Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara, on Monday announced that the U.S. Department of Energy has awarded two Santa Barbara County small businesses with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grants from the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs.
The awards to Asylum Research Corp. of Santa Barbara and Dehlsen Associates LLC of Carpinteria are part of a DOE initiative to invest $18 million to support small-business innovation research, development and deployment of clean energy technologies.
The two local companies were among a small group of advanced technology firms across the country that were competitively selected from a pool of 939 applicants through a special fast-track process with an emphasis on near-term commercialization and job creation.
Under the initiative, companies that demonstrate successful results with their new technologies and show potential to meet market needs will be eligible for $60 million in a second round of grants in the summer of 2010. In this first phase of funding, 125 grants of up to $150,000 each were awarded.
“This is exciting news for the Central Coast economy,” Capps said. “Clean energy technologies and jobs will be one of the keys to our nation’s long-term economic growth, and it is vital that our area continues to be one of the prime leaders of this movement. I’m proud these local companies secured support from the Department of Energy to help our country transition to a clean energy economy and bring investment and job opportunities to the Central Coast.”
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act awards:
» Asylum Research Corporation of Santa Barbara will receive $146,777 for its Nanoscale Probe System. Micro- and nanoscale probing and testing is essential to rapid evaluation and development of candidate photovoltaic materials and cells. The project will develop a system to quickly evaluate these materials for their potential for increasing solar cell efficiency and for monitoring and performing quality and failure analysis in the production environment.
» Dehlsen Associates LLC of Carpinteria will receive $150,000 to develop its Centipod Wave Energy Converter. The 4.5-megawatt Centipod ocean wave generating system — a horizontally stable floating platform optimally yawed (active) to wavefront exposure — has 56 to 80 kilowatt floatation pods driving hydraulic rams. Fluid drives the hydroelectric generating system providing cost competitive electric power. Inherent survivability in extreme seas uses methodologies from offshore oil production. The project will provide complete detailed engineering of the commercial prototype.
— Emily Kryder is the communications director for Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara.