鈥�There鈥檚 a lot of places that say, 鈥楬ey, look at all the things we鈥檝e done.鈥� And then there鈥檚 麻豆原创 that says, 鈥楲ook at all the things we鈥檙e doing,鈥� 鈥� Sleppy says. 鈥淚 wanted to be part of building the future.鈥�

鈥淚 wanted to be part of building the future.鈥� 鈥� Joe Sleppy

In his first year, he landed undergraduate research opportunities thanks to 麻豆原创鈥檚 , which offers students opportunities for career exploration and experiential learning in STEM the first two years of their college career.

In 麻豆原创 Professor of Nanotechnology Jayan Thomas鈥� lab, the two partnered on the idea that would eventually become Capacitech Energy, where Sleppy has served as CEO since its inception in 2016 during his sophomore year.

Future-Proofing the Power Grid

Capacitech is a rapid response energy storage leader building high-power and space-conscious energy storage systems for an increasingly complex grid. Essentially, Sleppy and his team turn supercapacitor components into modular, plug-and-play systems that harden power infrastructure against power demand spikes, outages and equipment damage.

Sleppy explains traditional power infrastructure, such as generators and batteries, are like a marathon runner whereas supercapacitors are more like a sprinter. Modern facilities 鈥� like data centers that power AI 鈥� demand power 24/7 but also demand even more power than normal for just a few seconds. Ideally, both a sprinter and marathon runner are required. So, Capacitech鈥檚 products make it practical to form relay teams between the traditional infrastructure (marathon runners) and supercapacitors (sprinters).

鈥淚f we can use supercapacitors to complement batteries, generators, fuel cells and the broader grid to serve this demand profile that鈥檚 coming from manufacturing facilities and data centers, then we鈥檙e making the world a better place 鈥� economically, but also in terms of power sustainability and security. And I think that that鈥檚 very important,鈥� Sleppy says.

They made their first commercial sale in 2022 to Red Bull and have been running full force ever since.

Built by 麻豆原创

The company was bolstered by many resources at 麻豆原创 on its way to raising the $2.5 million it has so far through investors and federal research and development programs. To this day, 麻豆原创鈥檚 continues to house Capacitech鈥檚 operations with adaptable leasing structures, physical space, mentoring programs and community that have adapted to their needs as they鈥檝e grown. This year, they鈥檒l expand into new warehouse in research park, adjacent to 麻豆原创鈥檚 campus.

鈥淭he world is watching. Let鈥檚 use innovation and entrepreneurship to make it better.鈥� 鈥� Joe Sleppy

鈥溌槎乖� encouraged me to think outside of the box,鈥� he says. 鈥溌槎乖� is an innovative university because they鈥檒l ask, 鈥榃hy not?鈥� I think I share the same philosophy with running Capacitech. Let鈥檚 try it. The world is watching. Let鈥檚 use innovation and entrepreneurship to make it better.鈥�

In 2026 Sleppy expects Capacitech to announce new partnerships and pilot programs in industry. And they鈥檙e already engaged in mentoring the next generation of Knights with internship opportunities for students.

鈥淓ntrepreneurship is how the world gets better 鈥� whether it鈥檚 a nonprofit or a tech startup like ours,鈥� Sleppy says. 鈥淏y reducing strain on the grid and extending the life of critical infrastructure like batteries and microgrids, we鈥檙e making energy systems more resilient and accessible. That means fewer vulnerable communities at risk and more room for innovation to grow. It鈥檚 hard not to get excited when your work genuinely makes the world better.鈥�

Joe Sleppy was recognized on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Energy & Green Tech list in 2026.

Only one award is given per year and as this year鈥檚 recipient, Kancherla will receive a $2,000 honorarium and complimentary registration to the ASME Turbo Expo, an annual conference for engineers in academia, research and government who specialize in turbomachinery.

