Energy Focus, Inc just announced that it has inked a $3.1 million, two-year contract with the DuPont-University of Delaware Very High Efficiency Solar Cell (VHESC) Consortium to develop, cheap, high-efficiency solar modules. The project is being funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and uses spectrum splitting technology to increase efficiency by breaking up sunlight into different color bands and directing each color to PV cells targeted toward that specific part of the spectrum.

In a press release, Energy Focus Executives commented on the contract:

“Energy Focus’ role on the VHESC program during the initial phase of the effort helped pave the way for the developments to date. We’re proud to be a member of such an accomplished team,” said Roger Buelow, Energy Focus’ Chief Technology Officer.

“A key part of our company’s vision is to be able to provide distributed, low cost energy that enables buildings to be completely off grid. It is our hope that this research will make that a reality for the military and for all Americans,” added Joe Kaveski, CEO.