The Department of Energy’s (DOE) SunShot Initiative is awarding another $10 million to 10 solar startups through its five-year-old Incubator program.
The latest awards support a wide range of technologies – from next-generation robotics that reduce the costs of tracking the sun, to processes that streamline the installation process.
Since the start of the Incubator program in 2007, the DOE has invested more than $92 million in helping to commercialize promising solar technologies. 54 solar start-ups have benefited from the program.
That funding has inspired almost $1.7 billion in private investment – or approximately $20 in private-sector money for every $1 of federal support, says the DOE.
Here are the 10 companies receiving the latest round of awards:
AmberWave (Salem, New Hampshire) – $1 million for ultra-thin mono-crystalline silicon technology; its cost share is $250,000
Bandgap Engineering (Woburn, Massachusetts) – $1 million for its approach to improving solar cell efficiency with Si nanowires; its cost share is $1 million
Enki Technology (San Jose, California) – $1.5 million for low-cost anti-reflective and anti-soiling coatings; its cost share is $1.81 million
Infinite Invention (Philadelphia) – $386,462 for "Solar Socket" plug technology that streamlines installation; its cost share is $96,616
Princeton Power Systems (Lawrenceville, New Jersey) – $1 million for next-generation DC invertor technology; its cost share is $318,700
Qado Energy (Summit, New Jersey) – $500,000 for a new decision support platform; its cost share is $333,625
QBotix (Menlo Park, California) – $972,874 for robotics technology that reduces tracking costs by up to 50%; its cost share is $395,841
REhnu Inc. (Tucson, Arizona) – $1 million for concentrating PV technology; its cost share is almost $1.5 million
Seeo (Hayward, California) – $317,536 for energy storage using solid-state technology; its cost share is $79,384
Stion (San Jose, California) – $2 million for developments based on a tandem copper indium gallide diselenide (CIGS) module; its cost share is slightly more than $2 million
SunShot’s goal is to make solar energy competitive with other forms of energy without subsidies by the end of the decade.
Besides the Incubator program, SunShot’s initiatives include an ongoing $10 million competition to reduce solar installation costs and development of resources such as a national solar permit database to streamline the permitting process.
Here’s more about the latest SunShot awards:
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