EnFocus Engineering garners $2.9 Million Photovoltaic Technology Incubator Award

Hatching High Concentration PhotoVoltaic (HCPV) modules for rooftop applications

As part of the Solar America Initiative, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) has selected EnFocus Engineering among ten initial recipients of cost shared Photovoltaic Module Incubator projects. Per the press release, DOE to Provide Nearly $60 Million for Advancement of Solar Energy, all these projects are subject to negotiation of final terms and Congressional appropriations. Background information is available in the Photovoltaic Technology Incubator Awards Fact Sheet.

Dr. Jason Lu, Founder and President of EnFocus Engineering said:

The SAI Incubator funding will allow EnFocus to build prototypes and a pilot production facility to take the first-of-its-kind Diamond-Power™ high concentration fixed-panel technology to the rooftop solar panel market where high efficiency matters most.

EnFocus is matching the $2.9 million in DOE funds with $1.02 million in company investment.

I first met Dr. Jason Lu at the 19th NREL Industry Growth Forum, and I reported about his company, EnFocus Engineering, in this overview of Solar start ups at the 19th NREL Industry Growth Forum Part 1.

A quick look at the EnFocus Engineering Corporation website won’t reveal anything more about this startup’s product plans. Information about EnFocus can be obtained by contacting Dr. Lu via the E-mail button.

The key United States Patent filing for EnFocus is available at the USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office): 20070070531 for a Radiant Energy Conversion System.

Other Initial PV Technology Incubator Awardees blogged about here include Blue Square Energy ($2,990,000), Plextronics, Inc. ($3,000,000), Solaria Corporation ($2,600,000), and SolFocus, Inc. ($2,000,000). More details about all the companies, projects, and the funding can be found in Overview of SAI PV Incubator Awards.

To my knowledge, EnFocus is the sole company with an HCPV module in a near traditional flat panel form factor.