Perpetuum wins green tech award

July 22, 2008


Vibration energy-harvesting technology vendor, Perpetuum, won the award for the most promising European green-tech company at the 1st Transatlantic Green Platform. The award ceremony was held as part of the 6th World Investment Conference at La Baule, France, last month.

Twenty European and US green-tech companies were reviewed by an international ten-member jury and evaluated according to criteria such as innovation, technological excellence, capacity of internationalization, maturity of development, growth and market potential.

“Perpetuum had particular high scores on the innovation and technology criterion and on growth and market potential. The company has developed a “vibration harvesting technology” which converts waste energy from vibrations into useful electrical energy. The jury valued the fact that the managers were able to first prove the validity of one market before looking at other promising applications aimed at different market segments. The conclusion was that this is a proper controlled growth development,” said Jean-Pascal Tranié, founder of Aloe Private Equity, moderator and member of the jury.

“Based on the selection criteria, Perpetuum was the strongest candidate. We were very pleased to present them with this award,” said Patrice Lefeu, executive director, La Baule World Investment Conference.

“There were many excellent companies competing, and we are delighted to receive this award” says Roy Freeland, CEO Perpetuum.

Perpetuum has successfully commercialised the “PMG17”, a ground-breaking enabling technology for industrial wireless networks. WEEE directive-compliant, this flagship microgenerator, converts unused mechanical vibrations into electrical energy, enough to power industrial wireless systems used for applications, such as wireless condition monitoring. Harvesting power locally makes the wireless system independent from the use of batteries or mains power and drastically reduces installation and maintenance cost.

A project based on wireless technology will usually cost 50% to 70% less than its equivalent wired option. The “PMG17” used in wireless condition monitoring systems enables the realization of those cost savings and opens up the market for many wireless network implementations, even in most hazardous environments, due to its intrinsically safe design and ATEX (zone 0) certification. Companies can now lower their total cost of ownership without compromising the value they expect to receive in return. The environmental benefits of monitoring industrial motors for efficiency loss are potentially massive. For example, according to the U.S. DOE, the establishment of a reliable, robust and affordable wireless sensor technology to monitor and improve the efficiency of industrial motors is expected to save an estimated 122 trillion Btus by 2020 (U.S. DOE 2004).

Perpetuum’s alternative power source, used to power wireless condition monitoring applications, is respecting the environment by assisting operators to monitor and improve the efficiency of industrial machinery. It contributes to the savings of energy costs for manufacturing cables for hard wired systems and eliminates any disposal issues of waste batteries.

The conference promotes and reinforces transatlantic dialogue between businesses, universities, research centers, investors and political leaders. Organizers observed a steep rise (nearly 70% increase) in the representation, gathering 200 key European and US Green Tech companies from 44 countries.