Jun 22 2009
KONE Inc. (OMX: KNEBV), one of the world’s leading elevator and escalator companies, and Power Efficiency Corporation (OTCBB:PEFF), a clean tech company focused on efficiency technologies for electric motors, announced today that they signed an agreement to launch the digital EcoStart®, to be included in new and modernized escalators, and offered to customers as a retrofit option.
The KONE EcoStart is a unique motor efficiency controller that incorporates Power Efficiency’s proprietary E-Save Technology® to improve the efficiency of electric motors in escalators. The EcoStart is a complete motor control device that soft starts a motor, bringing it from rest to full speed, and then protects the motor from adverse conditions, such as voltage and amperage spikes. Furthermore, when the motor is operating at full speed, Power Efficiency’s E-Save Technology in the EcoStart monitors the motor and improves its efficiency, typically reducing energy consumption by 20-35%. The EcoStart is manufactured by Power Efficiency Corporation exclusively for KONE.
KONE and Power Efficiency have worked together with the analog version of the EcoStart on several high profile retrofit projects, including Denver International Airport, Boston Logan International Airport and a host of malls and department stores. The new digital EcoStart provides many improvements over the analog version, enabling it to be used in place of existing “standard” motor starting systems. The release of the digital EcoStart comes after approximately a year of the companies working together on extensive product development and testing.
As a result of the advantages of the digital EcoStart, KONE plans to include the digital EcoStart on new and modernized escalators, as well as for retrofit projects. The companies already have several large customers planning retrofit and modernization projects.
Vance Tang, KONE EVP and Area Director for the Americas, commented, “KONE has always been a leader in improving the energy efficiency of vertical transportation systems. With our company-wide Eco-efficiency™ initiative, we have gone further by establishing energy efficiency as a corporate priority in our solutions and our own operations. We are therefore very pleased to partner with Power Efficiency to develop and offer our customers the digital EcoStart. It is a valuable offering that will lower the total cost of ownership for our customers.”
Steven Strasser, Chairman and CEO of Power Efficiency Corporation, said, “We are extremely pleased that KONE has selected Power Efficiency’s digital motor efficiency controller across their escalator business lines, as an important energy efficiency feature. Although we have worked with KONE on a number of projects in the past using our analog product, this agreement represents an important milestone for our company. After extensive due diligence, KONE has now integrated our digital controller into their escalator offerings under their proprietary brand. We look forward to working in partnership with KONE to address the need by their customers to use energy more efficiently and address climate change issues.”