Sunvapor

What Sunvapor does

Sunvapor, Inc. is an early-stage renewable energy technology company headquartered at 145 N. Sierra Madre Blvd., Pasadena, California, that develops concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP) systems for industrial process heat and water treatment. The company was co-founded by Philip Gleckman, a former member of Google's original renewable energy research team who holds over thirty patents, and Sue Gleckman; engineering is led by Director Brandon Hathaway, formerly of the University of Minnesota Solar Energy Laboratory. The product portfolio comprises three core technologies — Solar Steam (industrial process heat ranging from below 400°C to over 1000°C), Desalination (solar-powered treatment of challenging wastewater streams including oilfield produced water), and Thermal Energy Storage (extending operation beyond daylight hours) — delivered as turnkey Engineering, Procurement, Construction Management, Commissioning, and Operations & Maintenance projects.

Sunvapor sells custom turnkey industrial projects on a project-by-project basis to enterprise and mid-market industrial buyers, with revenue generated through one-time project contracts plus recurring managed services from ongoing O&M engagements. The go-to-market motion is direct enterprise field sales, requiring engineering-led sales cycles targeting customers that require high-temperature heat or specialized water treatment. The publicly disclosed customer engagements include a partnership with Horizon Nut for solar-thermal nut processing and a co-deployment with Southeast New Mexico College of the country's first solar desalination facility in Carlsbad, New Mexico, treating Permian Basin oilfield wastewater.

The firm's primary value proposition is replacing fossil-fuel-based industrial process heat (which as of 2014 supplied roughly 90% of U.S. manufacturing process heat energy and accounts for approximately one-third of U.S. energy-related CO2 emissions) with renewable solar-thermal alternatives, alongside addressing oilfield produced water management in the energy sector. Operationally, Sunvapor operates with 1-10 employees and has raised $1,500,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy (July 2019); no subsequent institutional or venture capital funding is disclosed.

Name

Sunvapor

Legal name

Sunvapor, Inc.

Website

https://sunvapor.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Sunvapor, Inc. is an early-stage Pasadena, California-based renewable energy company that develops concentrating solar-thermal power systems delivering industrial process heat and solar-powered desalination, sold as turnkey projects to industrial and oil & gas operators seeking to replace fossil fuel combustion.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Concentrating Solar-Thermal Industrial Systems

NAICS

Solar Electric Power Generation (221114)

SIC

Heating Equipment, Except Electric & Warm Air Furnaces (3433), Air-Cond & Warm Air Heatg Equip & Comm & Indl Refrig Equip (3585)

akta.pro primary industry

CSP Plant Development & EPC (Parabolic Trough, Tower, Linear Fresnel, Dish) (EUACAGAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

CSP Thermal Energy Storage & Heat Transfer Systems (Molten Salt, HTF, Receivers) (EUACAGAF), Solar Thermal & CSP Systems (Collectors, Receivers, Thermal Storage, CSP EPC) (EUAMABAL)

Keywords

• Concentrating solar power
• Industrial process heat
• Solar desalination
• Renewable thermal energy
• Turnkey solar projects

Headquarters

HQ city

Pasadena

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Turnkey Industrial Project Delivery: Sunvapor delivers custom industrial projects on an Engineering, Procurement, Construction Management, Commissioning, and Operations & Maintenance basis. Revenue is generated through project-based contracts for industrial solar-thermal installations and desalination plants.
2. Operations & Maintenance Services: Ongoing operations and maintenance services for deployed Sunvapor installations, providing recurring service revenue after project completion.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Sunvapor designs, builds, and operates concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP) systems that supply renewable process heat for industrial applications such as food processing, chemical production, and desalination, while also delivering solar-powered desalination plants and thermal energy storage. The company delivers these as custom turnkey projects encompassing engineering, procurement, construction management, commissioning, and ongoing operations & maintenance to enterprise customers.

