GFO-20-302 - Realizing Accelerated Manufacturing and Production for Clean Energy Technologies (RAMP) 2020

The purpose of this solicitation is to provide financial assistance to help clean energy entrepreneurs successfully advance their emerging best-of-class innovative technology to the Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) stage. LRIP is the first step in making the transition from highly customized hand-built prototypes, which are used for performance testing and vetting the production process, to the final mass-produced end product produced in the Full-Rate Production phase.

Startups that attempt to scale-up face several hurdles when moving from prototype to production, including a series of new design challenges that impact a host of innovations. Start-up companies typically lack the practical manufacturing experience to successfully move their energy technology innovation to production. Moving a technology into production requires understanding of a wholly different set of considerations than the initial technology development, including material selection, supply-chain management, and assembly steps.

This solicitation is targeting companies with emerging best-of-class innovative technologies that have achieved an established full-scale prototype and are seeking to move from one-off production to a pilot production line. Companies with established production lines for their proposed emerging technology are not eligible for this solicitation.

This solicitation is part of the California Energy Commission’s ongoing strategy to foster and support clean energy entrepreneurship across the state. This solicitation will provide funding to help clean energy start-up companies reach a Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL) 8.