The SBIR Ignite Catalyst Program is designed to help founders at any stage learn more about and prepare to apply for SBIR Ignite funding. Between now and May 15, founders new to NASA and those in later startup stages can apply to join key events and a digital community that will prepare them to participate in the SBIR Ignite program while building their NASA networks and knowledge.

• The NASA Hybrid Electric Power for Drones Event – June 15 | 2023 AIAA Aviation Forum / San Diego, CA

• The NASA Low Earth Orbit Economies Event – June 29   |   Culver City or Los Angeles, CA 

All applicants (who can attend in person or virtually) can join general admission sessions, including expert panel discussions and networking events. Ten applicants at each event will be selected to talk about their technology one-on-one at the event with NASA subject matter experts, venture investors, government officials, regulatory experts, and communications and marketing strategists.

DOE’s Building America Program leverages cutting-edge building science research to develop the solutions and best practices needed to advance energy efficiency in homes. Multi-disciplinary teams will bring together expertise in community engagement, retrofit demonstration, research, implementation, and industry to address the hard-to-solve technical challenges of decarbonizing the existing U.S. residential housing stock. Teams will work with communities to conduct collaborative research and demonstration projects in real-world homes, with the aim of accelerating local deployment of highly energy efficient, durable, healthy home upgrades.

The DOE Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office (IEDO) is leading a $156 million funding opportunity that will advance high impact applied research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) projects to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across the U.S. industrial sector.

The FOA includes the following topics: Decarbonizing Industrial Heat; Low-Carbon Fuels Utilization RD&D; Exploratory Cross-Sector R&D; Enabling Flexible Industrial Energy Use; Decarbonizing Chemicals; Decarbonizing Iron and Steel; Decarbonizing Food and Beverage Products; Decarbonizing Cement and Concrete; and Decarbonizing Forest Products.

EERE envisions awarding multiple financial assistance awards in the form of cooperative agreements. The estimated period of performance for each award will be approximately three years.

Given the pressing need for technologies that are critical for furthering several fields within FECM’s strategic vision (specifically, carbon dioxide removal, hydrogen production with carbon management, mineral sustainability, and methane mitigation), FECM has elected to fund this lab call and associated program. This solicitation offers an opportunity for private industry to partner with DOE’s National Labs to advance energy-related technologies and Lab intellectual property (IP) toward commercialization.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Electricity launched the High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) Prize to incentivize new technology solutions to improve the performance and resilience of the U.S. energy grid.

The HVDC Prize invites electrical and industrial engineers, computer scientists, and power electronics researchers to develop new power and energy system solutions to improve renewable distributed generation, transmission to population centers, and integration with the U.S. energy grid.

Up to four winning teams will receive $50,000 each for proposing new HVDC technology solutions to strengthen the U.S. energy grid. An informational webinar will be held April 6. Apply by June 7.

Scientists and engineers across the world are in pursuit of creating ‘the sun in a bottle’ – a fusion power plant – with the goal of creating the ultimate clean and sustainable energy source on earth. The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) are two leading organizations in the field of fusion developing such devices, and they want to work with YOU! Apply by April 21 with an innovative new joining/bonding technology for dissimilar materials or cutting-edge, non-destructive testing equipment to verify and inspect those bonds.

The purpose of this program is to support the creation of good-paying jobs, spur economic revitalization, remediate environmental degradation, and support energy workers located in energy communities. Energy communities are defined as those that have experienced employment loss and/or economic dislocation events as a result of declines in the fossil fuel industry; and/or are disproportionately reliant on fossil fuel energy production or distribution, including coal, oil, gas, and power plants. Supported projects may include the creation or expansion of business(es) that reduce emissions of toxic substances and greenhouse gases from existing and abandoned infrastructure and that prevent environmental damage that harms communities and poses a risk to public health and safety. Supported projects may also employ individuals from energy communities but focus on a range of other industries.

