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Clear Solar Corporation
Techstars '25Hurley, US · 5 employees on LinkedIn · 1 known investors
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Clear Solar develops dust mitigation technology for solar panels that operates without water or harmful chemicals, drawing from aerospace engineering expertise. The company targets solar operators globally to improve panel efficiency and reduce operational costs.
Also known as Clear Solar · CLEAR SOLAR CORPORATION
Investors · 1
How we know: the Techstars portfolio · open dataset · Top 3000 Accelerator Startups (no YC) 2026-08 · Not right? Tell us
Company profile
researched Sep 2026Clear Solar Corporation develops ClearAdvantage, a dust mitigation system for solar panels based on electrodynamic dust shield (EDS) technology. The system integrates a thin, laser-etched metallic film with the solar panel cover glass and uses proprietary electronics to deliver phased voltage pulses that electrostatically charge and dislodge dust particles, transporting them off the panel surface by way of a controlled traveling-wave electric field. It is described as a transparent performance layer embedded in the solar glass with no brushes or moving parts, requiring no water, and drawing a small portion of the electricity generated by the panel itself.
The company frames soiling as an operations and revenue problem for solar plants: it cites 36 million gallons of water used annually per gigawatt cleaned, roughly $200,000 in upfront cost for a typical robotic cleaning system, up to 60% potential annual energy yield reduction from unaddressed soiling in arid regions, and $529 billion in global solar revenue lost to soiling through 2035. Against these benchmarks, it claims ClearAdvantage enables daily autonomous cleaning, representing a 100x increase in cleaning frequency, a 1000x reduction in cleaning cost, and fully waterless operation. Beyond terrestrial solar, the company's website also presents a space-focused product area.
Clear Solar Corporation is registered as a US federal contractor with NAICS codes covering commercial and service industry machinery manufacturing (333310), all other miscellaneous electrical equipment and component manufacturing (335999, primary), and other scientific and technical consulting services (541690). It is classified as a corporate entity and for-profit manufacturer of goods and holds no 8(a), HUBZone or WOSB certifications.
Founding story
Clear Solar was founded by Michael Provenzano, a Carnegie Mellon University Tepper School of Business alumnus, and Cedric Corpa de la Fuente of the Institut superieur d'electronique et du numerique. The team describes applying dust mitigation techniques developed for lunar mission engineering challenges to terrestrial solar energy.
Business model
Clear Solar sells ClearAdvantage as a hardware product integrated into solar module cover glass, positioned as an alternative to recurring manual cleaning contracts and capital-intensive robotic cleaning systems. The company's site markets to solar asset owners and operators via demo requests, and it is registered as a US federal contractor and classified as a for-profit manufacturer of goods.
Traction
Selected into the Carnegie Mellon VentureBridge '25 cohort of 14 startups in June 2025, which included investment from the program, and presented at the cohort's New York City demo day attended by over 100 investors and CMU supporters. The team cites over 50 years of combined industry experience, five years of direct EDS experience, and a $90M+ space robotics portfolio built across members' careers. Federal contractor registration is active with zero awards recorded.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Clear Solar is an early-stage cleantech company operating in the solar operations and maintenance segment, competing with manual and water-based panel cleaning services and robotic cleaning systems. It has no recorded federal contract awards to date.
ClearAdvantage is positioned against two incumbent approaches to panel soiling: periodic manual or truck-roll cleaning, which the company argues cannot keep pace with dust accumulation and consumes large volumes of water, and robotic cleaning systems, which it characterizes as costly (around $200,000 upfront) and only partially effective. The EDS approach has no brushes or moving parts, uses no water or chemicals, is embedded in the panel glass rather than mounted on top of it, and draws power from the panel itself, enabling daily rather than weekly or quarterly cleaning.
Technology
The core technology is an electrodynamic dust shield (EDS): a thin, laser-etched metallic film laminated with the solar panel cover glass, driven by proprietary electronics that apply precise, phased voltage pulses. These pulses electrostatically charge dust particles and move them off the surface via a controlled traveling-wave electric field, without water, chemicals, brushes or moving parts, powered by a small fraction of the panel's own generated electricity. The approach derives from dust mitigation engineering developed for lunar missions.
Go-to-market
The company's website solicits demo requests from prospective customers and operates a quarterly newsletter, and it references partners on its homepage. It participated in Carnegie Mellon University's VentureBridge 2025 accelerator, pitching to investors at a New York City demo day during a16z's NY Tech Week. It is also registered in the US federal contracting system, positioning it for public-sector procurement.
Solar energy asset owners and operators, including utility-scale solar farms facing soiling losses and high cleaning water use; commercial, institutional and federal facility segments are indicated by its federal contractor registration. The company also addresses space applications.
Geography
Headquartered in Hurley, New York (congressional district 19); the CMU VentureBridge listing also gives Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Rochester, New York as company locations. The company describes its addressable problem as global solar output losses.
History
Clear Solar Corporation is based in Hurley, New York, with the CMU VentureBridge listing citing locations in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Rochester, New York. The company registered in the US federal System for Award Management on 2025-01-09, with activation recorded 2025-11-17 and registration expiring 2026-11-13, under UEI DV2ECPZ5Z1X9 and CAGE code 0QPP5. In June 2025 it was announced as one of 14 startups in Carnegie Mellon University's VentureBridge '25 cohort, making its public debut at the program's Demo Day in New York City. As of the sources, the company reports no federal contract awards.
Risks & controversies
The company has no federal contract award history despite its contractor registration, and its site describes ClearAdvantage as technology it is building, indicating the product is still under development.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Related companies · 2
Companies working in the same space as Clear Solar Corporation.
Timeline · 2
launches, deals, and filingsClear Solar Corporation was named one of 14 startups receiving investment through Carnegie Mellon University's VentureBridge 2025 funding cycle, and pitched at the program's first Demo Day in New York City during a16z's NY Tech Week.
SAM registration recorded for CLEAR SOLAR CORPORATION (UEI DV2ECPZ5Z1X9, CAGE 0QPP5), with SAM activation on 2025-11-17 and an expiration date of 2026-11-13. Primary NAICS 335999, with 333310 and 541690 also listed. No federal awards recorded.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Clear Solar Corporationclearsolarco.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Clear Solar Corporation do?
- Clear Solar builds ClearAdvantage, a waterless electrodynamic dust shield embedded in solar panel glass to clean panels autonomously.
- Who are Clear Solar Corporation's investors?
- Clear Solar Corporation's investors include Techstars.
- Where is Clear Solar Corporation headquartered?
- Clear Solar Corporation is headquartered in Hurley, US.