Durbin Announces More Than $4.5 Million in Funding For Energy Efficiency Projects in Chicagoland
WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced that the Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded $4,592,900 in Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) funding to MicroLink Devices, based in Niles, Illinois, and Gas Technology Institute based in Des Plaines, Illinois. MicroLink Devices will receive $3,600,000 in funding and Gas Technology Institute will receive $992,900 in funding. The funding will be used to develop new solar energy converters and storage systems which can deliver low-cost, high-efficiency solar energy on demand.
“Today’s funding is an investment in the energy technologies of tomorrow,” said Durbin. “These Illinois companies are helping create the technologies and products that that will drive us toward a greener economy and a more sustainable future.”
This funding is through ARPA-E’s Full-Spectrum Optimized Conversion and Utilization of Sunlight (FOCUS) program. Under the FOCUS program, projects will develop advanced solar converters that turn sunlight into electricity for immediate use, while also producing heat that can be stored at low cost for later use as well as innovative storage systems that accept both heat and electricity from variable solar sources.