Danielle Fong (BSc’05) is the child prodigy who began her Dalhousie studies at age 12. In 2008, she co-founded LightSail Energy in Berkeley, CA. The company has been developing technology that could solve the world’s green energy storage problem.

Fong’s innovative approach to storing renewable energy involves compressed air. She believes that capturing the excess heat from the compression process is the quickest and cleanest way to store energy.

The team at LightSail has considerable support, including $70 million from Bill Gates and other high-profile investors.

LightSail charts its course

Fong and her team have faced challenges in bringing their idea to life. The 10-year window for initial investors to withdraw is approaching, and the capital needed to commercialize the technology is becoming harder to find.

“It takes a long time to develop this hardware tech,” Fong says.

“It isn’t like an app. From inception to commercial product for a hardware innovation in energy takes eight years. So, for a venture-funded, energy-tech company, you have a margin of perhaps only two years. To make it in time, you must survive many crashes.”

Still, Fong remains optimistic about what LightSail has accomplished.

“Ultimately, what we’ve gotten done has gotten us to within striking distance of commercializing two breakthrough products in four years: compressed-air energy storage, and gas storage, each in multibillion-dollar markets, each in crying need of a solution.”

Read more in “Energy-Storage Startup LightSail Plots Long-Term Game Plan” on wsj.com.

Photo Credit: Cody Pickens