Microgrid company makes APAC 25, wins international innovation award
By Shelby Condit | Nov. 28, 2018
Husk Power Systems, a microgrid company based out of India with U.S. headquarters at the Powerhouse Energy Campus, recently made the inaugural APAC 25, an Asia Pacific sister list to the more widely known Global Cleantech 100.
The list is aimed at providing a snapshot of companies in Asia that are geared towards innovation and sustainability and that Cleantech Group believes will have a significant impact in the next decade.
“I was kind of surprised. They don’t tell you in advance that they’re going to select you,” said Manoj Sinha, CEO and Founder of Husk Power. Husk was chosen for this alongside billion-dollar companies from across Asia, and has been recognized within the industry, working with major companies like Shell.
“Our solar-biomass and storage [battery] combination, which is what we define as a hybrid system, has picked up a lot of traction in the market. Even large clean tech are using that methodology or concept for larger scale hybrid systems. But our system is quite unique in combining solar with biomass gasification, therefore it is 100% renewable, and we do it at a very cost-effective point.”
Husk also won the Frost and Sullivan 2018 India Biomass Solar Hybrid Mini Grid Systems New Product Innovation Leadership Award. “Frost and Sullivan, actually have been following us for a number of years now. They’ve always been intrigued with the innovation we’ve done in the minigrid space,” said Sinha. He believes the combination of 100% renewable energy in a cost-effective system is what makes their model attractive in this growing field.
Sinha says that Husk chose the Powerhouse as the home base for its stateside office because of the innovative and collaborative environment in the area.
“The reason we came to this space is because of the unique ecosystem that is the Powerhouse presence. Aspects such as Bryan Willson involved in the cleantech sector is great, but also surrounding systems in Colorado cleantech… We are working with NREL. We are working with Rocky Mountain Institute. The whole ecosystem is what really brought us into the Powerhouse.”
Sinha hopes to expand their Fort Collins based team further, saying, “I’ve not recruited anyone yet from Fort Collins or CSU, but the talent exists, and we do plan to recruit people from the Energy Institute at CSU.”
Learn more about the CSU Energy Institute and Husk Power Systems.