STG’s business development team, working to support our partner organizations as they enter their respective markets, has received two awards for their Lesotho-based business plan: 2nd place at the ASME I-Show and 2nd place in the MIT 100K Business Plan Competition (Development Track).

We would like to formally congratulate STG president Matt Orosz for his recent appointment as a 2009 Fulbright Scholar. His work over the next year will include a technical and economic feasibility analysis of the use of STG’s Solar ORC technology in the greater Southern Africa.

In cooperation with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the team has been awarded two grants to support installation of a new system at a clinic in Lesotho during 2009. We would like to thank the EPA P3 program (Phase II Award (2009)) and NCIIA (2008 Sustainable Vision Grant) for their generous support.

STG has officially recieved designation as a 501(c)3 Public Charity as of November, 2008. We are now accepting charitable donations from individuals and organizations within the Massachusetts, New York, and Maryland and working to expand to other states. For more information, please see our FAQs.

The STG field team recently completed a trip to Lesotho during August 2008. Through a partnership with the Appropriate Technology Services (ATS) of Lesotho, preparation for a pilot installation at a health care center outside of Maseru has been put in motion. Engineers at ATS, already trained in construction of the solar troughs, are in the materials sourcing phase, and construction should begin before the end of the year. This system will be sized to provide approximately 3kW of electrical power (continuous during daylight hours, with battery storage for nighttime use) and up to several hundred liters of hot water per day. Discussions are ongoing with the Ministry of Health to finalize the choice of health care center, in order to coordinate with other projects underway in the health sector. The STG team will be returning to Lesotho during early 2009 to integrate the trough and engine components and to conduct further technology training. The system is expected to be operational by June 2009.

Pilot installations were also assessed during the STG team visit to Lesotho. Due to problems with vandalism, the Bethel High School installation was disassembled and donated to partner organization BBCDC for use in their Solar Energy course curriculum. The installation at Ha Teboho village has weathered more than 18 months in the field without problem, however theft of the system batteries is currently preventing the system from being fully functional. The team is working on an upgrade to the Ha Teboho system, along with the development of a security plan in cooperation with the villagers of Ha Teboho, and we hope to have this system back online sometime in 2009.

STG Director Amy Mueller was recently featured in the Technology Review Emerging Technologies Conference in September 2008.

STG team members, in conjunction with other students at MIT, were recently awarded an EPA P3 Grant for 2008-09.

In addition, STG team members received a small grant from the MIT Energy Initiaive’s Student Financial Assistance for Energy-Related Research, sponsored by TOTAL, along with a travel grant from MIT’s International Development Initiative (IDI).

Bryan Urban joined the STG Board of Directors in November 2007, bringing with him his experience as a mechanical engineer, in business and entrepreneurial work, and personal goals and visions for the direction of the organization. STG welcomes Bryan on board!

Sam White and Sorin Grama resigned from STG’s Board of Directors to pursue a promising opportunity in renewable energy distribution in India. STG wishes them well in their future work and invites you to check out what they are doing at www.promethean-power.com.

In early 2007, STG was awarded an NCIIA “Advanced E-Team” grant to continue development work on our technology. Read more at the NCIIA website.