xylobag, a strong and tough compostable substitute for traditional plastic bags.