鈥淚 am honored and humbled to receive this prestigious recognition from ASME,鈥� Kancherla says. 鈥淚 would like to thank my excellent team and my mentors over the years who have motivated me to pursue research related to combustion in gas turbines. This award is inspiring and makes me feel I will be more responsible in this field.鈥�

Since 2021, Kancherla has worked as a senior combustion engineer for Power Systems Manufacturing LLC, a gas turbine company that focuses on clean energy solutions. In this role, he contributes to the design and development of hydrogen-fueled, low-emission gas turbine combustion systems.

Within the field, Kancherla鈥檚 already established a name for himself. He鈥檚 considered an expert in the areas of chemical kinetics, computational modeling and combustion systems testing, and he currently serves as a reviewer for 12 industry journals. His chemical kinetic models that have been used by scientists and researchers in academia, industry and government agencies like the U.S. Department of Energy to advance supercritical CO2 combustion technology.

Those chemical kinetic models were developed at 麻豆原创, under the tutelage of aerospace engineering Professor Subith Vasu. Kancherla says that 麻豆原创鈥檚 location and its Center for Advanced Turbomachinery and Energy Research (CATER), housed within the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, factored into his decision to attend the university for his doctoral education.

鈥溌槎乖� has been situated in a prime location where most of the major energy equipment manufacturers in the world are located, and CATER and the Vasu Lab have been significantly contributing to the cutting-edge research that is vital for these industries,鈥� Kancherla says. 鈥淐oming from a combustion background, I felt that Vasu鈥檚 lab was the right place to pursue my Ph.D. and to advance in the ambitious gas turbine sector.鈥�

The Vasu Lab was indeed the right place for Kancherla. Vasu himself is a leading expert in combustion and chemical kinetics and was even featured in the Combustion Man documentary by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. The professor is also familiar with the Diliip Ballal award, having received it in 2017.

鈥淩aghu is an outstanding candidate for this award because of his tremendous achievements and contributions to advanced power generation concepts … that started when he was a Ph.D. student in my lab,鈥� Vasu says. 鈥淗is and I receiving (of) this award is also a testament to 麻豆原创 CATER鈥檚 strong connections and interactions with the power generation industry.

The technology, an aqueous battery, replaces the volatile and highly flammable organic solvents found in electric vehicle lithium-ion batteries with saltwater to create a battery that is safer, faster charging, just as powerful and won鈥檛 short circuit during flooding.

The work is detailed in a new study in .

鈥淒uring Hurricane Ian, a lot of electric cars caught fire after they were soaked in floodwater,鈥� says Yang Yang, an associate professor in 麻豆原创鈥檚 NanoScience Technology Center who led the research. 鈥淭hat is because the saltwater corrodes the battery and causes a short circuit, which ignites the flammable solvents and other components. Our battery uses saltwater as an electrolyte, eliminating the highly volatile solvents.鈥�

Also key to the battery鈥檚 design is its novel, nano-engineering that allows the battery to overcome limitations of previous aqueous batteries, such as slow charging times and poor stability.

The 麻豆原创-designed battery is fast charging, reaching full charge in three minutes, compared to the hours it takes lithium-ion batteries.

Yang is an expert in developing materials for renewable energy devices such as batteries with improved safety.

Saltwater Electrical Vehicle Fires

The issue of electric vehicle fires after saltwater flooding surfaced during Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and Hurricane Isaias in 2020.

As a result, the U.S. Fire Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have issued special guidance for responding to electric vehicle fires caused by saltwater flooding.

The fires require copious amounts of water to douse, with the International Association of Fire Chiefs recommending firefighters secure a continuous and sustainable water supply of 3,000 to 8,000 gallons.

At least 12 electric vehicle fires were reported in Collier and Lee counties in Florida after Hurricane Ian, where many cars were submerged at least partially in saltwater, according to the US. Fire Administration.

Designing the Battery

Previous aqueous battery designs have suffered from low energy output, instability, the growth of harmful metallic structures called dendrites on the negative electrode and corrosion.

By using saltwater as the battery鈥檚 liquid electrolyte, the 麻豆原创 researchers were able to use naturally occurring metal ions found in the saltwater, such as sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium, to create a dual-cation battery that stores more energy. This implementation allowed them to overcome the sluggishness of previous single-cation aqueous battery designs.

