NEI Corporation is a specialty materials company operating in the advanced materials and nanotechnology industry. The company's main offerings include the development and production of functional and protective coatings, lithium-ion battery materials, and specialty nanoparticle-based products, all designed to meet specific application needs. NEI Corporation primarily serves a broad range of industrial customers worldwide. It was founded in 1997 and is based in Somerset, New Jersey.

Octillion Corp., together with its wholly owned subsidiaries, is a technology incubator focused on the identification, acquisition, development, and commercialization of alternative and renewable energy technologies. Through established relationships with universities, research institutions, government agencies and start-up companies, the company strive to identify technologies and business opportunities on an edge of innovation that have the potential of serving and unmet market needs. nOnce a technology has been identified, the company fund the research and development activities relating to the technology with the intention of ultimately, if warranted, licensing, commercializing and marketing the subject technology, either through internal resources, collaborative agreements or otherwise. Unique to the company's business model is the use of established research infrastructure owned by the various organizations the company deal with, saving us capital which would otherwise be required for such things as land and building acquisition, equipment and furniture purchases, and other incidental start up costs. As a result, the company are able to conduct research in development. nnAmong the company's current research and development activities is the development of a patent-pending technology that could adapt existing home and office glass windows into ones capable of generating electricity from solar energy without losing transparency or requiring major changes in manufacturing infrastructure. The company are also developing a system to harness the kinetic energy of vehicles in motion as part of a broader effort to enhance the sustainability and energy efficiency of transportation infrastructures and systems.

Solarno Incorporated is an early-stage technology development company, focusing on the commercialization of emerging nanotechnologies in the solar energy sector. The company's main offerings include the development of nanomaterials for solar water heater systems, advanced solar cells devices, high energy density supercapacitors, and lighting solutions. Solarno primarily sells to the renewable energy industry. It is based in Coppell, Texas.

Jem Enterprises is a company that received a SBIR Phase I grant for a project entitled: Tin(II) Sulfide Photovoltaics. Their project aims to develop photovoltaic devices based on tin (II) sulfide (SnS). The properties of SnS, including bandgaps, carrier density and mobility, chemical and thermal stability, and metallurgical properties, promise the possibility to achieve relatively high conversion efficiency given state-of-art process control and device design. In this project, close space sublimation (CSS) technique, a thin film fabrication method proven for low cost and high manufacturability, will be used to synthesize SnS. The broader/commercial impact of this project will be the potential to produce photovoltaic devices based on low-cost and environmentally-friendly materials. There is no doubt that solar electricity has attracted a lot of attention in recent years as an alternative and renewable energy source. However, most of the current solar cell technologies have one or more of the following issues that, (1) raw materials are not abundantly available; (2) toxic materials are used; (3) overall cost is high. This project will address these issues by developing photovoltaic devices using SnS, a semiconductor material that can be supplied on a massive scale and at low recovery costs.

Mayaterials is a company that received a SBIR Phase I grant for a project entitled: Solar Grade Silicon from Agricultural Byproducts. Their project will develop a process to convert renewable agricultural byproducts to solar grade silicon metal in an energy efficient and environmentally friendly manner. The hulls of rice and many other grain plants are rich in silica derived from the soil in which they are grown. This silica can be extracted in a highly purified form from rice hull ash to produce useful specialty chemicals. It can also be extracted to provide a basic feedstock for the production of solar grade silicon for the production of photovoltaic cells. This process will bypass the capital and energy intensive methods, such as the Siemens process, which are currently in use. The broader impact/commercial potential from this technology could develop a process which will enable the production of high purity silicon directly from agricultural byproducts without the use of the current energy intensive methods such as the Siemens process. The process uses an abundant waste product as a renewable material source in an energy-efficient manner to achieve a valuable product at low cost and with minimal environmental impact. Current production of crystalline photovoltaic cells is limited by the bottleneck of poly-silicon production. This innovative new process will enable downstream PV plants to run at full capacity, unconstrained by shortages of raw material, thus allowing more rapid adoption of solar energy at lower cost per kWp. Furthermore, the proposed process will be better for the environment in that it is much less energy intensive and uses less toxic chemicals than existing methods.

Anteos is a company that received a SBIR Phase II grant for a project entitled: Relief-Free Infrared Diffractive Optics Based on Semiconductor Materials. Their award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5) and their project will develop a new generation of relief-free thin-plate components of diffractive optics operating in the infrared region of spectrum. The diffractive optics employs volume phase holographic structures, which are optically recorded in semiconductor materials transparent at the infrared wavelengths using proprietary process of photo-modification for producing dramatic change of the material refractive index under illumination with low intensity light. Phase I of this project proved feasibility of the proposed concept by demonstrating photo modification of ZnSe infrared material and fabricating the first model components. The developed technology can be immediately applied to fabrication of diffractive optics, volume phase holographic gratings, and phase retardation plates for wavelengths up to 1.9 m, as well as antireflection layers for wavelengths up to 8 m. In Phase II project the technology will be optimized and applied to fabrication of the prototype components of infrared diffractive optics operating at longer wavelengths, including the important wavelength of CO2 laser 10.6 m and windows of atmospheric transparency 3-5 and 8-12 m. The developed photo-modification process is highly adaptable and creates a rich technology platform for fabrication of a broad range of products for a large variety of markets. Successful implementation of this technology will result in a new generation of high efficiency relief-free infrared diffractive optics and sub-wavelength components, including diffraction gratings, beam splitters, beam shapers, semiconductor materials with artificial birefringence, phase retardation plates and wave plates. The relief-free components of infrared diffractive optics based on semiconductor materials are capable to withstand high light intensities and perform complicated light management functions. Another important application is the fabrication of highly stable anti-reflection (AR) layers on infrared semiconductor optics. The market for infrared diffractive optics includes defense and airspace industry, laser industry, spectral devices, sensors and detectors, night vision optics, industrial process control, material processing, cutting and welding, environmental monitoring, medical diagnostics and surgery. Anteos is a company that received a SBIR Phase II grant for a project entitled: High-Efficiency Nanocomposite Photovoltaics and Solar Cells. Their project is focused on development of an innovative technology for fabrication of high-efficiency thin film nanocomposite photovoltaic materials and solar cells taking advantage of the recently discovered effect of carrier multiplication in semiconductor nanocrystals. The proposed concept employs smart design of the solar cells providing fast and effective spatial separation of electrons and holes photo-generated in the nanocrystals. The proposed reach nanotechnology platform solves the challenging problem of electrical communications with nanoscale objects, such as nanocrystals, nanorods, nanowires, nanotubes, etc. It can be employed for development of many other nanocomposite optoelectronic devices having numerous commercial and military applications. If successful the development of new generation of high-efficiency photovoltaic materials and solar cells based on the demonstrated technology will have broad impact on the entire solar energy industry resulting in considerable energy savings and environmental protection. The technology has great commercialization potential and niche market. The proposed all-inorganic, high-efficiency, thin film, flexible nanostructured photovoltaic materials and solar cells, which can operate in extreme environment conditions and offer significant mass and volume savings, are ideally suitable for numerous applications, including power generating residential rooftops, power supplies for utility grid, emergency signals and telephones, water pumps, activate switches, battery chargers, residential and commercial lighting, etc.