Solar Technology Innovators Get Official Support

Photovoltaic solar power gets a financial boost through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), which last week announced an investment of up to $7 million in total to support the development and commercialization of emerging solar energy technologies. The funding will be delivered through DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

The program is called PV Technology Incubator and its primary goal is to support new manufacturing processes and products with the potential for dramatic price improvements, according to a news release issued by the governmental agency.

“The startup companies awarded under the Incubator program will truly benefit the manufacturing processes and products in the United States through rapid commercialization of these innovative technologies,” said NREL Incubator Manager Martha Symko-Davies.

This is the fourth installment of the successful PV Incubator program where companies benefit from close partnership with the national laboratories.

Selection Process

The new Incubator edition selected companies in one of two categories: Tier 1, representing the development of commercially viable prototypes, receiving up to $1 million over 12 months; and Tier 2, representing the development and manufacturing scale-up of pilot-scale processes receiving up to $4 million over 18 months.

The companies selected in Tier 1 are Caelux (Pasadena, Calif.), Solexant (San Jose, Calif.) and Stion (San Jose, Calif.). The Tier 2 selection process includes Crystal Solar, from Santa Clara, also in California

Previous rounds awarded grants to companies such as Calisolar and Abound Solar, which which now successfully developed new PV technologies, NREL said.

For more information visit the DOE Solar Energy Technologies Program online.

Article by Antonio Pasolini, a Brazilian writer and video art curator based in London, UK. He holds a BA in journalism and an MA in film and television.