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Manufacturing Our Energy Future
Governor Ted Strickland examines a wind turbine component at
Lincoln Electric - Cleveland, Ohio.
Inventing a better mousetrap or an advanced energy
solution takes a great deal of inspiration, insight, and hard
work. However, much of the real work starts when a great
idea is being reduced to practice and made ready to meet
a specific market demand. Not only must a successful
new technology work, it must address customer needs for
usability, cost, quality, and reliability.
However, just a few years ago this bright future in Ohio
was uncertain. Ohio Third Frontier investments supported
the industry at a critical time and assured its future in Ohio.
Continued support from Ohio Third Frontier is helping the
biomedical imaging cluster mature into a global leader,
responsible for nearly 3,000 Ohio jobs.
This is where Ohio's spirit of invention and innovation couples powerfully with its manufacturing heritage. Companies with long histories of manufacturing excellence in Ohio are proving invaluable in turning great ideas into viable products, finding new opportunities in emerging growth markets and creating new wealth and jobs for Ohioans.
One such companing is Tremco Inc. Established with $100,000 in 1928 by William C. Treuhaft, Tremco Inc. in Beachwood, Ohio has been a manufacturer of sealants and protective coatings for commercial and industrial building roofs since its beginning. With assistance from Ohio Third Frontier, Tremco is planning to leverage its 80 years of expertise in building materials and service to become a player in the deployment of photovoltaic (PV) panels for commercial structures.
Tremco identified a problem in first generation solar panel installation on buildings, often referred to as bolton installation. The aesthetic is unsightly to many and more importantly, may interfere with the primary function and maintenance of the external building structure. A more elegant solution that may lead to wider adoption of PV systems is called Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV), that make the PV a designed-in feature of building structures like roofs and walls, not an add-on. Tremco is partnering with another Ohio Third Frontier supported company, Xunlight Corporation, which manufactures stateof-the-art flexible PV panels, to gain a leadership position in BIPV roof systems market.
Tremco Inc. state-of-the-art
customized photovoltaic roofing systems.
With its expertise in traditional roofing solutions, Tremco is
addressing the engineering challenges of creating a BIPV
roof that is functional in creating energy and protecting
the building integrity and less architecturally obtrusive.
A unique feature will allow for the removal of the PV
module from the protective roof membrane for roof
maintenance and eventual recycling. If developing a useful
renewable energy solution isn't green enough, Tremco
will offer a "cradle-to-cradle" business model, allowing
the leased roof system, at the end of its service life, to be
deconstructed, recycled, and reused as raw materials for a
new roof. Alliance Schools in Stark and Mahoning Counties
will test the Tremco product on their facilities, collaborating
with Tremco to capture a piece of the growing global BIPV
market, estimated at $1 billion next year.
For more than 40 years, Refractory Specialties, Inc. (RSI) in Sebring, Ohio has supplied insulation and other products for managing high-temperature manufacturing processes in an array of traditional industries. Watching the growth of the nascent fuel cell industry in Ohio and elsewhere, RSI identified an opportunity to extend its expertise to improve the advanced manufacturing techniques required to produce the functional heart of a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC), called the fuel cell stack.
Often made of ceramic materials, the components of the fuel cell stack must be fired in a kiln, like a clay pot, at very high temperatures. Unlike a clay pot, the precise manufacturing tolerances that are required for the fuel cell stack components to ultimately do their job of converting hydrogen to electricity present many challenges.
With funding from Ohio Third Frontier, RSI is developing state-of-the-art SinterLyte™ kiln furniture, the stands that support the stack material while being fired. The new furniture will maintain the required shape of the part and keep it from picking up contaminating materials during the process, both of which would effect how the final product functions. This solution must not impart significant additional cost to the manufacturing of the final fuel cell system.
Refractory Specialties, Inc. machining of Gemcolite® material - Sebring, Ohio.
When successful, RSI will help meet the U.S. Department
of Energy's goals for the cost per kilowatt hour of
generating electricity from an SOFC, commercializing a
product here in Ohio that will enable companies such as
Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited (Australia), Wartsilla (Finland),
Versa Power, Delphi, Rolls-Royce, and Siemens Power to
deploy stationary fuel cells the world-over. These systems
would generate grid electricity from an alternative energy
source at prices competitive with traditional fossil fuel
power plants, growing sales of RSI's enabling product to
an estimated $25 million by 2014.
