PowerFelt for On-the-go Power

An examination of the thermoelectric generation market shows that it is not mature, wide-ranging, and contains very few domestic and foreign players. The unique value proposition of PowerFelt is that it is the only conformal material that can harvest both waste thermal and vibrational energy. It makes “people power” for portable devices practical. The market for portable battery packs is estimated to be $17.2B in 2020, and it is growing at a rate of 20.3% per year. These battery packs are very useful for providing power on the go, but they need to be charged, and can not always be counted on in a pinch. The focus of this project is to use outside investment form a partner company to develop improved thermoelectric materials, scaled up and further scalable production techniques for making PowerFelt material that will handle commercial demand.

This is a mature technology (TRL 8) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.