U.S. Department of Energy Backs MarsCharge for Advanced Clean Energy Research and Development

U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm announced that MarsCharge will receive $200,000 as part of 259 Department of Energy grants totaling $53 million to 210 businesses in 38 states. The awards include projects relating to particle accelerators and fusion technology, applied nanoscience, quantum information applications, and dark matter research along with a wide range of other efforts.

"Supporting small businesses will ensure we are tapping into all of America's talent to develop clean energy technologies that will help us tackle the climate crisis," said Steve Binkley, Acting Director of the DOE's Office of Science. "DOE's investments will enable these economic engines to optimize and commercialize their breakthroughs while developing the next generation of science leaders and ensuring U.S. scientific and economic competitiveness that will benefit all Americans."

Through the SBIR/STTR program across the federal government, small business powers the U.S. economy and generates thousands of jobs, both directly and indirectly, the DOE notes. DOE Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) awards aim at transforming DOE-supported science and technology breakthroughs into viable products and services. The awards also support the development of specialized technologies and instruments that aid in scientific discovery.

MarsCharge will receive $200,000 to develop an advanced power electronic platform prototype that enables the integration of electric charging (EV) hardware/software and intelligent battery energy storage into one system. This platform will reduce EV charging infrastructure costs, reduce project lead times, increase station profitability, reduce demands on the electrical grid, increases the grid's resiliency, open up new markets, and enable improved charging alternatives, such as an ultrafast mobile charger that can fit in the trunk of an EV. 

"We're honored to be selected for a DOE Science SBIR award. The future is decentralized. This is true of information, finance, and energy. Technological advancements have pushed power to the edge of networks where there's less concentrated points of failure. Our cutting-edge power electronics system enables the fusion of advanced electric vehicle charging hardware and intelligent battery energy storage into one truly decentralized platform. While other chargers provide a single function, our chargers are comprehensive integrated energy assets that balance the needs of all stakeholders. We're at the frontier of brand new era in the energy industry, and our platform will have a key role to play," says Michael D. Marczi, inventor, founder and CEO of MarsCharge. 

More information about all the projects announced by DOE is available at https://science.osti.gov/sbir/Awards and https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/solar-topics-small-business-innovation-research-and-small-business-technology-transfer.

More information about MarsCharge is available at http://www.marscharge.com.