CalTestBed Laboratory Voucher and Commercialization Development Program – US

It is made possible by a grant from the California Energy Commission (CEC) Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) and is administered by New Energy Nexus, in partnership with University of California campuses, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and Momentum.

The primary purpose of CalTestBed is to increase access to world class testbeds for entrepreneurs to test and de-risk their innovations, in order to bring new clean energy technologies to market. CalTestBed unifies an ecosystem of 70 testbeds across the University of California system and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and conducts a solicitation, review, and selection process to match qualified applicants with laboratory capabilities, in effect streamlining and accelerating the process for entrepreneurs to bring their technologies to market.

The CalTestBed initiative is funded through the California Energy Commission’s Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) Program. The purpose of EPIC is to accelerate the development and adoption of new low-carbon technology solutions for California’s electricity sector.

CalTestBed vouchers address a critical gap in access to world-class testing for prototypes, which is necessary to bring new energy innovations to market. The entrepreneur receives a voucher for testing services provided by a CalTestBed laboratory facility, and the facility invoices for the cost of the testing provided.

Categories

• Building Technologies
• Energy Efficiency
• Energy Storage
• Grid Technologies
• Industrial & Agricultural Innovations
• Internet of Things
• Material-Based
• Renewable Generation
• Transportation
• Water Technologies

Program Benefits

• Testing vouchers worth up to $300,000 for use at one of 70+ world class testing facilities
• A network of technical and industry experts, investors, prospective partners, and utilities
• Opportunities to present to targeted customer groups and next level commercialization partners
• Exposure to broader clean energy ecosystem at an industry level symposium
• Additional funding opportunities through the Empower Innovation Network platform
• The New Energy Nexus community and global network

Eligible Stages of Development (TRL 5-7)

CalTestBed supports early to mid-stage technologies that provide benefits to California’s ratepayers but lack access to private-sector capital to support testing. More specifically, CalTestBed seeks hardware or integrated innovations that fall between Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) 5 – 7 that would greatly benefit from laboratory-level testing.

• TRL 5: Laboratory-scale, similar system validation in relevant environment; Basic technological components are integrated so that they system configuration is similar to (matches) the final application in almost all respects.
• TRL 6: Engineering-scale models or prototypes are tested in a relevant environment. The major difference between TRL 5 and 6 is the step up from laboratory-scale to engineering-scale and the determination of scaling factors that will enable design of the operating system.
• TRL 7: Full scale, similar (prototypical) system demonstrated in relevant environment. This represents a major step up from TRL 6, requiring demonstration of an actual system prototype in a relevant environment.

Eligible Innovation Types

• An existing prototype ready for laboratory -grade testing is required at the time of application. While this prototype may be refined during the solicitation process, the expectation is that testing must begin within a reasonable amount of time after voucher award unless there is an issue with testbed availability. This ensures that technologies most ready to benefit from testing are prioritized in the selection process
• Prototypes must be either hardware or integrated solutions. Stand -alone software solutions that merely complement existing energy infrastructure are not eligible
• A qualifying integrated solution must feature a hardware innovation that works in conjunction with a software program to deliver the technology’s benefits
• Testing must be able to be completed by December 31, 2025
• Innovations must be EPIC-aligned and benefit California’s rate payers through increasing reliability, lowering costs, and/or improving safety.

Eligibility Criteria

• You must have a California address at time of application to be eligible. You must list your official CA business address or, if applying as an individual, the personal address of the lead applicant.
• CalTestBed is open to individuals, businesses, and non-profits.
• CalTestBed is focused on providing testing for prototype technologies (TRL 5-7) that have the potential for providing benefits including lower cost, greater reliability and improved safety for to the ratepayers of California. They are specifically looking for hardware and integrated solutions. No stand-alone software solutions will be considered.
• For this solicitation they are only accepting one application per lead applicant/organization. You may be on the team for a different application with a different innovation, but not as the lead applicant. Similarly, they are only accepting one application per innovation – duplicate applications from multiple team members will be rejected.
• If your project was not funded, you are free to apply again. If your innovation has already been funded through CalTestBed, you are not eligible for a second award. Once an applicant has been declined three times, they are no longer eligible to apply.
• At the time of application, applicant should not be a publicly traded company or a subsidiary of a public company. Additionally, proposed innovations must meet some basic requirements. At a minimum, it should:
  • Align with EPIC goals
    • Reduce costs for California ratepayers
    • Increase reliability
    • Improve the safety of California’s energy mix
  • Prototypes must fall between Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) 5-7 as defined by the U.S. Department of Energy.
• Those who can apply include:
  • Individuals/Teams without an organizational affiliation
  • Businesses Startups and small businesses
  • Non-Profit Organizations Official non-profit tax designations
• Universities and large corporations are not eligible to apply to this opportunity.

For more information, visit New Energy Nexus.