{"id":14590,"date":"2025-08-12T10:29:21","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T17:29:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/?p=14590"},"modified":"2025-11-25T14:46:06","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T22:46:06","slug":"harvey-mudd-team-wins-doe-energytech-up-prize-for-solar-safety-innovation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/2025\/08\/12\/harvey-mudd-team-wins-doe-energytech-up-prize-for-solar-safety-innovation\/","title":{"rendered":"Harvey Mudd Team Wins DOE EnergyTech UP Prize for Solar Safety Innovation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A student team from Harvey Mudd College won $20,000 at the U.S. Department of Energy\u2019s EnergyTech University Prize (EnergyTech UP) 2025 National Pitch Event, hosted in June. Competing against finalists from universities across the country, Harvey Mudd\u2019s Team IdealPV received the Solar Energy Technologies Office Bonus Prize for their innovative business plan to commercialize a patented solar technology that addresses one of the industry\u2019s most pressing safety concerns: hotspot formation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hotspots\u2014caused by shaded solar cells overheating\u2014pose a serious fire risk in solar installations. The team\u2019s proposed solution, idealPV\u2014solar panel technology patented by Kent Kernahan\u2014continuously monitors dynamic conductance and adjusts current flow in milliseconds, preventing reverse bias before it begins. Described by the team as \u201cthe airbag of the solar industry,\u201d this technology can keep solar arrays operating safely and efficiently\u2014especially important in high-risk wildfire areas like Southern California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harvey Mudd sophomores Felix Peng (team lead), Amy Li, Anika Sharma and Katie Cheng were inspired by past research led by physics Professor Peter Saeta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy involvement began with a Clinic project to validate Kernahan\u2019s patented technology, which evolved into a full-blown research effort,\u201d says Saeta. The resulting paper, co-written with Harvey Mudd professors Richard Haskell and Qimin Yang and five students, was published in the December 2022 IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics.<\/em> \u201cIt was exciting when Felix approached me about entering the DOE competition. I\u2019m thrilled with the team\u2019s win.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After being selected as an EnergyTech UP finalist and receiving a $5,000 prize, 24 multidisciplinary teams of post-secondary students from universities across the U.S.\u2014pitched their innovative business plans to industry stakeholders and OTC leadership to bring a DOE National Laboratory-developed or other high-potential energy technology to market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peng, who competed in DOE challenges during high school and recently with mathematics Professor Weiqing Gu, assembled the team after revisiting Saeta\u2019s published research. \u201cWe wanted to build a business case around an innovation with local impact,\u201d he says. \u201cIn Southern California, solar innovation and wildfire risk are high, so safety innovation like idealPV made sense to us.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each team member brought a distinct strength:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"ETech
Prof. Richard Haskell, Katie Cheng, Anika Sharma, Amy Li, Felix Peng, Prof. Peter Saeta.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • Engineering major Peng<\/strong> led project management and stakeholder outreach.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Computer science and mathematics major Li <\/strong>conducted market sizing and economic feasibility analysis.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Computer science and mathematics major Sharma<\/strong> developed the implementation and scalability strategy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Engineering major Cheng<\/strong> focused on articulating the technical edge of idealPV in the competitive solar landscape.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Peng says, \u201cIdealPV eliminates the fire risk problem entirely by dynamically monitoring the slope of the current-voltage curve (dynamic conductance) and adjusting current in real time to keep every cell in safe operating range. We created a full implementation and licensing plan: launching a local pilot with nonprofit CHERP Solar Works, scaling through licensing to larger manufacturers and aiming for industry-wide adoption.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The team\u2019s success stemmed from a combination of personal connection to the problem, technical fluency and stakeholder validation\u2014including input from firefighters, utilities, nonprofits and solar startups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cThis competition has been a springboard to so many opportunities in the climate tech space,\u201d says Sharma. \u201cI\u2019m grateful for all the connections it brings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Student involvement in national STEM competitions reflects Harvey Mudd College\u2019s goal of fostering a diverse cohort of engaged STEM leaders through exceptional teaching, learning and research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    A student team from Harvey Mudd College won $20,000 at the U.S. Department of Energy\u2019s EnergyTech University Prize (EnergyTech UP) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":14591,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,11,12,421,967,22,24,30,382],"class_list":["post-14590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-award","category-computer-science","category-engineering","category-entrepreneurship","category-general-feed","category-mathematics","category-physics","category-students","category-sustainability"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14590"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14590\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14872,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14590\/revisions\/14872"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}