American small businesses now have a fighting chance to make a big impact in clean energy. Through EERE’s Small Business Vouchers (SBV) pilot, 33 small businesses are gaining access to world-class resources at nine national laboratories to help move their innovative ideas and technologies closer to the marketplace.

Skysun LLC, a start-up from Bay Village, Ohio, is one of 12 companies using national lab capabilities for the first time. It’s working with Sandia National Laboratories to perform systems modeling on its prototype for a ganged heliostat – an array of movable mirrors controlled by a single device used to reflect sunlight in a fixed direction.

“The Small Business Vouchers pilot will let us collaborate with Sandia’s world renowned solar researchers,” said Skysun President Jim Clair. “That would normally be beyond the reach of a startup like Skysun. This teamwork will dramatically accelerate our technology’s acceptance and deployment into the marketplace.”

According to the Small Business Administration, small businesses like Skysun produce more than 15 times as many patents per employee as larger firms. The SBV pilot taps into this market by giving American companies access to capabilities found only at the Energy Department’s national laboratories.

“Small businesses are really the backbone of our innovation ecosystem,” said Zack Baize, program manager for the SBV pilot. “That’s really where these cutting-edge innovations come from. If we don’t engage with the small business community then we’re really leaving a lot on the table.”

The $20 million SBV pilot is part of EERE’s National Laboratory Impact Initiative, which aims to accelerate the commercialization of national lab research. SBV awarded its first round of selections in March to 33 small businesses. Voucher funding, ranging from $50,000 to $300,000, provides lab access to advance clean energy innovations in transportation, renewable power and energy efficiency.

“The labs have unique and specific capabilities that are difficult at times for the private sector to access,” said Baize. “The more problems our labs can help solve the better.”

A second round of vouchers is now available for American small businesses. Applications and additional resources can be found at sbv.org.