Capacitech Energy Receives $1 Million Grant to Develop ‘Energy Patch’

Orlando, Fla. (January 27, 2023) – The National Science Foundation has recognized the potential of Orlando-based Capacitech Energy’s flexible energy storage technologies with a Phase II SBIR grant valued at $1 million to develop an innovative “energy patch.”

With the grant, Capacitech will combine its flexible supercapacitor technology with high performance flexible solar cells and advanced power electronics to create energy patches that look like a sticker and are capable of replacing or enhancing batteries.

Capacitech turns ordinary infrastructure, like power cords, into energy storage devices that complement existing batteries. The innovative approach expands energy storage systems in ways that were impossible before, dramatically improving performance and reducing cost. This grant funds research to improve the energy storage devices at the heart of their product and expand into new markets.

“Innovation is about seeing problems and developing new ways to solve them,” says Joe Sleppy, CEO, Capacitech Energy. “In this case, we’re taking energy storage devices to places they couldn’t go before. The solution isn’t bigger — more batteries and storage – it’s discreet and distributed, by using existing energy infrastructure differently.”

The final product of the research grant will be a flexible energy patch that can replace or support batteries used in multiple ways, especially in wearable electronics and Internet of Things (IoT) applications.

For instance, an energy patch could be used in disaster recovery, with the patch placed on a search and rescue dog’s collar to power a device for long-range GPS tracking after an earthquake. The device would be self-powered, no charging needed, and can be turned on and off to quickly find the location of the dog even from miles away.

Battery-powered Internet of Things devices are another critical application. Batteries in these devices can be difficult to access and thus expensive to replace. The energy patch reduces these costly battery replacements making IoT devices, such as gunshot detectors on streetlights, much more affordable.

Capacitech is already deploying prototypes of their “energy patch” to complement the batteries in virtual and augmented reality headsets. Working with a fellow UCF Business Incubation Program client company, 3D Media, the product increases the AR/VR headset’s energy storage capacity to enable longer use times for training programs.

“Even at this early stage, the ability to put this system on our headsets has greatly improved their performance,” says Daryl Roy, CEO, 3D Media. “One of the best aspects is that, because it is extremely light weight, it doesn’t affect the functionality of the system at all.”

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For more information media should contact –

Joe Sleppy, CEO, Capacitech Energy, 727-434-1229, joe.sleppy@capacitechenergy.com

Carol Ann Dykes Logue, Site Manager, UCF Business Incubation Program, 407-207-7426, Carolann.dykeslogue@ucf.edu

Alan Byrd, Alan Byrd & Associates, 407-415-8470, Alan@ByrdConnections.com

About Capacitech Energy: Capacitech builds a dual-function power cord that both stores and distributes power, enhancing the batteries connected to it by protecting them from damage and increasing the system’s peak power capacity. As a result, customers save money, accelerate their return on investment, improve performance, avoid design tradeoffs, and are able to utilize space more efficiently. Leveraging its flexible supercapacitor technologies, advanced power electronics, and other innovations; Capacitech is enabling a paradigm shift in the energy storage industry. For more information, visit capacitechenergy.com

About the UCF Business Incubation Program: The University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program is a community resource that provides early-stage companies with the tools, training and infrastructure to become financially stable, high growth/impact enterprises. Since 1999, this award-winning program has provided vital business development resources resulting in over 300 local startup companies reaching their potential faster and graduating into the community where they continue to grow and positively impact the local economy.

With eight facilities throughout the region, the UCF Business Incubation Program is an economic development partnership between the University of Central Florida, the Corridor, Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia Counties, and the cities of Kissimmee, Orlando and Winter Springs. For the 2017/2018 fiscal years, the activities of these participating firms have helped to sustain more than 6,725 local jobs and have had a cumulative impact of over $725 million on regional GDP and over $1.3 billion on regional sales. During the same period, the program has returned more than $12.00 in state and local taxes for every $1.00 invested in the program. In addition, for every $1.00 of public investment the firms also produced $118 of additional regional GDP and $226 of regional sales. For more information, visit  www.incubator.ucf.edu.