Skyline Solar gets fast-tracked

Skyline's patent covers its trough technology.

Concentrating photovoltaic startup Skyline Solar says it’s one of the first companies to receive a patent under a federal program designed to hustle greentech companies through the patent process.

The patent covers the “fundamental architecture” of Skyline’s technology, says vice president of marketing Tim Keating—metal-paneled, dual-trough solar systems that Mountain View-based Skyline says yield about 30 percent more energy with faster assembly and less environmental impact than traditional systems.

In late 2009, the U.S. Patent and Trademark office launched the fast-track program, intending to speed up the patent process for 3,000 already-filed patents, shortening the average 40-month wait by about one year. Eligible patents were required to focus on one of four areas: environmental quality, renewable energy development, energy conservation or greenhouse gas emissions reductions.

For a company like Skyline, which was granted its patent in May, about 10 weeks after it was accepted into the program, having a patent removes uncertainty for potential customers and investors, Keating says. “For a young company, getting a patent is an onerous and arduous task,” he says. “It’s normally very slow and there’s always a lot of uncertainty.”

Skyline was founded in 2007, and rolled out of stealth mode in 2009. Last year, the company also fired up a 27-kilowatt pilot project, and began commercial production of its systems’ racking and structural components.