Renovo Power Technology develops new electrical inverters

Renovo Power Technology has started to gain some traction with its alternative energy technology and is aiming to pick up speed next year. The downtown Ann Arbor-based company makes advanced inverters that help transition energy from solar panels to the electric grid. Its transformerless inverter technology gets rid of the copper coils of traditional transformers and replaces them with electronics that are both more efficient and cheaper to manufacture. Normal five kilowatt inverters weigh 150 pounds. Renovo Power Technology's inverters are less than 60 pounds. "This is like going from your old tube TV to the your flat panel LCD, an analog device to a digital device," says Shane LaHousse, vice president of operations for Renovo Power Technology. The company currently has a staff of four employees, three independent contractors and one intern. One-hundred-and-twenty-five projects across North America have used Renovo Power Technolgy's inverters over the last year. "We expect that in 2014 to at least triple if not quadruple that number," LaHousse says. Source: Shane LaHousse, vice president of operations for Renovo Power Technology Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.