To solve problems with instability, dendrite growth and corrosion, the researchers engineered a forest-like 3D zinc-copper anode containing a thin zinc-oxide protective layer on top.

The novel, nano-engineered surface, which looks like a birds-eye-view of a forest, allows the researchers to precisely control electrochemical reactions, thereby increasing the battery鈥檚 stability and quick charging ability.

Furthermore, the zinc-oxide layer prevented dendritic growth of zinc, which was confirmed using optical microscopy.

鈥淭hese batteries using the novel materials developed in my lab will remain safe even if they are used improperly or are flooded in saltwater,鈥� Yang says. 鈥淥ur work can help improve electric vehicle technology and continue to advance it as reliable and safe form of travel.鈥�

Licensing and Acknowledgements

The patent-pending technology is available for through 麻豆原创鈥檚 Office of Technology Transfer.

The research was supported with funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation and American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund.

Yang holds joint appointments in 麻豆原创鈥檚 NanoScience Technology Center and the聽Department of Materials Science and Engineering, which is part of the university鈥檚聽College of Engineering and Computer Science. He is a member of 麻豆原创鈥檚聽Renewable Energy and Chemical Transformation (REACT) Cluster. He also holds a secondary joint-appointment in 麻豆原创鈥檚聽Department of Chemistry and The Stephen W. Hawking Center for Microgravity Research and Education. Before joining 麻豆原创 in 2015, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Rice University and an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany. He received his doctorate in materials science from Tsinghua University in China.

Study title: Three-dimensional Zn-based Alloys for Dendrite-free Aqueous Zn Battery in Dual-cation Electrolytes

The technology can reduce the electronic industry鈥檚 reliance on batteries and broaden the expansion of the IoT and its energy needs.

Today鈥檚 wireless systems rely on batteries, which has an energy supply that will soon be outpaced by the growth of communication data and devices in the IoT, says the technology鈥檚 lead inventor, Reza Abdolvand, professor and chair of 麻豆原创鈥檚 .

鈥淭he growth is also limiting availability in the radio frequency spectrum,鈥� he says. 鈥淥ne reason is that today鈥檚 systems use part of their limited power budget to sense and monitor the amount of signal power they transmit and receive instead of solely amplifying the signal. This sensing is both for regulation purposes and maintaining transceiver performance.鈥�

To solve these issues, the 麻豆原创 researchers developed a technology that integrates power scavenging and spectrum sensing capabilities for ultra-low power applications. The resulting passive module would eliminate the need for power-hungry radio frequency sensing modules.

The invention harvests ambient energy, specifically radio frequency electromagnetic waves, the most abundant form of communication among IoT nodes and hubs.

Radio frequency to direct current conversion operates in a sub-millimeter footprint and within a lithographically defined frequency range. To address the spectrum availability issue, the researchers enabled the invention to handle more intelligent data transmission between the IoT nodes and hubs so that the IoT node 鈥渦nderstands鈥� the frequency occupancy in its vicinity.

In an example application, wake-up radios, which remain dormant and ideally consume zero power before being activated, could be built with the 麻豆原创 zero-power radio frequency-to-direct current conversion scheme and scavenge energy from the radio frequency power radiated by nearby modules.

Furthermore, the radiated radio frequency power, otherwise wasted, could be scavenged by the module and stored in a capacitor or a battery.

Abdolvand and co-inventor Hakhamanesh Mansoorzare, a postdoctoral researcher in Abdolvand鈥檚 lab, worked with 麻豆原创鈥檚 (OTT) to file a patent application in July 2022 with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). To help with the patent expenses, the team recently secured the new Allowable Patent Expenses (APEX) award from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF).

鈥淚 am truly excited that this technology, which is an offshoot of my Ph.D., could help towards a more sustainable future,鈥� Mansoorzare says.

For more information about the invention, see the . A prototype of the technology is available, and the team is currently seeking partners for licensing or research collaboration.

