Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) programs

Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) programs is sponsored by U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science, Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO). Competitive funding opportunities that encourage U. S.

-based small businesses to engage in high-risk, innovative research and technology development with the potential for future commercialization in solar energy and advanced materials.

Solar Topics in Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) | Department of Energy Solar Topics in Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) In the Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO), funding is awarded to companies that are working to advance the affordability, reliability, and performance of solar technologies on to the grid.

Funded projects address a wide variety of solar energy topics such as photovoltaics, grid integration, solar plus energy storage, and community solar, among others. See a full list of projects under the Awardees section below. The SBIR and STTR programs take a phased approach with two funding levels: feasibility study and proof-of-concept development (Phase I) and prototype development (Phase II).

Small businesses that apply for SBIR/STTR funding are expected to address the commercialization challenges of their technology and ensure that it is a profitable business opportunity. DOE performs follow-up surveys to track commercialization outcomes of all SBIR/STTR awards. Small businesses are the prime recipients both for SBIR and STTR awards.

However, there are few differences between the two programs: Under an SBIR award, the principal investigator is employed by the small business, which conducts the majority of the research and development tasks. Under an STTR award, the company must collaborate with a nonprofit research institution, like a national laboratory.

The principal investigator can be employed by the small business or the research institution, and a minimum of 30% of the research and development tasks have to be conducted by the research institution. Researchers can use these awards to transfer a research project into a new company.

SETO may also announce one or more Technology Transfer Opportunities (TTO)—a unique subtopic designed to transfer a specific development patented by a DOE national laboratory or university to a small business for commercialization. Only one small business can be awarded for each TTO.

In addition to the SBIR/STTR funding, the awardee receives a six-month, non-exclusive licensing agreement for that patent, with the option to continue the licensing agreement upon negotiation with the research institution owning the patent. Bringing new technologies from conceptualization to the prototype stage, and then into the market has been proven to be challenging, especially in the solar sector.

Entrepreneurs developing new hardware or software technologies, or innovating the solar manufacturing processes, face high risks and have difficulties raising the funding needed to fully mature their ideas.

The SBIR and STTR programs aim to foster technology transfer to the private sector, support and encourage participation by entrepreneurs, and stimulate innovation through cooperative research and development carried out between small businesses and research institutions. Learn more about the solar topics in the FY 2025 Phase I Release 2 SBIR/STTR funding opportunity .

AmpX Technologies (College Park, MD) Cost-Effective Multi-Port Solar Power Conversion Unit based on Wide Bandgap Devices and Planar Magnetics This project is developing a compact and low-cost integrated multi-port power electronics system for residential rooftop solar systems.

This “one box” unit will interface all the major uni- and/or bi-directional sources and loads of a household, including solar panels, energy storage systems, and electric vehicles. It will also utilize the storage of electric vehicles more effectively and support home load and grid applications.

Atonometrics (Austin, TX) Fault Finder: Sensor that Locates Electrical Faults in PV Strings This project is developing a “Fault Finder” sensor, which will help locate electrical faults in a photovoltaic (PV) string so they can be repaired more quickly, which saves time for operations and maintenance personnel, reduces downtime for PV systems, and improves system reliability.

This cost-effective fault detection sensor would lower operational costs and risks of PV projects. Combustion Research and Flow Technology (Pipersville, PA) Efficient and Robust Compressor Designs for Supercritical Carbon Dioxide (sCO 2 ) Power Cycles This project focuses on the development of highly efficient compressors for the sCO 2 power cycle that improve performance and reduce risk at commercial-scale operation.

The effort is developing innovative compressor design paradigms that are highly efficient and robust across the entire performance map. The goal is to commercialize these advanced new technologies for renewable solar power. Concepts NREC (White River Junction, VT) Advanced sCO 2 Turbine for Concentrated Solar Power Application This project is designing a test rig for demonstrating scale-appropriate bearing and seal component technology.

The test rig can effectively replicate greater than 1 megawatt electric power levels. This will be done with an existing turbomachine in real-time conditions to accurately represent the challenges facing the component technologies.

