Top 10 innovative companies in energy

Companies are always striving to be the most innovative. Here’s a look at the 10 companies that recently made Fast Company’s list of the most innovative companies in energy.

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No. 10: Solyndra

Solyndra made Fast Company's top 10 list for creating solar panels that are "easier to install and better structured to collect light" compared with other solar panel options. But Solyndra recently filed for bankruptcy.

Bill O'Leary / The Washington Post

No. 9: Joule Biotechnologies

Joule Biotechnologies's ethanol and diesel production testing facility in Texas, where arrays of bacteria gather sunlight and carbon dioxide and convert them to fuel. The company is considered to be innovative for "figuring out how to turn algae into hydrocarbon-based fuel."

Felicia Spagnoli / AP

No. 8: General Electric

Engineers at the GE Energy Greenville Operations research facility in South Carolina test blade pitch components of a wind turbine assembly July 13. The blue-chip company made the list for its investments in green technologies.

Brett Flashnick / AP

No. 7: U.S. military

President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) are accompanied by Col. Howard Belote as they look at solar panels at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada in May 2009. According to Fast Company, the solar panels provide "one-fourth of the base's power."

Charles Dharapak / AP

No. 6: Earth Aid

In this screen shot taken April 8, 2010, the Earth Aid Web site is shown. Earth Aid is considered to be innovative for its online tool that helps people reduce their energy consumption. In some cases, Earth Aid rewards curbed emissions with any number of prizes: a new oak tree, a back massage, a yoga mat or cold hard cash.

/ AP

No. 5: Cook Inlet Region Inc.

A Redoubt volcano vents steam on the other side of Cook Inlet in Alaska. Fast Company ranked Cook Inlet Region Inc. No. 5 on its list for establishing a company "that's owned cooperatively by shareholders who invest in" projects dealing with tidal power, among other things.

Al Grillo / AP

No. 4: Portland General Electric

A Portland General Electric sign is on display at PGE Park in Oregon. Fast Company put PGE on the list for "creating an investor-owned utility for renewable energy customers."

Rick Bowmer / AP

No. 3: Envirofit

Envirofit came in at No. 3 for creating cheap, green stoves that are used in developing countries. The company's stoves represent a solution to indoor air pollution reducing toxic emissions by 80 percent, using 50 percent less fuel and providing an affordable product to underserved global markets.

/ PR Newswire

No. 2: Enerkem

Left to right, Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel, Enerkem Chief Technology Officer Esteban Chornet and Alberta Minister of Advanced Education and Technology Greg Weadick at the grand opening of the Advanced Energy Research Facility in Edmonton, Alberta in June 2011. The company came in at No. 2 for "finding the hidden power of trash." Enerkem turns trash into renewable energy, among other things.

Ian Jackson

No. 1: SolarCity

Sen. Barbara Boxer(D-Calif.) campaigns at SolarCity headquarters in Foster City, Calif., July 2010. SolarCity took the top spot on Fast Company's top 10 list for being the U.S. leader in the installing solar rooftop panels.

Paul Sakuma / AP

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