About the APEX Award

Intellectual property protection is supported by an Allowable Patent Expenses (APEX) award from the NSF, as part of its Partnerships for Innovation 鈥� Technology Translation (PFI-TT) program. The APEX award assists current PFI-TT grantees in their technology commercialization efforts by funding qualified university patent expenses.

“This is the first time that 麻豆原创 has received APEX funding to defray patent expenses,” says Raju Nagaiah, the Office of Technology Transfer assistant director who is managing the technology for patenting and commercialization. “It is going to cover the expenses related to filing and prosecution of the invention.”

The funding for the recently rolled out APEX program was secured by Abdolvand working with the Office of Technology Transfer and is an example of collaboration and innovation thriving at 麻豆原创, says Office of Technology Transfer Director Svetlana Shtrom.

鈥淎pplying for a patent can be quite expensive and involves contracting attorneys specializing in patenting such technologies,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he APEX supplemental funding will reduce the strain on the university鈥檚 intellectual property budget and will allow us to protect a greater number of promising new innovations.鈥�

In 2020 and 2021, Abdolvand secured $249,587 in PFI-TT funding to support his ongoing research to develop piezo-semiconductor acoustoelectric microdevices. Under the PFI-TT award, Abdolvand鈥檚 research team developed an invention for ultra-low power and miniaturized wireless transceivers.

Once the innovation was developed, Abdolvand and Mansoorzare worked with OTT to file a patent application in July 2022 with the USPTO. Then in September, the collaboration continued between the research and OTT teams, resulting in a $49,916 APEX supplemental award from NSF to cover the patent expenses. The researchers have also submitted a second invention disclosure to OTT for patent protection.

Researcher Credentials

Abdolvand leads the 麻豆原创 , which focuses on extending and applying hybrid integrated microsystems to various technology areas, including radio frequency, biomedical, and wireless sensing. The lab provides expertise in designing and fabricating microelectromechanical systems. He received his doctorate in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and joined 麻豆原创鈥檚 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, part of the , in 2014.

Mansoorzare received his doctorate in electrical and electronics engineering from 麻豆原创 in 2021 under Dr. Abdolvand鈥檚 advisement and is a postdoc in the same group since then.

The DOE awarded $32 million to seven teams that will manage 30 demonstration projects nationwide. Finding effective ways to retrofit existing and older buildings to be more energy efficient is critical considering there are 130 million buildings in the United States today and about 75% of them are expected to still be standing in 2050, according to the DOE. Upgrading older homes is often expensive and intrusive, which makes homeowners less likely to make the investment. The pod system holds promise because it is expected to reduce energy use by 50-75% and is less disruptive to install, according to researchers.

at the 麻豆原创, in partnership with National Association of State Energy Officials and ROC USA, will retrofit eight manufactured homes and four single-family homes with the pod technology called PV-GEMS. The Photovoltaic (PV)-powered, Grid Enhanced Mechanical Solution (GEMS) consists of high-efficiency heat pumps for heating, cooling and water heating. This equipment is partially powered by a photovoltaic and battery backup system. Components are pre-packaged in a 鈥減od鈥� that is largely assembled off-site and installed outside of the home, minimizing disruption to residents.

鈥淲e have an opportunity to make a significant difference in reducing energy costs for people living in less-efficient existing homes, thereby making a lasting impact on people鈥檚 lives,鈥� says Eric Martin, principal investigator on the project and program director at 麻豆原创鈥檚 FSEC Energy Research Center. 鈥淭he PV-GEMS concept is especially effective when deployed alongside more conventional cost-effective, non-disruptive energy-efficient retrofit strategies.鈥�

The university will demonstrate the retrofit strategy in six states across different climate zones 鈥� Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oregon and Texas. A commercialization plan to manufacture and deploy the retrofit strategy at scale will be developed, as well as training materials for installers.

鈥淎 unique feature of this system is that it doesn鈥檛 need to send excess solar energy back to the utility grid and instead uses or stores the energy at the house,鈥� says Carlos Colon, co-principal investigator of the project. In addition to energy and carbon savings, the concept offers the additional benefit of resiliency by being able to operate when the grid goes down.

