The distinguished visitors toured Earl Energy’s manufacturing facilities and witnessed pre-delivery testing of Earl Energy’s 60 kilowatt FlexGen™ systems.  The FlexGens will be delivered to an Army customer for deployment to Navy Special Warfare Village Stability Platforms in Afghanistan.

The Secretary’s visit was covered by various local and national news publications.

The Daily Press, The Virginian-Pilot, Wavy 10 Coverage

 About Earl Energy

Earl Energy is an energy systems engineering and product development company that designs, builds, installs, and services off-grid power generation, energy management, and energy storage solutions to government and commercial customers. Based in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Earl Energy is owned and led by veterans and has offices in Durham and Houston.

In addition to Virginia Beach, Earl Energy maintains offices in Raleigh, Houston, and San Diego.

About Earl Energy

Earl Energy is an energy systems engineering and product development company that designs, builds, installs, and services off-grid power generation, energy management, and energy storage solutions to government and commercial customers. Based in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Earl Energy is owned and led by veterans and has offices in Durham and Houston.

The 60 kilowatt FlexGen™ is designed to support CJSOTF-A’s Village Stability Platforms and Security Force Assistance Teams (SFAT) in Afghanistan.  Continued deliveries of these high power efficiency systems to the Army Rapid Equipping Force will extend through 2012.

“We are encouraged to reach this milestone” said Stewart Thomason, Director of Expeditionary Programs.  “Delivery of this game-changing technology to CJSOTF marks the beginning of reducing the logistical burden on our Special Operations warfighters in remote Afghanistan.”

About Earl Energy

Earl Energy is an energy systems engineering and product development company that designs, builds, installs, and services off-grid power generation, energy management, and energy storage solutions to government and commercial customers. Based in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Earl Energy is owned and led by veterans and has offices in Durham and Houston.

The FlexGens will significantly reduce the Navy SEALs’ fuel and maintenance burden on the battlefield.  The 3 kilowatt system specifically supports rapid response operations deployed and resupplied by rotary wing aircraft.  Naval Special Warfare is leading the military’s “Net Zero” initiative to deploy energy efficiency technologies which will increase its operational flexibility and decrease its reliance on costly fuel logistics.

About Earl Energy

Earl Energy is an energy systems engineering and product development company that designs, builds, installs, and services off-grid power generation, energy management, and energy storage solutions to government and commercial customers. Based in Portsmouth, Virginia, Earl Energy is owned and led by veterans and has operations in Durham and Coronado.

The REF’s Energy to the Edge (E2E) Program targeted FlexGen’s ability to dramatically reduce fuel consumption, emissions, maintenance, noise and vibrations while increasing generator lifecycles by up to five times and maintaining 100% power reliability. Rugged and reliable, FlexGen’s energy storage and power control components are easily adaptable, both electrically and physically, to fit into any available volume and any off grid application – meeting energy requirements at remote, austere locations that are difficult to support logistically, while reducing the Army’s dependence on ground and aerial resupply operations.

About Earl Energy

Earl Energy is an energy systems integrator that designs, builds, installs, and services off-grid power generation, energy management, and energy storage solutions to government and commercial customers. Based in Portsmouth, Virginia, Earl Energy is owned and led by veterans.

Earl Energy’s FlexGen™ provides simple integration with the full array of MIL-SPEC and COTS generators on the battlefield, providing mission critical power where the grid does not exist. These systems are modular, configurable, and retrofitted to perform with any diesel generator; dramatically reducing fuel consumption, emissions, maintenance, noise and vibrations while increasing generator lifecycles by up to five times and maintaining 100% power reliability. These rugged energy storage and power control units are easily adaptable, both electrically and physically, to fit into any available volume and any off-grid application.

About Earl Energy

Earl Energy is an energy systems integrator that designs, builds, installs, and services off-grid power generation, energy management, and energy storage solutions to government and commercial customers. Based in Portsmouth, Virginia, Earl Energy is owned and led by veterans.

By now, many people are familiar with the vision of a smart electrical grid and its promised improvements to our current outdated national power infrastructure.  Intelligently transporting, storing, and managing the electricity produced by everything from nuclear power plants to rooftop solar panels can deliver enormous efficiencies that should hopefully show up in the form of lower electricity bills for consumers and businesses.

Fewer people may be aware that the Research Triangle is fast becoming the “Silicon Valley” of the smart grid.  Energy technology companies large and small are ramping up investment in the area, attracted not only by the commercial leadership of Duke Energy and industrial automation powerhouse, ABB, but also the academic achievements of NCSU in smart grid research and development.  NCSU’s FREEDM Center, selected as the National Science Foundation’s Engineering Research Center for Future Electric Energy Delivery and Management, is just one manifestation of the region’s growing reputation for world-class smart grid innovation and engineering talent.

Innovation and talent are crucial, because the technology required to deliver on the smart grid promise is revolutionary.  High-voltage direct current power lines, solid-state silicon carbide transformers, large-scale lithium ion batteries, and complex software to instantaneously direct the flow of not just electrons, but prices, across the entire system – each represents a significant leap ahead from today’s state-of-the-art.  As you can imagine, that type of innovation does not come cheap, and because the scale of the national power grid is so vast, the cost and risk of implementing even select electrical infrastructure improvements is massive.  In fact, those costs and risks have become a significant barrier to the widespread adoption of energy technologies and therefore, a constraint on the growth of the Research Triangle’s smart grid industry.

