Cary company gets $3M federal grant

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Amanda Jones Hoyle

The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded a $3 million grant to a Cary company focused on developing thermoelectric devices that convert heat from industrial processes into usable electric power.

Phononic Devices Inc. of Cary was one of 37 companies selected for funding by the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy from a field of more than 3,600 applicants.

Phononic President and CEO Anthony Atti says the grant will help grow the company’s research team and accelerate device engineering.

The Department of Energy estimates that more than half of all the energy consumed in the United States is wasted as heat that could be converted into profitable use.

Phononic Devices’ technology uses nanostructured materials and a thin-film semiconductor to improve heat-to-electricity conversion efficiency, according to a statement from the company.

The company has partnered with researchers at the University of Oklahoma, the University of California Santa Cruz and the California Institute of Technology to commercialize the thermoelectric devices.

Venture investors in the company are Venrock of Palo Alto, Calif., and Oak Investment Partners of Westport, Conn.

“The high-efficiency conversion of heat-to-electricity and vice versa could be game-changing across the energy landscape,” said Matt Trevithick, a partner at Venrock, in a statement. “Whether to convert heat from combustion processes into electricity, or to replace compressors in air conditioning applications, Phononic Devices’ approach promises disruptive gains in energy efficiency.”

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