SBIR Phase II: Advanced Manufacturing of Smart Coatings for Utility-Scale Photovoltaic Applications and Solar Cells

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is to improve the power output of solar cells and sensors to accelerate generation of clean power. This technology can be applied to industries such as solar panels, optics, imaging, and display devices. The proposed project will advance a manufacturing process to make the coatings at scale. This project will advance translation of multi-layered nano-optical coatings for photovoltaic panels, architectural glass, and opto-electronic devices. The technology uses photonic crystals guiding photons through a plasmonic resonance microstructure for efficient down- and up-conversion of spectrum of light. Technical objectives are to demonstrate and validate efficacy of the large-scale manufacturing of this coating on glass substrate for photovoltaic panels. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.