Solar prize winners highlight successful DOE voucher program

DOE’s Solar Energy Technologies Office recently announced round three winners of its American-Made Solar Prize, both Sandia partners through the competition’s voucher program.

 “This is great news from a Sandia perspective,” said Laurie Burnham, Labs photovoltaics researcher. “We supported one of the two grand prize winners in rounds one and two and took the podium in round three.” Since the competition began in 2018, Sandia has supported 15 companies, including eight semi-finalists and four of the six winners.

Small businesses with solar prize vouchers have made Sandia a favorite because it offers expertise and technical capabilities to support small companies who wouldn’t otherwise have access to high-precision facilities and renowned experts, Laurie said.

 “The vouchers can be used at any national lab, and these companies have chosen Sandia, which offers capabilities in a number of fields, such as materials sciences, cybersecurity, forensics, diagnostics, and others,” she said.

In fact, a number of Sandia departments and scientists rallied to help make connections and support both round three winning projects.

Read the complete article about the winning projects and partnerships.