Fortunately, several leading energy technology companies in the area have found another important market for their smart grid products, ironically, “off-grid.”  The off-grid energy market is largely overlooked in North America and Europe because of the availability and reliability of grid power, but nearly one-quarter of the world’s population and many of the largest industrial enterprises on the planet operate off the grid – relying mainly on generators for electricity.  Deployed military forces, ships at sea, oil and gas rigs, both on and off shore, and mining and construction operations all depend on expensive off-grid power, which can cost anywhere from 50 cents to $2 for a kilowatt hour of electricity, compared to the 3 to 15 cents we pay here at home.  The high costs are driven by the expense of transporting fuel, spare parts, and maintenance personnel to remote sites, and in some cases, securing supply lines through hostile or criminal territories.  And, those costs are rising as both fuel prices and environmental regulations mount.

As you can imagine, where energy comes at a high premium, energy efficiency is highly valued.  Off-grid industrial consumers are demanding ever-better efficiencies from their power generation and management systems, and the smart grid technologies being developed in the Research Triangle’s labs are finding immediate commercial application in off-grid energy systems.  Solar panels, power converters, and lithium ion batteries originally intended for the grid, for instance, are being packaged as deployable energy systems for the military in Afghanistan, where they not only reduce costs, but save lives by reducing fuel supply convoys.  Similarly, oil and gas companies are incorporating battery storage into their existing power systems to cut down on fuel consumption and hazardous emissions, especially in environmentally sensitive areas.

In addition to providing early-stage revenue for emerging smart grid companies, these types of off-grid applications also provide a competitive proving ground for innovative energy technologies trying to make their way to the grid.  As such, the off-grid market is performing a critical function for the Research Triangle’s burgeoning smart grid industry.  With continued investment and development, off-grid can lead us to the smart grid.

Josh Prueher is CEO of an energy technology startup called Earl Energy, headquartered in Hampton Roads, Va. The company is opening a research site on N.C. State University’s Centennial Campus.

About Earl Energy

Earl Energy is an energy systems integrator that designs, builds, installs, and services off-grid power generation, energy management, and energy storage solutions to government and commercial customers. Based in Portsmouth, Virginia, Earl Energy is owned and led by veterans.

The Hybrid Warrior: Meet a former Navy SEAL who’s working to save fuel—and lives—on the battlefield.

Take one Navy SEAL; add an MIT materials-science degree and a Harvard MBA. Result: one ass-kicking entrepreneur. Meet Doug Moorehead, a sharp, athletic guy from Cambridge, Ohio, whose military service took him to Iraq, South America, the Persian Gulf, and the South China Sea. Today, at 37 and retired from the special forces, he’s the president of clean-tech startup Earl Energy, where he’s using his unique skill set to develop a cheap solar-diesel generator that slashes fuel requirements on the battlefield.

Moorehead got interested in energy efficiency in Iraq.  “I’d see huge generators running all the time yet powering very little,” he says. He also spent countless hours guarding fuel convoys. Carting diesel to remote bases in Iraq and Afghanistan can cost $35 a gallon or more, and one US soldier is killed or injured for every 24 fuel convoys.

To reduce fuel requirements, Moorehead’s new generator uses solar panels, but the really big savings come from a battery module. Instead of going constantly, the diesel engine only has to run for short bursts at maximum efficiency to recharge the batteries. “We take it from running 24 hours down to four or five hours a day,” says Moorehead, who worked for lithium-ion-battery giant A123 Systems before launching Earl Energy.

When the US Marine Corps tested his 18-kilowatt hybrid generator in the Mojave Desert, it cut fuel use by 93 percent. The Corps is now using a pair to power two frontline command centers in Afghanistan. The SEALs recently ordered several units. Fuel savings should pay for the devices in about five months. If trials go well, the US military could soon be using thousands of the generators. Moorehead is also developing a megawattscale system for the commercial shipping industry. For companies hesitant to try his tech, the special-ops vet says he has ways of making them reconsider.

About Earl Energy

Earl Energy is an energy systems integrator that designs, builds, installs, and services off-grid power generation, energy management, and energy storage solutions to government and commercial customers. Based in Portsmouth, Virginia, Earl Energy is owned and led by veterans

Earl Energy recently launched a marine series of its FlexGen™ systems and is currently manufacturing a 99kW FlexGen™ for a Vane Brothers tank barge.  Installation and full system operation is expected before the end of the year.

During his presentation, Earl Energy President, Doug Moorehead highlighted the FlexGen’s combination of advanced power conversion technologies, electrical energy storage, and energy management — a fully loaded package, easily retrofitted in any austere, off-grid environment that easily reduces fuel consumption of diesel generators by 60-70%.  Through this hybridization and optimization of existing diesel generators and the integration of renewable power generation technologies, where tactically and operationally relevant, FlexGen™ maximizes economic return on investment and further reduces industries’ dependence on diesel fuel.

