Illinois State University will receive $850,000 to design, populate and maintain a comprehensive national database of utility rates an rate design.

University of Chicago will receive $1,500,000 to develop new nanocrystal-based materials for next-generation solar cells.  The nanocrystals will be fabricated by very inexpensive and scalable wet chemistry which will allow combining the advantages of conventional inorganic semiconductors with inexpensive fabrication.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will receive $1,192,250 to develop new materials for contacts used in cadmium-telluride PV cells.  Contacts are used on the front and back of solar cells to allow current to flow to an external circuit.  The new materials will reduce the back-contact barrier to zero, increasing the current flow and thus the efficiency of the PV cell.

For a full list of awards by state, click here.