Rehovot, Israel, July 10, 2013 – Pentalum Technologies, which develops the SpiDAR, a cost effective wind Light Detection and Ranging system (LiDAR) for remote sensing of wind, announced today that it has received a strategic investment from GE Ventures, the investment arm of GE one of the world’s leading suppliers of wind turbines. The new investment will be used to support Pentalum's continued development and market penetration of its innovative LiDAR systems for wind turbine control.
“GE’s broad expertise in energy and power generation, coupled with its strong position as a leading wind turbine supplier, will enable us to expand the development of Pentalum’s Nacelle mounted SpiDAR,” said Sagie Tsadka, Co-Founder and CEO of Pentalum. “GE Ventures’ decision to invest in Pentalum furthers our confidence in our development path, and will assist us in bringing our cost effective Nacelle SpiDAR to a leading position in existing and future models of wind turbines.”
For GE, Pentalum represents a best-in-class wind measurement technology that is low cost enough to drive mass market adoption. It has the potential to reduce the cost of energy by optimizing energy capture and mitigating mechanical loading due to extreme wind events through an optical wind remote sensing innovation which utilizes an accurate, low cost, low powered laser-based system, thus enabling cost effective, higher efficiency wind turbines.
Colleen Calhoun, senior executive director, GE Ventures- Energy said, “GE Ventures seeks out partners that are disrupting industries and that can help us fulfill our mission to make the world work better – to build, power, move and cure. Pentalum’s SpiDAR is a cutting-edge approach to wind turbine technology, allowing increased global penetration of wind energy and aligns well with GE’s ecomagination initiative.”
About Pentalum
Pentalum develops the SpiDAR(®) - an innovative, cost-effective pulse wind LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) system, for remote sensing of wind. The SpiDAR's unique architecture enables the use of common, reliable components, allowing Pentalum to maintain lower production costs. The SpiDAR system targets all three main wind farm applications: wind resource assessment, wind turbine control and wind forecasting. Pentalum is committed to providing its customers with advanced wind sensing technology and high quality engineering support.
About GE Ventures
GE Ventures is committed to identifying, scaling and accelerating ideas that will make the world work better. Focused on the areas of software, advanced manufacturing, energy and healthcare, GE Ventures helps entrepreneurs and start-ups succeed by providing access to GE’s technical expertise, capital and opportunities for commercialization through GE’s global network of business, customers and partners. GE Ventures offers an unparalleled level of resources through its Global Research Center, including: 35,000 engineers; 5,000 research scientists; 8,000 software professionals; as well as 40,000 sales, marketing and development resources in over 100 countries. For more information, please visit http://www.ge.com/company/ge-ventures.