Success Story: ThermēShade by Solir

ThermēShade Brings Passive Solar Innovation to California Buildings

Location: Northern California | Placer County | Auburn 

Business Type: Energy Efficiency / Green Building Materials (NOTE: Tag as Accelerate CA) 

CalOSBA Partner: ChicoSTART 

Assistance Received: Technical Assistance, Business Planning, Financing/Capital Access (Innovation Grant), and Strategic Guidance 

California State Assembly District: 5 

California State Senate District: 6 

Visit Solir.io and ThermēShade online. 

Diana Eastman did not set out to revolutionize the window covering industry. She set out to solve a problem: buildings that get too hot, waste too much energy, and leave occupants staring through solar glare with no good options short of ripping out the glass. Her answer is ThermēShade, a high-performance interior panel system that reflects over 50 percent of solar radiation while keeping rooms bright and views intact. 

Diana brings more than ten years of experience in energy auditing, sustainable design, and retrofit implementation in California. She founded Solir Energy Solutions LLC in Auburn, and over time developed ThermēShade into a validated product with performance data listed in the Complex Glazing Database at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The product has been installed in hotels, multifamily housing, and schools. Getting from promising prototype to commercial-ready product, however, required navigating a grant process that was anything but simple. 

That’s where ChicoSTART came in. As an Accelerate California Inclusive Innovation Hub, ChicoSTART provided Diana with approximately two years of ongoing technical assistance, covering business fundamentals, commercialization strategy, investor readiness, and grant support. When the opportunity arose to apply for a Tier 2 Innovation Grant through Accelerate California, ChicoSTART guided her through every step of a lengthy and complex approval process. 

“ChicoStart’s guidance transformed a complex grant process into a meaningful opportunity—and made finishing this part of the journey actually fun.” 

The result was a $75,000 Tier 2 Innovation Grant, funding that will allow Solir to advance fire testing and modeling on the next generation of ThermēShade material and move toward full commercial launch. 

The story of that partnership produced one of the more memorable moments in Solir’s history. After the grant came through, Diana wanted to say thank you in a way that felt real. ChicoSTART’s historic Chico office had a window-overheating problem, the kind of problem ThermēShade was built to fix. Diana loaded her car with panels, drove from Auburn to Chico, and showed up ready to work. 

What followed was unplanned and perfect. Diana climbed a ladder in a conference room, in a dress, tools in hand, while the ChicoSTART team gathered around, cheering, laughing, and taking pictures. The whole staff helped measure windows, coordinate the installation, and cheer her on. 

“The scene was unintentionally hilarious,” Diana recalled. “It was the perfect blend of innovation, gratitude, and community — and a reminder that some of the best success stories begin with everyone pitching in together.” 

With the grant secured and a second-generation fire-tested product in development, Solir is preparing for commercial launch targeting mid-sized hotels, schools, and multifamily buildings throughout California’s Central Valley, markets where high cooling loads make the ROI case for passive solar solutions hard to ignore. 

To learn more about ThermēShade and the work Solir is doing to make buildings more comfortable and energy efficient, visit Solir.io or ThermēShade.com online. 

If you are an entrepreneur in Northern California working on an innovative product or technology, connect with ChicoSTART to learn about their Accelerate California programs, mentorship, and resources designed to help founders move from idea to market. 

Updated: 4/29/26