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South Shore Entrepreneur; Clayton Handleman; Renewable Energy Powers His Company

Posted on: Wednesday, 21 September 2005, 21:00 CDT

By ANDREW LaVALLEE

The Patriot Ledger

HINGHAM Not many homes sport a full solar array in the back yard.

But after scanning the contents of Clayton Handleman's office bookshelf - "Practical Photovoltaics,""The Art of Electronics,""SPICE: A Guide to Circuit Simulation and Analysis Using PSpice" - it starts to make sense.

His Hingham firm, Heliotronics Inc., develops tools and software that measure solar and wind energy. They are used by schools, nonprofit groups and private companies to study everything from how much power their solar panels are generating to how geopolitics ties into energy consumption.

Handleman, 45, became interested in solar energy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, where he worked in defense research and development for seven years.

"I was on a fast-track career path there, but something got me thinking about renewable energy," he said. "I realized energy was where it's at."

In 1992, he left the Lincoln Lab to take a job at Ascension Technology, a now-defunct Waltham-based firm that developed energy products. Martin Schlecht, an MIT professor and consultant to the company, tutored him in making inverters, which are the devices that convert power from solar panels into alternating currents compatible with household wiring.

After the company lost funding and ceased operations, Handleman started Heliotronics out of his Hingham home in April 1998.

Heliotronics, which has one other employee, began by developing inverters, but shifted focus when large companies entered that market. Handleman, who holds a master's degree in physics from Purdue University, saw an opportunity instead in the analytical products that measure solar and wind power.

"Data monitoring was a good fit for my background," he said.

In 2003, Heliotronics received $750,000 from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to analyze solar power generated in 50 New York schools, then incorporate the information into the science curriculum for its students.

Teaching about the workings and benefits of solar energy is high on Handleman's priorities, and the software programs he has developed reflect this.

Sunviewer, for example, connects to a solar panel to show how sunlight, wind or ambient air temperature can generate energy. The display is similar to a speedometer, which helps Handleman explain the difference between power and energy. Power, like a car's speed, is constantly changing, while energy, like distance, is cumulative.

Depending on the class and grade level, educators use Sunviewer to flesh out different lessons. Elementary school math teachers use it to teach basic graphing skills, while high school and college classes explore more advanced data collection or discuss environmental issues.

"Solar energy encompasses far more than people usually think about," Handleman said. "Like water, you don't generally note it unless it's not there."

Later this fall, the company plans to install a collection of solar panels at Hingham High School that will be used in science classes. It will be paid for by the Hingham Municipal Lighting Plant.

Heliotronics has installed more than 100 systems across the country, from touchscreen kiosks at MIT in Cambridge to a lobby display at the Lower Colorado River Authority in Austin, Texas. After a settlement with state utility companies, Missouri installed nine Heliotronics systems in its schools and added six more shortly thereafter.

A small solar array costs about $15,000 to $30,000, with hardware and software adding $3,000 to $10,000, Handleman said.

Renewable-energy products are often purchased in a lump sum upfront rather than as they are used, like electricity, which is part of the reason their adoption in the United States has been slow, Handleman said. This year, however, promises to be Heliotronics' biggest in sales, he said. The cost of energy has become a hot topic of conversation, and more people are paying attention to renewable-energy sources.

"In an energy crisis, it's easy" to get people to think about what they're consuming, Handleman said. "You realize you've been taking it for granted."

Andrew LaVallee may be reached at alavallee@ledger.com.

Source: Patriot Ledger, The; Quincy, Mass.

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