I attended this very interesting event at EPFL on Friday Nov. 2nd, 2007.
What came out of the speaker presentations was clearly that success is more often than not very close to failure. The two companies involved in the solar energy market, as machine manufacturer (www.3-s.ch) and PV solar cell manufacturer (www.flexcell.com), had to reinvent their business models several times in the late 90’s early 2000’s as the market did not pick up. Thanks to the rapid growth emerging from 2002 onwards they survived and now thrive.
Nothing new, obviously, to many entrepreneurs. It is difficult, if not impossible to get in the market exactly at the right time - not too early with the risk of running out of cash, not too late with the risk of being left aside. It was certainly hard to predict how fast alternative energies could ramp up back then, although debates about Peak Oil have been ongoing for a while but without consensus.
The two start-ups have shown two fundamental qualities that made them survive: frugality and flexibility. They kept very low running costs and reajusted their model as needed. Congratulations and a good reminder of good practices!
As an interesting market information, it is now expected that solar energy will cost less to produce than other traditional sources of energy by 2010-2012. There is still room for exponential growth ahead!
The pitches of young researchers and entrepreneurs confirmed that a variety of solutions were being developed to make clean energies more efficient and cost-effective. Among them, smart energy storage solutions for private consumers and as an efficiency tool for energy producers (elected best project by the audience), the combination of electric motors and solar energy, or smart ways to recycle CO2 and actually produce energy from this recycling.
I found the variety and the quality of research emerging from EPFL on these topics amazing. It probably signals the overall intensity of the research going on around the world. As an entrepreneur, you do not want to be left out. As an investor, you want to intensify your investments in that field, although some form of bubble will undoubtly develop and there will be a time to get selective.
So watch out, we will come back soon with more insight on Energy and Cleantech, as well as other environment-friendly technologies such as water treatment that emerges as a phenomenal growth industry- while a huge worldwide challenge as well.
In the meantime, here is an interested report on Cleantech from 3I, the next technology revolution.
Jean-Philippe Lallement
