InteliSpark client Widetronix has won a $1 million contract from the U.S. Army for the Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project “Radioisotope Power Source for Long-Lived Sensors and Communications.”
Widetronix is an early stage company that was initially created based on technology developed at Cornell University. They are actively working with customers on defense, medical and industrial applications. The company designs and manufactures ultra-low power sensor platforms with lifetimes designed to exceed 25 years. A key factor in Widetronix technology is that they are based on the companies innovative silicon carbide betavoltaics. Betavoltaics generate electric current through the non-thermal conversion of beta particles to electrical energy, using a similar process to photovoltaics
The project being funded is to commercialize betavoltaic power sources which can last >25 years to extend the operational lifetimes for low-power applications in defense, medical and industrial monitoring applications. Currently, the commercially available power-storage devices / batteries only have a life-span that rarely reaches 10 years.