The program provides guaranteed loan financing and grant funding to agricultural producers and rural small businesses for renewable energy systems or to make energy efficiency improvements. Agricultural producers may also apply for new energy efficient equipment and new system loans for agricultural production and processing.

Renewable Energy System Grants range from $2,500 – $1 million. Energy Efficiency Grants range from $1,500 – $500,000.

The Department of Energy’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) manages the DOE’s Mentor-Protégé Program (MPP). The MPP helps increase participation and maximize opportunities for small businesses to work with the Department. The DOE’s MPP seeks to foster long-term business relationships between small businesses and DOE prime contractors and to increase the overall number of small businesses that receive DOE prime contracts and subcontracts.

This program encourages DOE prime contractors to assist small disadvantaged businesses (SDB) certified by SBA under section 8(a) of the Small Business Act (8(a)), other small disadvantaged businesses, women-owned small businesses (WOSB), service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSB), veteran-owned small businesses (VOSB), historically underutilized business zone (HUBZone) small businesses, historically black colleges and universities (HCBUs), and other minority institutions of higher learning to enhance their capabilities and improve their abilities to perform contracts and subcontracts for the DOE and other federal agencies.

For more information about the DOE’s Mentor-Protégé Program, contact the OSDBU office at 202-586-7377 or by email at SmallBusiness@hq.doe.gov

Buildings UP aims to build capacity to rapidly and equitably transform U.S. buildings. Teams will submit innovative concepts to leverage funding to equitably transform a wide variety of buildings across diverse geographies. As teams progress through the prize, they will receive cash prizes and technical assistance to help bring their ideas to life.

In Phase 1: “Concept”, teams may apply to one of two pathways: Equity-Centered Innovation or Open Innovation. Winners of both pathways will be eligible to advance to Phase 2 and access technical assistance.

Equity-Centered Innovation Pathway: Concepts to deliver scalable and replicable upgrades to buildings in disadvantaged communities, low- and moderate-income households, and underserved commercial, nonprofit, and public buildings. Phase 1 Equity-Centered Innovation winners will each receive a $400,000 cash prize.

Open Innovation Pathway: Concepts for replicable and scalable solutions that addresses a geographic area or building type. Phase 1 Open Innovation winners will each receive a $200,000 cash prize.

There is also an Application Support Prize, where up to 50 winning teams will be awarded $5,000 and up to 10 hours of technical support. Applicants are intended to be those who might not otherwise have the staff capacity, time, or expertise to submit a full Phase 1 submission — such as first-time applicants for BTO funding and community-based organizations (CBOs) representing or serving areas with equity-eligible buildings.

The American-Made Community Power Accelerator Prize is designed to fast-track the efforts of new, emerging, and expanding solar developers and co-developers to learn, participate, and grow their operations to support multiple successful community solar projects.  The goal of this prize is to grow a robust ecosystem of community solar project developers that incorporate meaningful benefits into projects across the United States.

This prize has three phases: Ready! Set! and Grow! By the end of the prize, competitors will be ready to engage with the Community Power Accelerator online platform, which provides a place for competitors to shop their credit-ready projects around to verified project developers, investors, and philanthropic organizations.

The Community Power Accelerator Prize is open to U.S. community solar developers, including new developers, co-developers (organizations who are partnering with a project developer), or developers who are expanding their community solar operations.

The American-Made Community Power Accelerator Prize is designed to fast-track the efforts of new, emerging, and expanding solar developers and co-developers to learn, participate, and grow their operations to support multiple successful community solar projects.  The goal of this prize is to grow a robust ecosystem of community solar project developers that incorporate meaningful benefits into projects across the United States.

This prize has three phases: Ready! Set! and Grow! By the end of the prize, competitors will be ready to engage with the Community Power Accelerator online platform, which provides a place for competitors to shop their credit-ready projects around to verified project developers, investors, and philanthropic organizations.

The Community Power Accelerator Prize is open to U.S. community solar developers, including new developers, co-developers (organizations who are partnering with a project developer), or developers who are expanding their community solar operations.