Sustaining solar energy systems isn't as easy as just absorbing the sun's heat. Just ask Dynalene, the Whitehall chemical manufacturer that has been developing a solution that is able to survive three states of matter transformation in the solar process. It's part of a line of renewable fluids and specialty fluids for the solar industry that are made from corn and specifically designed for solar (Dynalene MS-1) and geothermal (GeoClycol) applications.

The company, founded in 1993, develops, manufactures and distributes industrial heat transfer fluids and specializes in high performance coolants and industrial heat transfer fluids with temperature ranges from -170 F to 662 F. The fluids are formulated for nearly a dozen industries, including fuel cell, solar/geothermal, electronics and pharmaceuticals.

It is the energy applications, hnoever, that are generating much of the buzz around Dynalene. A $55,000 grant from Ben Franklin Technology Partners Alternative and Clean Energy Applied Research Fundin the spring of 2009 enabled the company to take its first steps toward commercial production of Dynalene FC, the fuel cell coolant technology it's developing in a partnership with Lehigh University.

A year later, the company earned a $41,146 grant from Ben Franklin to expand planned production of its "liquid salt"--Dynalene MS-1--solution that will be used to more effectively turn sunlight into steam-powered energy. The funding has helped fast-track Dynalene's progress and put it on a path for potentially tremendous growth in a still un-tapped market. Dynalene, which already distributes products worldwide, anticipates the sustainable energy marketplace will drive demand for its solution and it will have to add employees quickly to keep up.