National Instruments supports 'green energy' startups

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National Instruments has announced its 2011 Green Engineering Grant programme, a worldwide competitive programme that fosters rapid design, prototyping and commercialisation of promising new renewable energy, energy efficiency and smart grid systems. Through the programme, NI will donate up to $25 000 USD equivalent in NI LabVIEW graphical system design software tools and training to eligible startups to help advance clean energy development in applications such as solar, wind and biofuel technology. The 2011 programme has a special focus on technologies that improve the smart grid and provide the foundation for a clean energy future.

“For more than 30 years, engineers and scientists around the world have used NI software and hardware to implement their innovations more quickly and efficiently,” says Dr James Truchard, president, CEO and cofounder of National Instruments. “The NI Green Engineering Grant programme helps remove technological barriers by providing access to the training and tools needed to bring smart grid and renewable energy solutions to market.”

LabVIEW software and the LabVIEW FPGA Module, as well as embedded prototyping and deployment platforms such as NI CompactRIO and PXI instrumentation, are ideal for building innovative control and monitoring solutions for the renewable energy market. Small companies in many countries have combined the open, graphical nature of LabVIEW software with the high-performance characteristics of modular, reconfigurable NI hardware to prototype and prove advanced embedded designs faster than with traditional solutions.

“With only three employees, we work hard to develop clean energy solutions for people in developing nations,” says Matt Bennett, vice president of research and development for Windlift, a startup company that develops mobile airborne wind energy systems, including onboard energy storage for mobile microgrids in post-conflict reconstruction and disaster relief. “The NI Green Engineering Grant gave us the tools to facilitate rapid development of our technology, helping us to progress from concept to prototype in just eight months. Also, the same hardware and software will carry through the entire technology development process, providing a smooth transition when we are ready to enter production.”

To date, the NI Green Engineering Grant programme has delivered NI software and training to more than 40 startups and small companies working on a variety of revolutionary renewable energy applications. To promote the vision for 2011, the company will host an interactive Earth Week webcast series about smart grid technologies from 19-21 April. The three-part series will examine the changing landscape of clean energy, smart grid and energy storage technologies. It also features presentations from past grant recipients and other technical demonstrations that show how NI technology can help engineers develop and speed the adoption of renewable energy systems.

To register visit www.ni.com/greengrant

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National Instruments supports 'green energy' startups

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