DER Security (Scotts Valley, CA) Energy-Informed Cyber and Physical Resilience for Distributed Energy Systems This project is researching analytical techniques to detect cyberattacks on solar plants using PV network traffic and on-site power data to defend critical electrical grid infrastructure and maintain safe, continuous solar generation.

The proposed technology will create long-term security and reliability improvements for utility-scale and commercial PV systems by creating the world's first energy-informed resilience and security solution for distributed energy resources (DER) or, more generally, inverter-based resources (IBR) that perform cyber-physical analysis of DER/IBR operations.

Fastwatt (Clifton Park, NY) Compact Solar Direct-to-Medium-Voltage Grid Interface using Silicon Carbide and High Frequency Magnetics This project is developing a compact, lightweight, multi-port power converter using wide-band gap semiconductors and high frequency transformers that can interface solar systems directly with medium voltage grids up to 35 kilovolts.

The approach uses a high-frequency magnetics link driven by silicon carbide devices along with a novel insulation method to provide power conversion and step-up between a solar direct current plant and a medium voltage alternating current grid.

The technology would be attractive in applications where a compact footprint is desirable (e.g., electric vehicle fast charging stations in cities) or where reduced weight has benefits (e.g., solar installations and wind turbines.)

Maxout Renewables (Livermore, CA) Kiloboost: PV Surge Capacity for Off Grid Power and Battery Protection This project uses a novel and effective approach for PV systems to supply load surge power when they are not connected to the grid by utilizing a supercapacitor with a power electronics interface.

The technology will provide cost-effective surge power capability to a system, allowing a homeowner to use a backup system for average loads instead of the peak loads and reduce the cost of a whole-house PV backup system by 75% or more. The technology will also shield the installed lithium-ion batteries from the surge loads, protecting them from potential damage.

Mirai Solar (Mountain View, CA) Agrivoltaic System with Adaptive Shading Addressing Vegetational Growth Cycle Needs through Seasonal Variations This project is designing and testing components of a lightweight, semi-transparent, retractable PV system for agrivoltaics.

This novel agrivoltaic system with unprecedented light management capabilities addresses the major drawbacks of current solutions, aiming to remove barriers that prevent widespread adoption of collocated farming and solar energy production.

Optivolt Labs (San Francisco, CA) Ultra-Efficient Intra-Module Balancing DC Optimizer for Solar Systems This project is developing low-cost power electronics to eliminate losses in solar panel output due to shading or debris, boosting solar energy output. Optivolt’s efficient sub-module balancing direct current optimizer will recover mismatch losses within a PV module at minimum cost while maintaining unshaded efficiency of over 99%.

Physical Sciences (Andover, MA) Compact Additive sCO 2 Heat Exchangers This project aims to design and build a recuperator for installation in an sCO 2 power cycle. Existing heat exchangers are very large and heavy with relatively low performance or are extremely expensive, representing an opportunity to reduce the cost of electricity generated in thermal power plants.

The project will take advantage of advances in additive manufacturing that allow cost-effective development of advanced heat exchangers with low weight and volume that improve efficiency and cost-of-energy from new power generation plants.

Precision Combustion (North Haven, CT) Improved Solar Industrial Process Heat Thermal Particles for Decarbonization of Chemical Production This project aims to demonstrate decarbonization of industrial petrochemical manufacturing using advanced thermal particles, heated by concentrating solar power, by significantly reducing the amount of carbon emitted by ethylene manufacturing.

Ethylene production is one of the most significant sources of carbon emissions in the chemical industry. Quantum Power Systems (Austin, TX) GaN Nanoinverter: Enabling Low-Cost Residential Solar Energy System This project is developing a compact inverter, referred to as a nanoinverter, using gallium nitride (GaN) power switches.

The nanoinverter will be much smaller and more efficient than today's state-of-the-art microinverters with the goal of fitting in the panel junction box. This could result in a true plug-and-play alternating current PV module architecture with a substantially lower installation cost and fire risk.

Solar Unsoiled (Durham, NC) A Photovoltaic Soiling Model for Development-Phase Solar Assets This project is developing a soiling model to reduce the financial risk associated with uncertainties in modeling losses from solar panel soiling and accelerate the financing of new solar farms.

