Peter Albertsen has been involved in the hearth industry since 1975 when as a sales engineer at Corning Glass Works, he helped develop the high-temperature transparent glass-ceramic market for wood stoves.

In 1980, he developed the first commercially build catalytic wood stove. The Concorde ® Catalytic was the start of the trend towards clean burning, efficient wood stoves. The Concorde ® Catalytic also incorporated the first stay clean window system. The stoves were produced by Roper Corporation and marketed by Scandia.

In 1981, Peter began representing SCHOTT Glaswerkes and marketing Transparent ROBAX ® Glass-Ceramic. Applied Energy Systems, Inc. evolved to the premier producer of high-temperature glass windows to the U.S. hearth industry. SCHOTT purchased Applied Energy Systems at the beginning of 2006.