Eastern Sun

A Tri-Cities company gets ahead in generating solar energy efficiently.

By Pratik Joshi | August 2009 | FROM THE PRINT EDITION

Credit: Photograph by Catherine Ledner

The sun shines brightly on
Infinia’s CEO J.D. Sitton, who sees a worldwide market for
efficiently-generated solar power.

As the world looks for new viable alternatives to fossil
fuels, Kennewick-based Infinia Corp. is becoming a major player thanks to its
application of a free-piston Stirling engine, a device that converts heat into
mechanical energy. The engine is used in Infinia’s power generation systems, the latest a 3-kilowatt solar power generator called the Infinia Solar System
(ISS).

The company, which was founded in 1985, recently hired more
than 100 employees at a new 30,000-square-foot assembly plant, which can
produce more than 60,000 units a year, says J.D. Sitton, Infinia’s president
and CEO. The ISS is being marketed for various commercial and agricultural
uses, such as running solar farms or wastewater treatment plants. “We are very
focused on commercializing the solar power product,” Sitton says. “The ISS has distinct performance and cost advantages and offers a great business opportunity
globally.”

The Stirling engine in Infinia’s ISS is maintenance-free and can be tailored to work with virtually any heat source. It was originally developed in the 1970s to power an artificial human heart.
The engine uses helium in a closed cylinder containing a piston to drive a linear alternator to produce electric power.

Over the years, Infinia has used its free-piston technology
to develop power systems for different uses, including generating electricity
in space from radioisotopes, making cryocoolers for NASA experiments and for
cooling mainframe computers. Rinnai Corp., a major Japanese heater
manufacturer, and Bosch, the world’s largest manufacturer of gas-fired appliances, have both
licensed a 1-kilowatt version of the engine.

Infinia says its 3-kilowatt solar power generator offers a
more efficient alternative to photovoltaic cell panels. Last year, Infinia
raised more than $57 million from private investors, and in May Infinia raised
another $14 million to launch the ISS.

Infinia will also receive more than $11 million from the
federal government to develop a technology to help store solar energy for
future use.