About Patterson

With energy prices hovering near $70 a barrel, businesses, retailers and consumers are looking for ways to curb consumption and increase conservation. A University of Oklahoma inventor has a solution.

James Patterson, associate dean in OU’s College of Architecture, has developed new technology that limits the gain and/or loss of energy through building windows and skylights.

The patented automatic control system limits direct solar radiation while increasing light and decreasing heat, where energy is lost through windows and skylights. Particularly suited for “big box” retailers, the system is composed of vanes that open at sunrise, close at sunset and move in real time increments in between in response to changing sky conditions.

“Energy is the second largest cost for retail stores, which are the second largest group of users of energy nationally, and is expected to increase by 17 percent by 2010,” Patterson explains. “Building owners and users need a new approach to conserve energy in existing and new facilities.”

Patterson is a co-founder of SOL Inc., an OU spin-off company that produces the SOL-HOSS system, an application of the patented technology to horizontal skylights.

Spinoff Company Connection
SOL Inc.