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Solar technology developers face a difficult quandary. The most advanced systems are too expensive for commercial use, and cheaper options aren’t as effective. But a Corvallis-based startup may have a solution.

Today, most rooftop panels are made from silicon wafers only 15 to 17 percent efficient in their ability to turn sunlight into electricity. Plus, they’re costly.

Thin-film technology, which uses a laminate-like material that can be rolled out in large quantities, is only 11 to 13 percent efficient.

The most advanced and expensive solar technologies are those that power satellites, but they are only 30 percent efficient.

鈥淲e are currently approaching 30 percent and we actually think we have the ability to do substantially better than that,鈥� said Frank Cloutier, CEO of Corvallis-based solar technology startup Inspired Light LLC. 鈥淪o we’re talking about being as efficient as super-efficient space-bound arrays and yet being cheaper than thin film. That’s the reason we think we have something of a breakthrough.鈥�

Inspired Light is in the process of developing a solar technology that can harvest 50 percent more energy per square foot than conventional commercial systems can, and at a fraction of the cost. Cloutier thinks that has a lot of potential for the built environment, and industry professionals agree.

The Oregon Built Environment & Sustainable Technologies Center recently awarded the company a $150,000 grant to continue researching and testing its product. Inspired Light is working with Oregon State University’s Chih-hung Chang, a chemical engineering professor who directs the university’s Oregon Process Innovation Center for Sustainable Solar Cell Manufacturing research facility.

Cloutier is keeping details about the technology under wraps until the company is closer to production.

Inspired Light uses a concentrated photovoltaic system, which typically employs lenses or mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto photovoltaic cells. The company presently is devising an anti-reflective coating that reduces the amount of sunlight reflected from the system’s surface.

鈥淭hey have a completely radically new approach to concentrated PV that is lighter weight and lower cost and more simple than other vendors in the 鈥� market,鈥� said Ken Vaughn, commercialization grant program manager at Oregon BEST. 鈥淎s a result of that, they are able to do concentrated PV on commercial rooftops, which the other systems are not able to do (because) they’re too heavy (and) too complicated.鈥�

Work on Inspired Light’s concept began in 2005 at Hewlett Packard, where Cloutier previously served as vice president and chief technical officer for the imaging and printing department. But last year, Cloutier and much of his team left HP and licensed the technology from it. Now, Inspired Light already has a manufacturing partner lined up: Korvis Automation.

When Cloutier thinks about the untapped potential of the sun, he gets excited. Every square meter on the planet receives about 1 kilowatt of energy 鈥� enough to power 10 100-watt light bulbs in perpetuity. That’s inspiring, Cloutier said.

鈥淲e’re all very passionate about this stuff,鈥� he said. 鈥淢any of us came out of retirement. We’re doing this because we really think it’s a critical need, both for the planet and our independence from (fossil fuel) energy sources.鈥�

U.S. companies are increasingly installing solar energy to manage costs, especially as competition from China pushes technology costs down. Earlier this year, GTM Research forecast that 3.2 gigawatts worth would be installed in 2012 鈥� 68 percent more than in 2011.

While a launch date isn’t set, Cloutier hopes to roll the technology out sometime within the next two years. Until then, he’ll have to keep his excitement close to the chest.

鈥淢y momma taught me to do it and then brag versus the other way around,鈥� he said. 鈥淓specially in this industry, the solar industry, people have been a little too quick to talk about their goals.鈥