OPEN 2012 Highlights

DEVELOPING PASSIVE COOLING TECHNOLOGY UPDATED: FEBRUARY 24, 2016 PROJECT TITLES: Photonic Structures for High-Efficiency Daytime Radiative CoolingPROGRAM: OPEN 2012AWARD: $2,943,851PROJECT TEAM: Stanford University (Lead)PROJECT TERM: February 2013 – June 2016

DEVELOPING ORGANIC FLOW BATTERIES FOR ENERGY STORAGE UPDATED: FEBRUARY 24, 2016 PROJECT TITLE: Small Organic Molecule Based Flow Battery for Grid StoragePROGRAM: OPEN 2012AWARD: $4,340,035PROJECT TEAM: Harvard University (lead); Sustainable Innovations PROJECT TERM: February 2013 – March 2017

At the 2016 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit, the Technology Showcase featured more than 280 breakthrough energy technologies – ranging from solar powered motorcycles (with a top speed of 70 mph!) to self-piloting drones designed to detect methane leaks from natural gas facilities. This year’s Technology Showcase promises to be a hit again. Now organized by tech area (e.g. building efficiency, grid storage, etc.) the Showcase floor will be an ideal avenue to network with energy entrepreneurs and investors. Attendees will be able to view and learn about nearly 300 advanced energy technologies, many of which will be on public display for the first time.

WASHINGTON, DC -- Today, the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) issued a $150 million funding opportunity open to all transformational energy technologies to support the Obama Administration’s all-of-the-above approach to solving our nation’s most pressing energy challenges.

In early February, over 2,000 energy innovators gathered outside of Washington, DC for the 2015 ARPA-E Summit. The annual event brought together entrepreneurs, investors, industry and government thought leaders to collaborate, share knowledge, and build relationships to help bring transformative energy technologies to market.

With approximately 173,000 terawatts of solar energy continuously striking the earth, solar energy is the most abundant energy resource available. To put this in perspective, solar energy totals more than 10,000 times the world’s total energy use. Most solar power is in the form of rooftop panels mounted on homes and businesses.

The aging U.S. electric grid is comprised of more than 300,000 miles of electric transmission lines that take electricity from power plants to transformers and finally, into homes and businesses. More than 30% of the electric grid's transmission lines, transformers and other hardware are approaching or past the end of their life cycle. About 10% of electricity produced in U.S. power plants never reaches potential users because it’s lost during transmission, and power outages and blackouts. This loss of energy costs businesses and consumers nearly $80 billion dollars a year.