Local company specializes in emergency relief

After working in environmental science and green energy for years, Complete Energy Systems CEO Harvey Katz and his business partner, Claudia Iovino, decided to use their experience to give to those lacking basic human necessities.

The pair formed CES in 2008 in Florida, Katz's native state, before relocating to Pflugerville in November 2011. The company creates small utility trailers that provide energy to people in foreign countries who do not have access to electricity. Each Mobile Power Station, or MPS, is equipped with lighting, refrigeration, water purifiers and cookers and runs on solar and wind energy.

"People who have never seen a light bulb can't believe it, they don't know what [the unit] is," Katz said. "It's a complete system."

CES shipped its first trailer to Zimbabwe in 2010 and is in the process of taking a second unit to the Philippines to help victims of Typhoon Haiyan. The company works with faith-based organizations such as the Texas Baptist Men's Group and the United Methodist Committee on Relief as well as other non-governmental agencies to take its units throughout the world.

Negotiations are also ongoing to provide MPS units to 23 nations in the Caribbean, as well as Ecuador and Vietnam, but Katz said the units have domestic applications as well. Units could help provide power and water in the aftermath of U.S. disasters such as Hurricane Sandy.

"If you have a disaster here you have hope," Katz said. "When you have hurricanes and tornados, you can take the units and get immediate results."

Future plans for the units include expanding their capabilities to offer wireless Internet for village schools and harnessing their energy to run small X-ray machines in hospitals.

The company is also working to provide jobs through the use of the MPS units, including hiring villagers to oversee the unit's purification process before selling the water. With the money, the villagers can, over a series of years, pay for and own the unit, with CES retaining some ownership to ensure it functions correctly.

"A lot of people throw money out there to help people," Katz said. "The problem is they don't take ownership of the product. We transfer ownership to the community [and] people locally and hire train them to maintain the unit."

Complete Energy Systems products

Complete Energy Systems has developed a series of products designed to bring modern necessities to remote areas and places where disasters occur.

Mobile Power Stations

  • 260-watt solar panels
  • Wind turbine
  • Battery backup
  • Communications hub
  • Refrigerator
  • Recharging stations (for items such as cell phones)
  • 110 outlets
  • Rechargeable lanterns
  • Security spotlights

Communications relay

  • Solar-powered
  • Secure private wireless LAN system
  • Transmits streaming video and data files to command location
  • Short-, medium- and long-distance communication links

Water purification systems

  • Can purify up to 60 gallons per hour with a portable unit (at right)
  • Can purify up to 600 gallons per hour with a stationary unit
  • Sediment filter
  • Carbon block filter
  • Ultraviolet filter

Solar cooking unit

  • Individual family units offered
  • Community units capable of producing up to 800 meals per day

102 N. First St., Pflugerville, 512-213-0388, www.comenersys.com