Success Stories

As new energy efficient and renewable energy technologies emerge, so do potential business opportunities. These commercialization success stories summarize some of DOE's work in commercializing products and using technologies to enhance or expand a business, enter new markets, and improve existing systems.

On this page, a "success story" is defined as a new energy efficient or renewable energy technology that:

• Can solve or help solve an energy problem
• Has been successfully prototyped
• Is in the hands of technology investors.

Thin Film-Silicon Photovoltaics

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, CO has collaborated with a venture capital-backed company to commercialize thin-film silicon photovoltaics.

Through funding provided by the company and that provided by the Technology Commercialization Fund, NREL and the venture capital-backed company were able to progress through commercialization efforts. Read about NREL's commercialization project from the NREL news article, "NREL Commercialization Project Accelerates PV Technology Innovation."

Solar Reflector Material

NREL collaborated with an independent researcher to confront the challenge of developing affordable, durable, and highly-efficient solar reflector material to be used in place of the glass reflectors currently used at concentrating solar power plants. After ten years of research and development a patent was awarded for their breakthrough mirror film.

Read more about this success in the North American Clean Energy article, "Private Industry and National Energy Laboratories: Working Together to Accelerate Solutions."