While PV-GEMS can work with most single-family attached and detached housing, the team is initially targeting older manufactured homes, which are often difficult to retrofit using traditional approaches. There are more than 6.7 million manufactured homes nationwide and 45% of residents who live in manufactured homes are highly energy burdened.

鈥淭he manufactured housing sector is in need of creative energy use and cost reduction strategies. We think PV-GEMS could be a game changer within the many of the communities we work with, and homeowners are already excited to see a pod installed in their community,鈥� says Kevin Porter, vice president of Loan Originations with ROC USA Capital, the lending arm of the nonprofit scaling resident ownership of manufactured housing communities nationwide.

More and more people across the nation are turning to electric vehicles for their cheaper fuel costs and lower maintenance requirements. Challenges remain, however, like finding charging stations during long trips, greater upfront costs, and limited models and sizes of EVs. Transitioning to an all-electric transportation system would provide consumers more EV options, and has the potential to trigger an economic boon of up to $47 billion for the region, according to the new coalition. Other regions are quickly moving in this direction and reaping some of the benefits, but the South is a little behind, prompting the creation of the .

The SETRI coalition will focus on EV market challenges, such as charging and infrastructure gaps, accessibility, EV model availability and cost, policy guidance, and consumer awareness 鈥� while unlocking untapped opportunities for economic development, job growth, enhanced energy security, and reduced environmental impacts.

The at 麻豆原创 is a leader in electric transportation research and the advancement of electric vehicle initiatives. That鈥檚 why joining the group was a natural move for the 麻豆原创 center.

鈥淲e have a long history in transportation electrification initiatives and research, and we look forward to collaborating with members of the Southeast Electric Transportation Regional Initiative,鈥� says James Fenton, director of the FSEC Energy Research Center. 鈥淓lectrifying our transportation system and improving our grid infrastructure will accelerate job growth, increase resiliency and help us reach net zero emissions by 2050.鈥�

FSEC ERC is a founding member of Drive Electric Florida, a multi-stakeholder organization promoting the growth of electric vehicle ownership and its related infrastructure in Florida. FSEC ERC also led two federal agency programs focused on alternative transportation deployment and research 鈥� the Central Florida Clean Cities Coalition (US DOE) and the Electric Vehicle Transportation Center (US DOT).

鈥淪ETRI鈥檚 ability to convene and partner with experts around a common table is one of its most promising aspects [of the initiative],鈥� says Rich Simmons, principal research engineer at Georgia Tech and part of the steering committee that conceived SETRI. 鈥淲hile focused closely on regional gaps and opportunities, SETRI can also serve as an important model for other regions.鈥�

View and the list of more than 60 inaugural members.

A federal agency is funding Das to come up with modeling and simulations that will overcome those challenges. To date the only floating wind-turbine farm in operation lies off of the coast of Scotland. The United States could be next if Das鈥� work is successful and a prototype is constructed.

‘Instead of retrofitting traditional land-based wind turbines with devices that will make them float, we will take a couple of steps back and perhaps start afresh.’

聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 鈥擯rofessor Tuhin Das

鈥淣early 60 percent of estimated offshore wind energy resources lie in waters too deep for traditional bottom-fixed offshore wind turbines to access, both practically and economically,鈥� says Mario Garcia-Sanz, director of Aerodynamic Turbines, Lighter and Afloat, with Nautical Technologies and Integrated Servo-control program, better known as ATLANTIS.

ATLANTIS is part of the Department of Energy鈥檚 Advanced Research Projects Agency 鈥� Energy. This agency recently awarded Das a $771,000 grant to complete the work. He is the first at 麻豆原创 to receive funding from the agency, which focuses on developing transformative technologies to reach and take advantage of these offshore untapped resources.

