A portion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds are funneled through the SBIR program to support small business innovation research, development, and deployment of clean energy technologies. Redwood was selected as one of six companies to receive the funding.
Mark Covaro, co-founder and chief technology officer of Redwood Systems, said: “We are honored to be amongst such an elite group of companies to be awarded this grant. The Department of Energy has done an exceptional job driving both new, pioneering research and development in LED technology, as well as funding innovations to bring these technologies through to market readiness.
“Support from the DOE will allow us to enhance the design of our commercial building lighting platforms that promise to significantly lower energy costs.”
The SBIR grants support scientific excellence and technological innovation. The program will assist in the development and commercialization of Redwood’s technology, the company said.
The company claimed that utilization of Redwood’s technology, which combines both two-way communications and sensors for motion, temperature and light level sensors at every fixture, offers the potential to save 50% to 75% of the energy used to light a commercial building.
As a recipient of the SBIR Phase I grant, Redwood will have the opportunity to further develop this systems architecture by applying for Phase II funding expected later this year.