A comprehensive approach will address soiling for currently operating sites that employ a predictive soiling model informed by data analytics and a proprietary method utilizing a digital microscope to image particles on the panel surface. Using the dataset, the project team plans to improve the accuracy of their predictive soiling model for development-phase sites where data analytics and the microscopy images are not available.

Solution Spray Technologies (Storrs, CT) High-Performance Coatings for Turbomachinery in sCO 2 Cycles for Concentrated Solar Power Plants This project is developing and validating a high-performance thermal barrier coating that will significantly improve the efficiency, durability, and cost effectiveness of sCO 2 turbine systems for concentrated solar power plants.

The novel coatings developed during this work will have the potential to advance the concentrated solar power technology and facilitate the adoption of renewable energy by providing a robust, low-cost, non-intermittent, supplementary power source.

Turbine Monitoring and Support Services (Atlanta, GA) Virtual Reliability Software for Real Time Detection of Failures at PV Plants This project aims to commercialize a software-based failure detection technology to remotely and continuously detect string and tracker faults in PV power plants. This will be accomplished using measurement instruments already installed at plants.

Currently, failures detected by this approach are only detectable through manual inspection or periodic aerial imaging. The technology will improve reliability and power production while reducing maintenance costs, and its successful adoption will enable accelerated renewables growth into the power grid.

VIA Science (Somerville, MA) VPP Coordination of Solar Resources with Zero-Knowledge Proofs and Smart Contracts This project is leveraging the latest in secure, distributed software technologies to create a new business model for solar virtual power plants.

This will widen the reach and benefits of solar energy to millions of Americans, especially those who are renters and live in multi-family dwellings, enabling renters, often the most underserved and disadvantaged segment of the population, to benefit economically from their participation in the transition to clean energy.

Epower Technology (Manhattan, KS) GaN Quad-Active-Bridge Converter for Hybrid PV-Battery Systems This project is developing a four-port, bi-directional power converter to efficiently connect distributed solar power, energy storage systems, electric vehicle charging stations, and the utility grid. This approach offers a modular, scalable, power-dense, and high-efficiency solution for managing diverse energy sources and loads.

The proposed solution supports broader adoption of renewable energy and modernizes energy infrastructure. Mission Power Corp. (Potsdam, NY) Whole House Multi-Port Inverter This project is developing and building a residential multi-port inverter for solar and storage connections. The unit is more powerful and flexible than current available units.

It allows connection of multiple devices for the whole home and provides a direct current connection for any device to connect directly, including batteries and bi-directional electric vehicle charging. Noria Energy Holdings (Sausalito, CA) Platform for Floating Solar-Powered Water Technologies This project aims to commercialize technology that increases energy production from floating solar by up to 15%.

The team is developing a platform that converts high voltage, direct current energy from a floating solar system to a usable, low voltage for water technology at the project site, such as aerators or pumps. This will lower the costs and infrastructure challenges associated with powering equipment to treat and maintain bodies of water and enable the rapid deployment of high value, distributed solar energy.

Resilient Power Systems (Austin, TX) Fast Recoverable and Fault-Tolerant Resilient Power Converter Under Extreme Weather Conditions for Megawatt-Power Solar Energy/Storage Systems This project aims to enable direct connection of solar converters to distribution grids, supporting grid stability during adverse weather conditions and facilitating the addition of large amounts of solar energy into the nation’s power grid.

This converter, housed in a weatherproof enclosure, is able to withstands extreme weather conditions and provides reactive fault current during short circuits to prevent voltage dips.

Sporian Microsystems (Lafayette, CO) Advanced High Temperature Instrumentation for Gen3 CSP Systems This project is developing novel, high-temperature, onsite sensors for use in high-temperature CSP systems to aid the development of CSP technologies that provide electrical power safely, efficiently, and within the cost targets required for adoption.

In the long term, the technology will improve monitoring and controls in plants by providing information on heat flow conditions in real time, enabling plants to run more efficiently and reliably to meet cost targets and meet adoption thresholds.

Quest Renewables (Atlanta, GA) Resilient Solar Racking System to Provide Consistent Electricity to Regions Impacted by Natural Disasters This project is developing a storm-resilient solar racking system capable of producing clean energy during severe weather conditions.