鈥淚nstead of retrofitting traditional land-based wind turbines with devices that will make them float, we will take a couple of steps back and perhaps start afresh,鈥� Das says. 鈥淭hat way, you won鈥檛 use a design that鈥檚 very hard to control when floating.鈥�

Because it isn鈥檛 feasible for researchers to develop an experimental facility, Das is developing software that will model floating wind turbines and simulate effects such as waves crashing against the platform and the motion of the platform as it floats. He will conduct the research in the Hybrid Sustainable Energy Systems Lab at the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. The model will be subjected to standard test cases provided by other ATLANTIS teams that will collaborate with Das.

Researchers at the University of Maine will generate experimental data and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory will validate Das鈥� model against OpenFAST, a similar software for land-based wind turbines that serves as the benchmark for the industry. Both the laboratory and the University of Maine are funded through the ATLANTIS program under separate projects.

Das is excited about working with the researches from Maine and NREL because they are leaders in the field.

鈥淭hey have built this fantastic system called OpenFAST,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey have experimental facilities and they have some brilliant researchers, and so it鈥檚 great to talk to them, understand their perspectives and make impactful contributions to this technology.鈥�

This is the second award Das has received from the agency this year. This past summer he won $25,000 for a third-place finish in the organization鈥檚 ATLAS contest, which asked participants to design and test solutions for issues associated with either land-based or offshore floating wind turbines. Das created an algorithm that aims to reduce the negative effects of wind and wave-induced perturbations on the floating platform, which lead to reduced wind energy extraction.

鈥淒efinitely I think the success in the ATLAS competition helped,鈥� Das said. 鈥淥ur design that we submitted was evaluated by ARPA-E and NREL, so I think a good performance in that competition gave us quite a bit of credibility going into this program.鈥�

Das, who manages the , is looking for a postdoctoral scholar to join his team of students who will assist with the ATLANTIS project. Applicants must have a doctorate in mechanical engineering or a related field, experience in modeling and simulation as well as control systems, and excellent oral and written communication skills. Send a CV, at least two references and a cover letter to tuhin.das@ucf.edu for consideration.

Energy is a key area of research for 麻豆原创. Many faculty members have received funding for energy research and 麻豆原创 is home to . 麻豆原创 also supports two clusters of interdisciplinary faculty members who are working in various areas to make breakthroughs in energy sources, delivery and storage.

Das, the principal investigator on this grant,earned his doctorate and master鈥檚 degree, both in mechanical engineering, from Michigan State University. He joined 麻豆原创 in 2011.

The university established the 15-member panel last year to strategize how 麻豆原创 energy-related research can help meet the rapidly increasing demand for clean and economical energy. The panel is charged with:

Elizabeth Klonoff, vice president of research and dean of Graduate Studies, will kick off the meeting and introduce keynote speaker, David Walsh, a member of 麻豆原创鈥檚 Board of Trustees and an advisor to various clients in the energy industry.

Walsh has a long history of experience related to energy. He was president and CEO of Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Americas Inc., where he was responsible for the Western Hemisphere electric power-generation business of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. and Hitachi Ltd. of Japan.

After Walsh鈥檚 presentation, attendees will be invited to ask questions and offer suggestions.

Debbie Reinhart, associate vice president for research and scholarship, chairs the panel and will moderate the discussion.

No RSVPs are needed, but space is limited. For more information contact Reinhart at debra.reinhart@ucf.edu .

Capacitech Energy LLC, led by CEO and 麻豆原创 electrical engineering junior Joe Sleppy and co-founder nanoscience Professor Jayan Thomas, has licensed Thomas鈥� invention to design easily customizable capacitors necessary for electronic circuits and market them to manufacturers.

Both credit 麻豆原创鈥檚 entrepreneurial support services 鈥� specifically the Office of Research and Commercialization鈥檚 I-Corps program and the College of Business鈥檚 Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership — with helping them grow the business.

鈥淭he university and the I-Corps program have given us a place and time to explore different business models to ensure we had a feasible path forward,鈥� Sleppy said.

麻豆原创 is one of 37 universities nationwide selected by the National Science Foundation as an I-Corps site in 2015. It is one of NSF鈥檚 signature programs to foster entrepreneurship that will lead to the commercialization of research.

Thomas developed a technique for manufacturing a copper wire-based capacitor that holds the potential to help manufacturers significantly reduce the cost of producing electronic devices.

