Lowell, Massachusetts
www.konarka.com
The way Daniel McGahn sees it, Konarka doesn't compete with all the other solar-panel makers out there. His company's offering, photovoltaic cells layered between flexible plastic, is so unlike anything else on the market, he hopes it can be embedded anywhere plastic is used, "but with the added benefit of turning it into a power source."
Konarka's team reflects the intersection of chemical, energy, and electronics technologies that drive its innovation. McGahn, Konarka's executive vice president, is a nanotech veteran. Chief scientist Alan Heeger is a physicist who won the 2000 Nobel Prize for chemistry. Randolph Chan, the head of engineering, designed the power strips on the sides of Duracell's batteries. By contrast, cofounder, chairman, and CEO Howard Berke isn't a scientist at all; he's an MBA who has founded or cofounded 12 startups across the fields of biotech, software, telecom, and energy.
Konarka's basic idea is to market foldable panels that can power laptop computers, phones, and a variety of mobile devices. "The key," McGahn says, "is to innovate with existing products." How will that happen? With a manufacturing process as revolutionary as the product itself. Unlike traditional photovoltaic cells, which are made using rigid pieces of silicon, Konarka's cells are literally printed onto rolls of plastic. The process allows different colors to be imprinted on the material -- so a prototype tent Konarka is creating for the military, for example, can be produced in camouflage colors.
The result? A portable energy source that can be dressed up and taken out anywhere. Imagine cells built into the fabric of handbags, say, or curtains. "You're talking about making photovoltaics disappear," McGahn says. "Now you have a whole new way to think about where you can provide power generation." -- MP
The Innovation Scorecard for the renewable-energy sector involved a two-part analysis. In the first phase, we identified finalist companies from three sources. Among the few publicly traded companies in the sector, we looked at shareholder return, growth, and revenue and profit per employee. We also examined venture capital investments to find companies that attracted at least $25 million in funding or with a valuation greater than $30 million. Most important, we solicited nominations from 50 experts across renewable-energy disciplines.
That first phase yielded 27 finalists. We asked these companies to participate in two assessments -- an online survey and a direct interview. These instruments analyzed corporate innovation along five criteria: vision and leadership within the industry; culture and organization; innovation processes; partnerships and other external relationships; and platforms for innovation and growth.
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