A startup is shining in a national competition designed to energize U.S. solar manufacturing. is among 20 teams representing 12 states that have been selected to advance into the semifinals of the , a $3 million competition funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and administered by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Each team won $50,000 and will continue to the next phase of competition.
The team is developing a low-cost liquid metal coating for concentrated solar power (CSP) polymeric mirrors. Current CSP technology uses bulky and costly glass mirrors. As a lighter alternative, polymeric mirror film is cheaper than glass mirrors, yet expensive to manufacture. Â鶹´«Ã½ Innovation Lab is working to develop a room temperature liquid-metal thin-film deposition technique and CSP polymeric mirror film that will reduce expenditures by 80% and film cost by 50%.
The Â鶹´«Ã½ Innovation Lab team consists of Arif Rahman, team captain and UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ postdoctoral fellow; Aaron Ohta, UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ electrical engineering professor; and Kareem Elassy, UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ electrical engineering PhD graduate, and research and development integration engineer at Intel.
“The team is excited to have an opportunity to shape the future of American solar through the American-Made Solar Prize Round 4,” Rahman said. “We¡¯re working with an incredible group of supporters—from national labs to energy incubators, including local supporters Natural Energy Laboratory of Â鶹´«Ã½ Authority—to help make our technology a reality.”
Â鶹´«Ã½ Innovation Lab will pitch the progress of its work to a team of expert reviewers through a virtual demonstration in April 2021. The expert reviewers will examine how well competitors have advanced their idea into a proof-of-concept. From there, 10 finalists will be selected to advance to the final phase of competition, each winning $100,000 in cash prizes and $75,000 in technical support.
This work is an example of UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹¡¯s goal of , one of four goals identified in the , updated in December 2020.