Small Solar Businesses Awarded Funding for Technology Research

The U.S. Department of Energy announced $200,000 awards for eight small solar companies, which they will use to examine the feasibility of, and develop a proof of concept for, their solar technologies. 

These new projects are part of the first phase of the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) program, which helps companies commercialize their innovations. This funding opportunity features two solar topics: One is a technology transfer opportunity for a microwave photoconductance spectrometer for roll-to-roll deposited semiconductor materials; the other focuses on affordability, reliability, and performance of solar technologies. 

The selections are: 

  • Atonometrics - Bifacial Photovoltaic System Low-Cost High-Accuracy Irradiance Measurements 
  • Helicon Corp. - Graded Surface Modification of Alloys for Containment of Chloride Molten Salts 
  • Nielson Scientific - Fast, Low Kerf-Loss Wafering of Silicon Ingots for Low-Cost Solar Power 
  • Plains Cupid - Photovoltaic Modules with No Back Sheet 
  • Syndem - Grid-Forming, Reliable, Efficient, Affordable, and Transformerlessly Grounded Photovoltaic-Storage System 
  • TG Companies - A Light-Induced Aluminum Plating Tool for Substitution of Silver in Silicon Solar Cells 
  • Tau Science - Microwave Photoconductance Spectrometer for Thin-Film Deposited Semiconductor Materials 
  • Toledo Solar - Glass Enameled Steel for Photovoltaic Module Encapsulation 

Learn more about these selections. See a full list of SETO's SBIR and STTR projects. 

SBIR/STTR | www.energy.gov