Parker Hannifin was established in 1918 by Arthur L. Parker as Parker Appliance Company to manufacture a novel pneumatic brake system for trucks and buses. The company, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, is now a world leader in motion control technologies for industries such as automotive and aerospace. Parker's history with braking systems expanded with their Aircraft Wheel and Brake Division, where they became a dominant supplier of brakes for helicopter rotors.
Parker Hannifin supplies rotor brakes for the
fast-growing renewable energy industry.
Parker Hannifin recognizes that its expertise in rotor brakes
has distinct transferability in the fast-growing renewable
energy industry - brakes for wind turbines operate very
similarly to those used to control rotational forces in
helicopter blades. With assistance from Ohio Third Frontier,
the company believes it can provide a brake product
that meets wind industry demands for a more effective
and reliable system; is easier to maintain; and has a
significantly lower life-cycle cost.
When successful, Parker will have a superior Ohiomanufactured braking solution focused on the world's fastest growing wind energy market - the United States. Taking market share away from the Danish company that currently controls 60 percent of the global market for wind turbine brakes, Parker expects to take part in the growing domestic wind energy supply chain, providing quality and cost advantages to original equipment manufacturers such as GE Wind and Vestas when compared to off-shore suppliers.
Manufacturing Our Energy Future
This is where Ohio's spirit of invention and innovation couples powerfully with its manufacturing heritage. Companies with long histories of manufacturing excellence in Ohio are proving invaluable in turning great ideas into viable products, finding new opportunities in emerging growth markets and creating new wealth and jobs for Ohioans.
One such companing is Tremco Inc. Established with $100,000 in 1928 by William C. Treuhaft, Tremco Inc. in Beachwood, Ohio has been a manufacturer of sealants and protective coatings for commercial and industrial building roofs since its beginning. With assistance from Ohio Third Frontier, Tremco is planning to leverage its 80 years of expertise in building materials and service to become a player in the deployment of photovoltaic (PV) panels for commercial structures.
Tremco identified a problem in first generation solar panel installation on buildings, often referred to as bolton installation. The aesthetic is unsightly to many and more importantly, may interfere with the primary function and maintenance of the external building structure. A more elegant solution that may lead to wider adoption of PV systems is called Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV), that make the PV a designed-in feature of building structures like roofs and walls, not an add-on. Tremco is partnering with another Ohio Third Frontier supported company, Xunlight Corporation, which manufactures stateof-the-art flexible PV panels, to gain a leadership position in BIPV roof systems market.
customized photovoltaic roofing systems.
For more than 40 years, Refractory Specialties, Inc. (RSI) in Sebring, Ohio has supplied insulation and other products for managing high-temperature manufacturing processes in an array of traditional industries. Watching the growth of the nascent fuel cell industry in Ohio and elsewhere, RSI identified an opportunity to extend its expertise to improve the advanced manufacturing techniques required to produce the functional heart of a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC), called the fuel cell stack.
Often made of ceramic materials, the components of the fuel cell stack must be fired in a kiln, like a clay pot, at very high temperatures. Unlike a clay pot, the precise manufacturing tolerances that are required for the fuel cell stack components to ultimately do their job of converting hydrogen to electricity present many challenges.
With funding from Ohio Third Frontier, RSI is developing state-of-the-art SinterLyte™ kiln furniture, the stands that support the stack material while being fired. The new furniture will maintain the required shape of the part and keep it from picking up contaminating materials during the process, both of which would effect how the final product functions. This solution must not impart significant additional cost to the manufacturing of the final fuel cell system.
Parker Hannifin was established in 1918 by Arthur L. Parker as Parker Appliance Company to manufacture a novel pneumatic brake system for trucks and buses. The company, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, is now a world leader in motion control technologies for industries such as automotive and aerospace. Parker's history with braking systems expanded with their Aircraft Wheel and Brake Division, where they became a dominant supplier of brakes for helicopter rotors.
fast-growing renewable energy industry.
When successful, Parker will have a superior Ohiomanufactured braking solution focused on the world's fastest growing wind energy market - the United States. Taking market share away from the Danish company that currently controls 60 percent of the global market for wind turbine brakes, Parker expects to take part in the growing domestic wind energy supply chain, providing quality and cost advantages to original equipment manufacturers such as GE Wind and Vestas when compared to off-shore suppliers.