This project is improving the resiliency of photovoltaic ground mounts and reducing the impact of more stringent International Building Code changes to the solar racking industry.

Gismo Power (Sarasota, FL) The MEGA: Cost-Effective Plug-in Portable Solar Electricity for Lower-to-Moderate Income Homes and Small Businesses Gismo Power is developing the Mobile Electricity Generating Appliance (MEGA)—an affordable, portable solar PV-EV charger for residential homeowners and renters.

It fulfills the need for a portable, powerful grid-tied electrical appliance which can be either fixed or wheeled around freely, feeding renewable energy into the electric grid. MEGA can be deployed and used as a carport, solar electricity generator, and EV charger in driveways across America.

Radiation Detection Technologies (Manhattan, KS) Commercial Production of the Group-V Doped Polycrystalline CdTe Source Material for the Next-Generation Photovoltaics The current Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) feedstock production method for CdTe-based PV is not scalable or suitable for low-cost, high-performance PVs.

The proposed technology will radically disrupt the current feedstock production method by introducing group-V doped materials using a high-pressure technique.

Smartville (Carlsbad, CA) High Power DC Coupler to Integrate Second-Life Batteries with Solar and EV Chargers Used EV batteries have tremendous value for secondary use purposes, such as serving as the go-between for solar generation and high-power, high-voltage EV charging, for grid and off-grid applications.

The project develops a full system-level solution with key power electronics and system integration innovations that make use of second life EV batteries to charge EVs with solar generation as a power input.

Solar Dynamics (Broomfield, CO) Advanced Development and Testing of the SunRing Heliostat This project will further develop the SunRing heliostat yielding a cost up to 40% lower than the competition and transitioning the technology from a research prototype to a commercially ready product. This dramatic heliostat cost reduction is needed to meet DOE’s overall cost targets for CSP.

Displacing Auxiliary, Internal Combustion Engines on Commercial Vehicles Sol-Go will develop a next generation solar panel for the commercial transportation marketplace. This advanced solar panel technology will reduce up to 50% of the greenhouse emissions from more than 10 million U.S. vehicles and enable over $10 billion in fuel savings for the U.S. marketplace.

Advanced Cooling Technologies (Lancaster, PA) Thermally Enhanced Obstructed Flow Board for Hot Spot Mitigation This project will develop a thermally enhanced solar receiver utilized in next-generation concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP) plants, allowing the plant to operate at a higher efficiency and reducing the cost of renewable CSP.

Future applications of the technology will support the decarbonization of some industrial processes or the creation of renewable solar fuels.

Advanced Material Analysis Technology ( Hockessin, DE) Development of New Metallization Pastes for Front-Side of Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contact Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells AMA Tech is developing a state-of-the-art metallization paste for the front side of tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) crystalline silicon solar cells.

This innovative solution has the potential to replace current passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC) technologies in the photovoltaic (PV) industry. The success of this new TOPCon technology, featuring a new metallization solution, could significantly reduce the cost of solar energy.

Asymmetric Technologies (Dublin, OH) Wireless Networks for Solar Uniform Modularity Eliminating wires to individual heliostats would reduce one of the biggest cost drivers for CSP systems. This team will develop a robust wireless hardware and a simulation tool to support use of low-cost, flexible, and secure wireless communication capabilities in the field, further driving down operational costs.

EPOWER Technology (Manhattan, KS) GaN Quad-Active-Bridge Converter for Hybrid PV-Battery Systems This team will develop a quad-active-bridge multiport converter, which provides an intelligent power electronics interface to manage the power between solar arrays, battery energy storage, electric vehicles, and the distribution utility grid.

Compared to the existing solutions, the proposed multiport power converter has higher energy efficiency, smaller volume, and higher reliability.

The commercialization of the proposed multiport converter technologies can accelerate the decarbonization of the electricity and transportation systems and promote the advancement of domestic manufacturing supply chains on semiconductors, magnetics, and additive manufacturing of power components.

HelioVolta (Carlsbad, CA) Fieldwork Data Management & Analysis Software for Reliable Assets Insufficient management of renewable energy asset data can present a significant safety risk to personnel and property while making the electrical grid less reliable.

