It speaks loudly to a company's prospects when it wins the award for the most promising technology, as voted by an audience of about 900 clean tech-savvy people.

 Ener-G-Rotors did just that. The startup company from Schenectady, N.Y. won the Most Promising Technology Award at the Cleantech Forum held last week in San Francisco, where nearly 20 companies pitched their innovations to an audience comprised of investors, innovators and business owners in the clean tech sector.

The company develops commercial devices that capture low-grade, low-temperature waste heat into electricity, opening up a new market in waste heat, solar thermal and geothermal installations. Turning waste heat into energy isn’t a new idea, but the company claims to be one of the only ones to create cost-effective solutions by placing energy-efficient expanders next to the heat source. The patented round gears  <a href="http://www.ener-g-rotors.com/technology.htm">(trochoidal gear expanders)</a> then can turn low temperature heat – anywhere between 150 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit – into electricity at the 0.5kW to 50kW level.

It is estimated that combined heat and power plants, industrial processes and commercial buildings in the United States generate nearly 15 quadrillion BTUs of waste heat every year. That represents $7 billion in sales opportunities. By harnessing that low-grade heat could heat, this country could heat every U.S. residence for three years, said CEO Michael Newell.

Newell said that companies that purchase Ener-G-Rotors’ equipment can pay back their investments in less than three years. The growing company is still in the startup phase, but it expects to gain $15 million in revenue by 2011, making it not only a winner in the eyes of a knowledgeable audience, but also a potential winner for investors.