Project Grant 20193361029791

The Soliculture, Inc. project will develop a flexible solar panel for integrated use in hoop houses to simultaneously generate electricity and increase crop yields on agricultural lands. The $161,172 Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture award under the Small Business Innovation Research Program will support Soliculture's innovation of an inexpensive, lightweight solar panel using light-shifting pigments. The panel is designed for direct installation in hoop houses...

This Project Grant from the National Science Foundation will support the development of flexible, semitransparent organic solar cell modules tailored for greenhouse glazing integration by Polypv LLC. Funded under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program (CFDA 47.084), the $256,000 award issued on May 15, 2023 aims to optimize the active layer, electrodes, and encapsulation processes to produce high-performance flexible organic solar cells. The primary objectives are to develop...

This NSF Convergence Accelerator program award to Cornell University, funded under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program (CFDA 47.084), will develop bio-inspired solar collection skins for buildings to increase energy generation from integrated photovoltaic systems. The $650,000 grant, awarded on January 15, 2024, will leverage nature-inspired design principles and advanced manufacturing techniques like kirigami and 3D printing to create adaptable solar panel surfaces that...

This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program (CFDA 47.084) provides $274,525 to Leaficient Inc., a for-profit organization, to develop and evaluate a novel light production system for controlled environment agriculture (CEA) that dynamically shapes light to optimize power efficiency and biomass growth. The project aims to improve the energy efficiency of indoor agriculture by using advanced optics, machine...

This $165,000 two-year Project Grant from the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA) Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) competitive grants program will fund research at Cornell University exploring co-location of renewable energy and sustainable agriculture. Specifically, Cornell researchers will graze sheep at varying stocking densities within a 54-acre ground-mounted solar array to study impacts on animal health and...

Federal Project Grant Award Summary Purdue University received a $110,816 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Office of Integrative Activities (CFDA 47.083) on September 1, 2025, to support collaborative research on integrating solar energy installations within agricultural landscapes. The research initiative, titled "Collaborative Research: Growing Restorative Agroenergy Landscapes," will run through August 31, 2030, and aims to address land competition between...

The Department of Energy Office of Science awarded Ail Research Inc. a $198,701 Project Grant to integrate combined heat and power into controlled environment agriculture. Under the grant, Ail Research will deliver products and services supporting the Office of Science Financial Assistance Program (CFDA 81.049), which aims to transform understanding of nature and advance U.S. energy and economic security through scientific discoveries and tools. Specifically, the company will work to integrate...

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems awarded a $105,194 EAGER (EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research) grant to the University of Pittsburgh to develop a novel semiconductor-metal-semiconductor (S-M-S) multilayer film as an interconnect for perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells. The project aims to design an interconnect with high electrical conductivity and optical transparency to enhance the performance of these tandem solar...

This $1.5 million Project Grant from the National Science Foundation Office of International Science and Engineering (NSF OISE) will fund the development of a climate-resilient and sustainable food production system utilizing controlled environment hydroponic agriculture with novel wastewater treatment and reuse technologies. Led by Clemson University in collaboration with universities in South Korea, the award will support five key activities over a two-year period from January 2023 to December...

Just Greens LLC, doing business as Aerofarms, received a $594,974 Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program/Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program. The award funds research into implementing ratooning, a proven technique allowing one root and stem system to produce multiple harvests, in the indoor production of leafy greens. Phase I of the project studied...