NoMIS Power Group Receives $498K from Department of Energy
New York startup lands $498,000 from the Department of Energy to develop silicon carbide semiconductors and modules.
New York-based NoMIS Power Group received a $498,297 award from the Department of Energy to develop SiC (silicon carbide)-based power modules for energy applications.
The company is developing a medium voltage SiC semiconductor device that can establish a direct photovoltaic (PV) solar connection to the power distribution grid through solid-state transformers.
The award was distributed earlier this year by the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, under the Supporting Entrepreneurial Energy Discoveries (SEED) program. NoMIS is one of about three dozen companies that have received SEED funding for projects aiming to significantly reduce energy consumption, imports and emissions.
NoMIS Power Group plans to bring its 6.5-kV SiC power devices and modules to market within two years, according to the award summary. It will source chips from American suppliers, develop SiC module design in-house, outsource module manufacturing in the U.S. and test the devices at domestic research institutions.
The ultimate goal is to establish a domestic supply chain for electric vehicle chargers, solid-state transformers, DC (direct current) protection equipment, high-voltage DC converters and locomotive traction motor drives, the summary says.
NoMIS (which stands for Novel Materials and Innovative Semiconductors) was founded in 2019 within the SUNY Polytechnic Institute. It was recently one of 20 teams competing as semifinalists in the fourth round of the American-Made Solar Prize, a $3 million startup competition run by the Department of Energy.
Last year, co-founders Adam Morgan and Woongje Sung received funding from the New York State Center for Advanced Technology in Nanomaterials and Nanoelectronics (or CATN2) program for a project focused on wide-bandgap semiconductor power device packaging design and fabrication processes.
In announcing the new Department of Energy funding, Morgan stated, “We are very excited to have ARPA-E support for NoMIS Power Group’s transformative, enabling technology for the electrified economy and the global effort to tackle climate change.”
