"Investments in American energy and manufacturing are critical building blocks for an American economy built to last," said Energy Secretary Steven Chu. "The SunShot Incubator program fosters the innovative small businesses that will rapidly bring technological advances to market and pioneer a new era in American energy."
The SunShot Incubator program helps launch new startups and business units within existing companies to accelerate the innovative solar technology development. Since 2007, DOE has invested $60 million through the Incubator in promising technologies as they are brought from the lab to the marketplace. These investments have catalyzed $1.6 billion in private sector support. The federal investment in these projects has been leveraged at a rate of more than 26-to-1.
Nearly forty companies have participated in the Incubator, including Colorado-based PrimeStar. In 2007, DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and PrimeStar Solar announced a cooperative R&D agreement to transition NREL's cadmium telluride solar technology to commercial production. Primestar later received a $3 million Incubator award to commercialize its highly-efficient, low-cost photovoltaic solar panels.
Primestar, now owned by GE, has announced a $600 million investment in the company and the construction of a large-scale manufacturing plant in Colorado that will employ more than 350 American workers to produce state-of-the-art solar panels. Through the Department's SunShot Incubator program, these types of investments help early-stage companies overcome barriers to bring innovative solar technologies to market faster.
Applications are due on April 9, 2012.
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