Bao Research Group Spinoff wins $200,000 MIT Clean Energy Prize

C3Nano Inc., a spinoff developed in the lab of chemical engineering Associate Professor ZHENAN BAO, was named the top winner of the MIT Clean Energy Prize for the team’s revolutionary design that will increase the efficiency of solar photovoltaic panels. The team, which includes AJAY VIRKAR and MELBURNE LEMIEUX, researchers in chemical engineering, beat out more than 60 teams to win the top prize of $200,000.

The national competition was founded by MIT, the U.S. Department of Energy and NSTAR to accelerate the pace of clean energy entrepreneurship.

“Our innovation is a cross-cutting technology that not only has the potential to increase the efficiency of solar panels, it can be used in the manufacture of television, computer and cell phone touch screens and electronic displays to increase performance and lower cost,” LeMieux, C3Nano founder and chief science officer, said in a press release. “Winning this competition literally enables us to take the next step toward moving this important technology out of the laboratory and into the marketplace.”

Read the full press release.