A small solar start-up based in Boulder, Colo., is beginning to gain some traction nationally with utility companies interested in its brilliantly simple plan to clad electric poles in thin-film solar panels.

NextStep Electric has had a swift and exciting half a year. The company’s inverter system, which serves as a sort of security device for utility companies, has gained popularity. But the security system comes hand-in-hand with solar energy production that takes the guess work out of solving pervasive transmission issues.

NextStep founder and president Osiris Stevens said his idea dragged along for years with little enthusiasm from anyone, including solar panel manufacturers and utility companies. He dreamed up the idea in 2008 and has worked tirelessly on making it into a reality ever since.

Today, Stevens said he’s in negotiations with several utility companies and is running multiple tests with utilities in California and one in Longmont, Colo., that’s just four months away from the finish line.

He’s been working with the City of Boulder as well, which is working on removing itself as much from the grid as possible.

“We’re also working with Xcel Energy to see if we can get a test site in Boulder County,” Stevens said. “We don’t have any contracts yet, but we’re definitely in talks.”

He said the relationships with a lot of the utilities testing NextStep’s solar power generation and grid monitoring system are new, and the utilities don’t want to be revealed. They even made him sign agreements saying he wouldn’t discuss the specifics of the test projects.

But the projects are big news for NextStep, which seems poised to take the next step toward commercializing its project on a large scale.

The little Colorado company was selected as a semi-finalist in the Cleantech Open, a national competition for renewable energy and green technology that comes with monetary and coaching awards for early-stage ventures like Steven’s.

The award could be big news for NextStep if the company wins. It would earn NextStep some attention from prominent investors and add credibility and momentum to the company’s mission.