Because a typical electronic device can require many different size capacitors, each performing important tasks such as power conditioning by reducing voltage spikes, manufacturers will typically stock different sizes of capacitors to be certain they have the size required for each role a capacitor plays.

Since Capacitech is enmeshing capacitor functions in a wire, an electronics manufacturer could buy a spool of the cable capacitor and cut the wire at customized lengths to meet their needs, which reduces unit costs and inventory cost.

They found multiple potential uses for the cable, including replacing capacitor banks on cell towers to reduce the rent paid on the tower, using the cables in transmission lines that are capable of storing solar energy in homes and offices, sewing clothes with an energy-absorbing thread that would allow a cell phone to be charged in a suit pocket, and manufacturing smaller and lighter electronic devices.

Capacitech won the 麻豆原创 College of Business Joust award in 2016 and Thomas鈥� technology has been . The technology was also recognized with an Oscar of Innovation at the 2015 R&D 100 Awards and was named a finalist at the 2014 World Technology Network Awards.

The company has applied to 麻豆原创鈥檚 Business Incubation Program and is working with a potential customer to raise seed funding. The company is also a finalist for the Orlando-based FireSpring fund, which invests in promising technology companies in Central Florida.

Using a three-pronged approach and working with both sides of the cell, Ngwe Zin, a researcher at 麻豆原创鈥檚 Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC), has set his sights on increasing a cell鈥檚 efficiency in converting sunshine to energy 2-3 percent above the industry standard.

鈥淚ncreasing efficiency requires different manufacturing methods,鈥� Zin said.聽 He intends to do that by focusing on developing cells with the highest possible ability to absorb light, and the lowest possible recombination and resistance or obstacles to the flow of energy in the cell.

鈥淭he simplified way of developing high efficiency bifacial silicon solar cells proposed in this project will reduce the manufacturing steps by at least 20 percent, which could not only increase efficiency, but reduce production costs,鈥� Zin said.

The award comes at a time when the return on investment in solar is high 鈥� about 14 percent, said FSEC Director Jim Fenton.

鈥淲e have gotten to the point where putting solar on roofs makes good economic sense,鈥� Fenton said.聽 鈥淣ow we are trying to make panels more efficient by being more creative.鈥�

The project has garnered matching funds from FSEC, the BRIDG (Bridging the Innovation Development Gap) consortium in Osceola County and the United Kingdom-based manufacturing and research company Oxford Instruments for a total project grant of $762,681.

Zin鈥檚 research will focus on bifacial cells, which are designed to allow light to enter from both sides.聽 For a typical panel on a rooftop, that means light from the sun would enter the cell from the top and any residual rays would pass through the bottom where a layer of silicon will reflect it back into the panel.

The process allows the panel to capture extra energy by improving the light to energy conversion rate, results in a lower operating temperature since the sunlight is not trapped but is instead converted to energy, and will ultimately improve the efficiency of the panels, making them more attractive to buyers.

Zin came to 麻豆原创 eight months ago from the Australian National University, where he received the Australian government administered Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) postdoctoral fellowship from 2013 to 2016.

He envisions bolstering photovoltaic manufacturing in Florida by offering manufacturers, installers and developers a more efficient product.

While Florida ranks third in the nation for rooftop solar potential, the state ranks 12th for cumulative solar capacity installed according to a report by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).

The manufacturing of panels has declined in recent years due to a combination of competition from foreign markets and falling prices for alternative energy sources such natural gas and steaming coal, and is expected to uptick over the next five years according to the SEIA report.

Efforts such as Zin鈥檚 聽to make manufacturing of PV more cost effective will be critical to industry seeking to capitalize on a stronger competitive marketplace, said Raju Nagaiah, a 麻豆原创 technology transfer 聽licensing associate who specializes in solar energy market.

Zin said he plans to recruit, retain and encourage students to foster a pipeline of talented workers in the PV industry and that technologies developed out of this project will pave the way for attracting or setting up more PV cell and module manufacturing in the state of Florida.