As part of ARPA-E’s continued spotlight on Energy Action Month, this blog will focus on the Agency’s active role in creating a more affordable American energy future. As one of ARPA-E’s three key mission areas, the Agency is fostering affordability by supporting project teams in developing next-generation domestic energy options that are cost comparable to today's technologies. In addition to funding innovative projects, ARPA-E maintains a Technology-to-Market Program to assist project teams in developing the knowledge and skills they need to prepare for and expedite private-sector deployment of their technologies.

A key element of the Tech-to-Market program focuses on ensuring that project teams consider the affordability of their technologies when looking towards commercialization. Each ARPA-E project team is asked to prepare a Tech-to-Market Plan, which serves as a roadmap for planned activities to assess and advance the commercial viability of their technology. In the plan, project teams address questions like: 

• What does the technology do, why is it better than others in the market, and how close is it to commercialization? 
• Who would adopt or deploy this technology and how much would they pay?
• Can the technology be manufactured cost effectively at scale?

In a recent webinar from the National Academies’ Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable (GUIRR), David Henshall, Deputy Director for Commercialization at ARPA-E, discussed the Agency's strategy and methods for the commercialization needs of transformational energy technologies. Learn more about the Tech-to-Market program in the webinar recording and accompanying presentation slides below.