SH Coatings LP, a Dallas based business, is competing in the U.S. Department of Energy's "America's Next Top Energy Innovator Challenge."
The competition allows Americans to vote online for the most promising start-up companies that are developing new products and businesses using technologies from the Department's national laboratories.
SH Coating employs Super Hydrophobic Coating (SHC) technology that protects power lines from inclement weather in areas threatened by ice storms. The coating is safe for the environment and can also be sprayed on trees and greenery to prevent ice build up. With the help of technology from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the company hopes to lessen economic damage and costs due to power outages.
America's Next Top Energy Innovator Challenge is part of the Obama Administration's Start-up America Initiative, an effort to promote high-growth innovation through agency action.
Based on public votes on the Department's website, the top companies will be invited to be featured at the 2012 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit at the end of February. The Summit is the premier annual gathering of clean energy investors and innovators across the country.
"Through the America's Next Top Innovator Challenge, we are unleashing start-up companies to do what they do best: create new products, new industries, and new jobs," said U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu in a press release provided by Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
SH Coatings is currently ranked sixth out of 13 start-ups nationwide. Voting ends February 7, 2012. You can cast your vote at the Department of Energy's website.