This proposal creates a robust data model and analytics method for renewable energy assets, processing both metered data and on-site fieldwork data, giving asset managers and operations teams the tools needed to avoid electrical failure. Mission Power (Potsdam, NY) Whole House Multi-Port Inverter This project will develop a whole house multi-port inverter for residential solar and storage connections.

The technology will be more flexible and generate more power than units currently on the market. Rapid Multi-Modal Characterization Tools for PV Manufacturing Developing and scaling new solar material is expensive and slow. This proposal will provide tools to accelerate the rate solar technologies are commercialized and deployed.

Portable Solar (Miami, FL) Solar Photovoltaic Awning as Installation Method for Manufactured Homes Home solar installation has high fixed costs that result in small rooftop systems being priced well above market. This team will design and prototype a solar awning that attaches to the walls of manufactured homes without the need for solar installation companies, resulting in a lower price.

PowerTech Water (Lexington, KY) Electrolytic Metal Recovery from Photovoltaic Waste This team will design electrochemical cells with novel cathodes for the selective, bulk recovery of silver and copper from solar panel waste.

The design allows recyclers to enhance their revenue generation, while also laying the foundation for future PV build-out, rescuing critical commodities from the landfill, and reducing dependence on increasingly unreliable overseas supplies.

RCAM Technologies (Boulder, CO) Industrialized Gravity Anchors for Floating Photovoltaics Deploying floating solar panels on water saves land, produces electricity more efficiently, and has other benefits, but still costs more than mounting panels on utility-scale ground-mounted solar arrays, partly because of the cost of anchoring floating arrays.

To make anchoring of floating solar arrays less costly, we will commercialize a technology that reduces the installed cost of concrete anchors by 42%. RockeTruck (Escondido, CA) Advanced Multiport Solar Converter (AMSC) Achievement of national sustainable energy goals and equitable energy outcomes will require technological advances to make deployment of solar PV and other distributed energy resources (DERs) simpler and more affordable.

The proposed AMSC project will help achieve this by driving down the cost of procuring and integrating the power conversion devices required to efficiently perform the power conversion required to integrate solar PV with battery storage, EV charging, and other DERs. This will reduce America's reliance on fossil fuels and result in significant reductions in emissions of toxic substances and greenhouse gases.

Sporian Microsystems (Lafayette, CO) Advanced High Temperature Instrumentation for Gen3 CSP Systems A novel, high-temperature, in situ flow sensor is proposed for use in Gen3 CSP systems to allow real-time monitoring of fluid conditions. This will aid the development of solid and falling particle technologies, which will provide electrical power safely, efficiently, and within the cost targets required for adoption.

Starfire Industries (Champaign, IL) Next-generation High-power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering HiPIMS for Electronic Chemical Vapor Deposition (e-CVD), Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD), Etch, and Precision Implantation Control for PV Manufacturing This team will develop manufacturing technology to enable more efficient production of PV modules used for electricity.

This project is specifically targeted to accelerate the development, introduction, and adaptation of a disruptive technique in the field of thin-film deposition. The high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) innovation specifically targets a critical technology gap for thin-film electronic materials to improve function, physical characteristics, and manufacturability.

STEM Resources (Little Rock, AR) Solar Surveillance System This project is developing a cutting-edge intrusion detection system for solar energy systems. The system uses advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence to predict and detect potential threats to the security and reliability of string inverters, which convert solar energy into electricity.

By improving the accuracy and effectiveness of intrusion detection, this project has the potential to increase the safety and accessibility of renewable energy, helping to create a cleaner and more sustainable energy future.

A Resilient PV Solar Plant with Enhanced Grid Reliability Services and Integrated Multi-MW EV-charging Infrastructure for 2x Faster and 50% Lower Cost Implementation Distributed solar will require energy storage for higher availability and reliability necessary to support the electric utility grid. Most solar systems are left alone, without storage, due to the high installation and commissioning cost and fire safety concerns.