Product overview

Sunvapor, Inc. is a renewable process heat technology company offering solar-thermal solutions. The product portfolio consists of three core technologies: Solar Steam (for industrial process heat), Desalination (for water purification using solar energy), and Thermal Energy Storage (for capturing and storing thermal energy). These technologies serve industrial applications including food processing, chemical production, and desalination. The company also provides Turnkey Industrial Projects as a comprehensive service offering encompassing engineering, procurement, construction management, commissioning, and operations & maintenance. Sunvapor's solutions target the industrial sector to replace fossil fuels with solar-thermal energy for manufacturing process heat.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Solar Steam Concentrating solar-thermal power systems that generate high-temperature steam for industrial process heat applications including food processing, chemical production, and desalination, operating at temperatures from below 400°C to over 1000°C to replace fossil fuels.
• Pilot Solar Desalination Facility (Carlsbad, New Mexico) Solar-powered desalination plant that treats oilfield wastewater (produced water), reduces disposal-well injection volumes, and enables purified water reuse for the Permian Basin, deployed as a pilot in partnership with Southeast New Mexico College.
• Thermal Energy Storage Energy storage system that captures and stores thermal energy from solar-thermal processes to enable continuous operation of Sunvapor's industrial systems beyond daylight hours.
• Turnkey Industrial Project Delivery Custom turnkey industrial project services covering front-end engineering design, procurement, construction management, commissioning, and ongoing operations & maintenance for solar-thermal and desalination installations delivered to enterprise customers.

Quantifiable outcome

• Replaces fossil fuels providing 90% of manufacturing process heat energy in the U.S. industrial sector (as of 2014)
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Southeast New Mexico CollegeflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 February 2026Sunvapor and Southeast New Mexico College partnered to develop and operate the country's first solar desalination facility in Carlsbad, New Mexico. The pilot plant treats oilfield wastewater (produced water) from the Permian Basin using solar energy. Southeast New Mexico College provides institutional partnership, regulatory liaison, and workforce support for the deployment of Sunvapor's solar desalination technology.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• GlassPoint Solar: GlassPoint builds enclosed trough-based solar steam generators for industrial applications, particularly oil & gas enhanced oil recovery. It is the closest comparable to Sunvapor because both deliver solar-generated steam/process heat to industrial customers on a turnkey EPC basis.
• Heliogen: Heliogen uses computer-vision-controlled concentrated solar thermal to deliver high-temperature renewable heat (and storage) for industrial processes. The technology profile (concentrated solar, high-temperature, industrial decarbonization) directly mirrors Sunvapor's.
• Industrial Solar GmbH: Industrial Solar supplies Fresnel-based solar process heat systems for industrial customers across food, chemical, and textile sectors. Comparable to Sunvapor in delivering turnkey solar-thermal installations to industrial process-heat buyers.
• Sopogy: Sopogy develops small- to medium-scale concentrating solar thermal systems for commercial, industrial, and utility customers, including process-heat applications. Its scale and customer profile closely match Sunvapor's early-stage deployments.
• BrightSource Energy: BrightSource develops utility-scale concentrated solar thermal (power tower) plants with thermal storage. While primarily utility-scale power, its core CSP technology and thermal-storage approach are technically comparable to Sunvapor's.

Emerging players

• Malta Inc. Malta builds pumped-heat thermal energy storage for grid and industrial customers, enabling dispatchable heat and power. It overlaps with Sunvapor's thermal-storage value proposition, though via a different storage mechanism and at grid scale.
• Cogenra Solar (SunPower predecessor): Cogenra (now part of SunPower / TotalEnergies) developed hybrid solar PV + thermal systems for commercial and industrial customers, including combined heat and power applications. It overlaps with Sunvapor in delivering solar thermal for industrial process heat.

Broad incumbents

• Acciona Energía: Acciona Energía is a large renewable energy developer with utility-scale CSP assets (e.g., Nevada Solar One). It is comparable to Sunvapor as a CSP incumbent with EPC capability, but at much larger scale and with utility power as its primary focus.
• SENER Solar: SENER is a Spanish engineering group that has been a key EPC and technology provider for utility-scale CSP plants (e.g., Gemasolar). Comparable as a CSP technology and EPC player, but operating at utility scale rather than industrial-heat scale.

Others

• Rampion / GRS Valves: Listed only as placeholder; omitted. (Replaced below with a more accurate peer.)

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sunvapor

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sunvapor