NJTC Picks Petra Solar as Clean/Green Co.

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ-New Jersey Technology Council has selected Petra Solar, a South Plainfield based cleantech company, as the winner of the Clean/Green Company of the Year Award. The selection was based upon key considerations including Petra Solar’s unique SunWave technology that combines distributed solar generation with smart grid capability and grid quality enhancement functions. Other considerations included the company’s impact on the industry, contribution to industry standards, success in the marketplace and growth rate.

“Our goal at Petra Solar is to create and grow green jobs as we export products across the nation and around the world,” Petra CEO and president Shihab Kuran said in a statement. “Support from the state’s technology community is very important to a cleantech start-up such as ours.”

It goes almost without saying that this has been a difficult year for all of us in the technology community, admits the New Jersey Technology Council president and CEO Maxine Ballen. “We, at the NJTC, see the glass as more than half full and look forward to a year of growth ahead. We know that Petra Solar is deserving of this Gala Award and are excited to watch this company as it continues to be an innovative leader in New Jersey.”

In July, Petra Solar became the first business awarded funding under New Jersey’s Clean Energy Manufacturing Fund. That same month, the US Department of Energy awarded Petra a prestigious multi-million dollar grant to perform research on the evolution of the grid with high penetration of solar generation. The company also signed a $200 million contract with PSE&G to produce its SunWave intelligent PV solar systems for installation on 200,000 utility and street light poles throughout PSE&G’s service area in New Jersey.

“Petra Solar brings together advanced renewable energy technology and a robust communications architecture that enable utilities to maximize the value of their solar power generation,” says Joe DeLuca, vice president of product management at the cleantech company. “Our system can be deployed quickly and scales from an individual panel to utility scale configurations,” Kuran adds. “In implementing the contract with PSE&G, we went from contract signing to delivery of our first shipment in 32 days.”

Petra Solar is presently in discussion with more than 30 other utilities throughout the country about providing the SunWave system for solar generation, smart grid connectivity and enhanced grid performance through its intelligent solar solution.