November 26, 2013...The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science has announced a funding opportunity for its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs that may be of interest to the solid-state lighting (SSL) community. The DOE is requesting that the SSL community submit grant applications for fiscal year 2014 SBIR/STTR Phase I, Release 2 funding opportunities with the release of the announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0001046. Specifically, the DOE SBIR/STTR funding opportunity announcement, (FOA) DE-FOA-0001046 seeks applicants for research and development of the subtopic: “integrating energy-efficient solid-state lighting with advanced sensors, controls, and connectivity.”
According to the DOE, other possible areas of interest related to SSL in the funding opportunity include: the use of advanced manufacturing processes such as 3-D printing and digital metal forming to create SSL lamps and luminaires in ways that were previously not possible; the use of fully automated assembly, advanced printing, and integrated electronics designs that may provide substantial opportunity to inexpensively and quickly manufacture high-quality SSL products; inexpensive and easily integrated components, sensors, control hardware, or control software.The DOE is offering a free webinar to review the SBIR/STTR programs and the award process as it relates to this announcement on Tuesday, December 3, at 2:00 p.m. ET. Those interested in listening to and participating in the webinar must register. Letters of intent to submit proposals are due with the DOE's Office of Science December 16, 2013. Full proposals are due February 4, 2014, with award notifications anticipated in April. For more information, visit http://science.energy.gov/sbir/funding-opportunities/.