This project will develop a fire-safe solar-plus-storage building block to reduce the overall cost of battery storage integration by over 30%, enabling distributed solar systems to shift energy to the period of the day with peak demand. The overall solar-plus-storage architecture provides a lower-cost way to implement EV charging infrastructure while minimizing grid infrastructure upgrades.

Advanced Materials Scientia (Bothell, Washington) Economical Thermal Transfer Media for Generation 3 Concentrating Solar Power System with High Durability This project team will optimize materials used in the next generation of concentrating solar power systems to ensure they can maintain their basic properties when operating at high temperatures.

The team will perform the field test at Sandia National Laboratories, then test the prototype manufacturing while keeping the product's sales price at $82 per ton or less.

BREK Electronics Corporation (Broomfield, Colorado) 250-kW Solar String Inverter Using Silicon Carbide (SiC) Modular Architecture and Grid Support Functionality The project will develop a new disruptive power electronics technology for solar power inverters with battery energy storage that is manufacturable in the United States and provides a path to significant reductions in cost.

The technology can contribute to grid reliability and will reduce the balance of system costs. Dissigno International (Larkspur, California) Platform for Floating Solar-Powered Water Technologies Water resource management and access to clean energy are key challenges for the 21st century.

This project team will create a platform to utilize water bodies for the development of low-cost solar energy systems while improving the quality of the water underneath.

Hawaii Fish Company (Waialua, Hawaii) Floating Solar Aquaculture Aerator with Secondary Renewable Energy Source This floating solar aquaculture aerator technology will improve efficiency and sustainability of aquaculture pond aeration, helping to reduce farmers’ operating costs and improve their overall farm profitability.

This will in turn reduce the nation’s carbon footprint and help farmers meet the U.S. demand for sustainable, domestically-produced sources of protein.

LITESPEED ENERGY (Livermore, California) A New Generation of Lightweight, Universally Deployable and Re-deployable Integrated Commercial and Industrial Solar Solutions This project will develop a novel integrated solar solution for commercial and industrial rooftops that enables five times faster installation, at reduced hardware cost and without the need for grounding.

The system weighs less than 40% of standard ballasted systems, enabling deployment on rooftops that otherwise would not support solar.

Resilient Power Systems (Athens, Georgia) Fast Recoverable and Fault-Tolerant Resilient Power Converter Under Extreme Weather Conditions for Mega-Watt Power Solar Energy/Storage Systems The next generation of solar power converters needs to be resilient, fault tolerant, and able to quickly recover from extreme weather-related events.

The project team will develop a power converter for distribution grids that withstands harsh conditions and supports the grid during extreme weather-related events. Solar Dynamics (Broomfield, Colorado) Aerial Solar Thermal Radiometric Observer The awardee will digitize operations and maintenance data of concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP) plants and develop best practices and procedures based on the data-driven insights.

The goal of the project is to increase performance, reduce costs, and lower the overall life cycle cost of ownership of CSP systems. Altitude Grid (Grapevine, Texas) Reinforced Hierarchical Probabilistic Solar Forecasting Tool Based on Dynamic Multimodel Machine Learning An electric grid with large amounts of solar power requires operators to have increased accuracy and reliability of solar forecasting.

This project will develop and commercialize a probabilistic forecasting software tool for end-users in the solar forecasting industry that can add concrete value to the operation of a low-carbon grid.

CoolCAD Electronics (Takoma Park, Maryland) Low-Cost Hybrid Silicon Carbide/Gallium Nitride-based Single-Stage Microinverter with Leakage Integrated Planar Magnetics Technology The main objectives of developing the proposed microinverter are decreasing the price and the volume per watt during solar power conversion and increasing the reliability during its lifetime.

Due to the employment of wide bandgap semiconductor devices, the microinverter can be made more efficient and of higher power density—leading to real estate savings on a bulk installation and a lower installation complexity.

This award engages novel approaches for enabling ‘design for manufacturing,’ ‘design for reliability,’ and lower cost for photovoltaic (PV) microinverters through power converter innovation, alongside leveraging the enhanced device properties of the new power semiconductors.

CorePower Magnetics (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) High Induction, Power Dense Transformers to Enable Adoption of SiC and GaN Power Electronic Devices Silicon carbide is increasingly becoming a valuable technology for power electronic components; one of the strengths of this material being its strong domestic manufacturing capacity.