“Workboat and ocean going maritime operators are leading the way in adopting new technologies to reduce the consumption of diesel fuel, saving costs and reducing emissions.  By adopting FlexGen technology, maritime operators can reduce the consumption of diesel fuel by over 60%”

The ECOference reached approximately 400 participants, including regional decision makers; leaders from military commands and the marine and shipping industry; government contractors; representatives from the nascent wind energy industry; ODU students and faculty; and interested citizens.

About Earl Energy

Earl Energy is an energy systems engineering and product development company that designs, builds, installs, and services off-grid power generation, energy management, and energy storage solutions to government and commercial customers. Based in Portsmouth, Virginia, Earl Energy is owned and led by veterans.

Imagine a busy U.S. military outpost in remote Afghanistan. Where does it plug in its lights, computers, radios and other equipment?

Typically, such off-grid operations get their juice from diesel generators, notorious for guzzling fuel, polluting the air and generally making a terrible racket.

But last year, the Department of Defense enlisted a local recruit to make the battlefield more energy-efficient.

Reporting for duty: FlexGen.

The energy management system, designed by Portsmouth-based Earl Energy, is helping the Navy and Marines reduce fuel consumption and shrink their carbon footprint.

It will soon do the same for the maritime industry, said Doug Moorehead, Earl Energy COO and a former Navy SEAL with graduate degrees in business and engineering from Harvard and MIT.

Put simply, the FlexGen system is an industrial-strength charger that’s powered by a lithium-ion battery. Roughly the size of a large microwave oven, the system connects to a diesel generator and provides a cleaner, thriftier, safer energy source.

“We efficiently operate that generator to squeeze as much electrical power out of every drop of diesel fuel as we possibly can,” said Moorehead, who will discuss the technology at ODU’s ECOnference on April 10.

FlexGen’s first maritime client is Vane Brothers, a company with headquarters in Baltimore and locations in Norfolk, Philadelphia, Charleston and New York. Vane will use the system for diesel generators on its tank barges, which deliver fuel all along the Eastern seaboard and down into the Caribbean, said Mason Keeter, Vane’s general manager for Hampton Roads and Moorehead’s co-presenter at the ECOnference.

The generators power lights, hydraulics, heaters, televisions and other equipment aboard the vessels.

“Currently we have manned barges; the guys live on the barge,” Keeter said. “They have generators that provide electricity. With the FlexGen system, we’re going to be able to reduce the generator operating hours by 70 percent, which is significant to us because of the fuel savings, the wear and tear on the generators and less pollution we put into the air.”

The system will also reduce noise levels as the barges idle and operate near residential areas, he said.

Keeter estimated that the first FlexGen will board a Vane Brothers barge this summer.

“If this is successful on the barges, as we think it’s going to be,” he said, “we’ll probably be looking to use a similar system on our tugboats.”

The FlexGen technology can be adapted to a number of industries, such as mining, construction, oil exploration – anything that requires off-grid electricity, Moorehead said.

But the military, as the nation’s largest consumer of energy, started paving the way back in 2008, when the Defense Science Board released its report “More Fight – Less Fuel.” Noting that the military accounts for 78 percent of the government’s energy consumption, the report urged the Pentagon to explore renewable and alternative sources of energy.

The next year, Earl Energy was founded as an affiliate of Earl Industries. Its mission: designing products to help the military go green.

An early prototype, EARLCON – Energy at Remote Locations-Container – has since evolved into the FlexGen system.

Initially used at U.S. Marine Corps combat operations centers in Afghanistan, the technology helped wean the centers from diesel generators by up to 70 percent.

This February, the Navy SEALs awarded a contract to Earl Energy.

“We’re not trying to reduce the fuel consumption of tanks or Humvees or any sort of transportation vehicle,” Moorehead said. “It’s really that diesel generator out on the battlefield that’s powering lights, radios, the galley they’re cooking their food from. Those generators are running 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with very poor energy utilization.”

Compared with the average American’s $3.50-a-gallon woes, the military’s diesel consumption ends up costing nearly eight times as much when all is said and done, Moorehead said. And it’s not just a matter of saving money or protecting the environment; it’s about protecting troops and civilians.

“Just the number of people that are killed in fuel re-supplies in the battlefield – and the cost of that fuel,” Moorehead said. “That gallon of diesel fuel, by the time it gets to that generator in northern Afghanistan, there’s a latent cost in getting there. We complain about gas at $3.50 a gallon right now. Well, that diesel gas is going in that generator at $13.50 a gallon or $23.50 a gallon – what they call a ‘fully burdened cost of fuel.’

“There are roadside bombs; the logistics of war are just atrocious. If you think about a technology that can reduce consumption of a generating asset by 60 to 80 percent, if you were to implement that across an operational energy landscape in a combat theater, for every 100 fuel convoys, you can now do only 40, that’s a significant enabler of that operation.”

About Earl Energy

Earl Energy is an energy systems engineering and product development company that designs, builds, installs, and services off-grid power generation, energy management, and energy storage solutions to government and commercial customers. Based in Portsmouth, Virginia, Earl Energy is owned and led by veterans.