← LeaderboardsInvestigatorsiAttributed = a PI's even-split share of each grant — a $1M grant with 2 PIs counts $500K each.
Tau Science Corporation
$6,289,664
Total funding
4
Grants
Funding over time
peak $2.1M · FY2012–25$2.5M$1.9M$1.3M$625K$0
'12
'13
'14
'15
'16
'17
'18
'19
'20
'21
'22
'23
'24
'25
Funding mix
By agency
DOE$6,289,664 · 4
By mechanism
—$6,289,664 · 4
Investigators at Tau Science Corporation
InvestigatorsiAttributed = a PI's even-split share of each grant — a $1M grant with 2 PIs counts $500K each.
Exposure= the full size of every grant they're on ($1M each).
Rising Stars
First grant in the last 5 yrs
Not enough data
Emerging Leaders
6–10 yrs in
Not enough data
All-Time
Most funded here, all years
Not enough data
Largest grants
APPARATUS FOR OPTIMIZING PHOTOVOLTAIC SOLAR MANUFACTURING EFFICIENCY THROUGH REAL-TIME PROCESS FEEDBACK AND SPECTRAL BINNING OF CELLS$2,099,189
· FY2012 · Department of Energy
IN PROJECT MANTIS, OUR TEAM WILL APPLY MULTISCALE CHARACTERIZATION AND ANALYSIS METHODS TO CDTE PHOTOVOLTAIC (PV) MODULES EXPOSED TO ACCELERATED AGING AND FIELD OPERATION IN AN EFFORT TO IDENTIFY ELECTRICAL AND OPTOELECTRONIC SIGNATURES OF VARIOUS PERFORMANCE-LIMITING DEFECTS. INSIGHTS WILL BE USED TO DEVELOP NEXT GENERATION INSPECTION TOOLS FOR CDTE MODULES AND ARRAYS, WHICH WILL BE APPLIED OUTDOORS IN LARGE-SCALE CDTE INSTALLATIONS AND INFORM VALUE-ADDING MAINTENANCE ACTIONS AND PERFORMANCE PREDICTIONS FOR EXISTING AND FUTURE PLANTS. NEW INSPECTION TECHNIQUES WILL USE A COMBINATION OF TEMPORALLY- AND SPATIALLY-RESOLVED OPTOELECTRONIC MEASUREMENTS.
RESULTS WILL BE INTERPRETED IN A FRAMEWORK BUILT ON BOTH DATA-DRIVEN AND PHYSICAL MODELS ALONG WITH MULTI-MODAL STATISTICAL ANALYSIS THAT RELATES FEATURES IN IMAGES TO MODULE PERFORMANCE. PROJECT MANTIS WILL PROVIDE UNIQUE VISION INTO PV SYSTEMS, LEVERAGING HIGH-THROUGHPUT FIELD MEASUREMENTS TO DETECT, CLASSIFY, AND RANK DEFECTS WHICH CAN THEN BE ELIMINATED THROUGH ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS.
THE TEAM’S END-OF-PROJECT GOAL IS TO DEVELOP NON-CONTACT FIELD MEASUREMENT TOOLS AND ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES THAT PROVIDE INSIGHTS TO OWNERS / OPERATORS OF PV PLANTS WITH THIN-FILM MODULES. LEARNINGS AND BEST PRACTICES WILL BE COLLECTED AND COMMUNICATED TO OWNERS, OPERATORS AND SERVICE PROVIDERS AS FOLLOWS:
¿ IDENTIFY THE MOST DETRIMENTAL DEGRADATION MODES THAT CAN AFFECT OVERALL PLANT PERFORMANCE. DEFECTS WILL BE IMAGED DURING FIELD AND LAB TESTING, CATEGORIZED AND CORRELATED BY THEIR IMPACT TO PERFORMANCE.
¿ HYPOTHESIZE DEFECT ROOT CAUSES AND IF/HOW THE MOST DETRIMENTAL TYPES CAN BE AVOIDED. PUBLISH FINDINGS TO MOTIVATE AND ENABLE FUTURE INVESTIGATIONS.
¿ DEVELOP AND VALIDATE A METHODOLOGY FOR DETERMINING THE TRADE-OFF BETWEEN MEASUREMENT COSTS (E.G., FREQUENCY, SAMPLING QUANTITY) AND INFORMATION GAINED.$1,768,595
· FY2025 · Department of Energy
MICROWAVE PHOTOCONDUCTANCE SPECTROMETER FOR THIN-FILM DEPOSITED SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS$1,273,856
· FY2020 · Department of Energy
MOBILE IN-SITU IMAGING OF PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULES, TOPIC 13
(SOLAR), SUB-TOPIC C (PHOTOVOLTAIC PERFORMANCE AND
RELIABILITY TOOLS AND CHARACTERIZATION METHODS).$1,148,024
· FY2017 · Department of Energy