Moreover, prices of SiC semiconductors are dropping, which presents a unique opportunity to drive adoption of the technology. Combining this with new soft magnetic transformer designs, solar and electric vehicle (EV) systems relying on semiconductors will see improved performance through a strong domestic supply chain.

Gismo Power (Sarasota, Florida) Wheeling Gismo Power onto Residential Driveways Enables Cost-Effective Solar Energy for Lower- to Middle-Income Homes Gismo Power is developing the Mobile Electricity Generating Appliance (MEGA)—an affordable, portable solar PV-EV charger for residential homeowners and renters.

It fulfills the need for a portable, powerful grid-tied electrical appliance which can be either fixed or wheeled around freely, feeding renewable energy into the electric grid. MEGA can be deployed and used as a carport, solar electricity generator, and EV charger in driveways across America.

MARSCHARGE (Palo Alto, California) Advanced Multifunctional Electric Vehicle Chargers with Integrated Decentralized Energy Storage Current EV fast-charging infrastructure is too expensive and cumbersome to provide the charging coverage needed to alleviate drivers’ concern about the proximity of charging station.

The proposed solution is a combined clean energy storage and EV fast charger that reduces infrastructure costs, energy costs, and energy constraints to provide wider charging coverage. Mission Drives Corp. (Potsdam, New York) Low-cost High Frequency Inverter for Utility-Scale PV Utility-scale solar is an important part of any plan to decarbonize the grid and cost reductions make this easier.

Further, if the United States is going to capitalize on this transition, it is important to have domestic design and manufacturing of solar components. This award will develop a low-cost solar string inverter that is designed and manufactured in the United States.

NanoSpray (Brooklyn, New York) Low-Cost Direct-Write Contacts and Interconnects for Thin Film Solar NanoSpray aims to grow American-made solar production by providing an innovative method for making thin-film solar panels. The proposed technology can replace one of the most time intensive steps in thin film solar panel manufacturing, while simultaneously setting the stage for increased efficiency gains.

These innovations will make American-made thin-film solar panels more competitive in the global market and lower the barrier to increased renewable energy adoption. Physical Sciences (Andover, Massachusetts) Reclaimed Coal Ash as Low-Cost Thermal Energy Storage Material Existing thermal energy storage materials for concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP) plants are expensive and limit the efficiency of the plant.

This proposal will investigate the usage of reclaimed coal ash from landfills to provide low-cost, high-performance thermal energy storage to help ensure future U.S. energy security.

Radiation Detection Technologies (Manhattan, Kansas) Commercial Production of the Group-V Doped Polycrystalline CdTe Source Material for the Next-Generation Photovoltaics The current Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) feedstock production method for CdTe-based PV is not scalable or suitable for low-cost, high-performance PVs.

The proposed technology will radically disrupt the current feedstock production method by introducing group-V doped materials using a high-pressure technique.

Smartville (Carlsbad, California) Riding the Solar Curve – Solar+Second-Life-Storage+EV Charging Used EV batteries have tremendous value for secondary use purposes, such as serving as the go-between for solar generation and high-power, high-voltage EV charging, for grid and off-grid applications.

The project develops a full system-level solution with key power electronics and system integration innovations that make use of second life EV batteries to charge EVs with solar generation as a power input.

Solar Dynamics (Broomfield, Colorado) Advanced Development and Testing of the SunRing Heliostat This project will further develop the SunRing heliostat yielding a cost up to 40% lower than the competition and transitioning the technology from a research prototype to a commercially ready product. This dramatic heliostat cost reduction is needed to meet DOE’s overall cost targets for CSP.

Sol-Go (Menlo Park, California) Displacing Internal, Auxiliary Combustion Engines on Commercial Vehicles Sol-Go will develop a next generation solar panel for the commercial transportation marketplace. This advanced solar panel technology will reduce up to 50% of the greenhouse emissions from more than 10 million U.S. vehicles and enable over $10 billion in fuel savings for the U.S. marketplace.

TelemeTrack (Oakland, California) Buffering to Cut