Avalanche Energy announced today it has received a $5.2 million contract from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The company will lead a project to engineer a new class of materials known as radiovoltaics, designed to convert harmful radiation into usable electrical power.
While the Pentagon intends to use these materials for long-duration nuclear batteries in spacecraft and autonomous military systems, the technology carries broader implications for the energy sector. Avalanche Energy believes these materials could solve a persistent bottleneck in fusion power generation.
Solving the fusion energy gap
Fusion energy currently faces a significant hurdle: capturing the massive energy released by reactions. Most existing experimental designs rely on traditional steam turbines, which struggle with efficiency and often capture only about 60% of the generated power.
“A fusion reactor that makes power—and there’s plenty of those, they already exist,” said Daniel Velázquez, materials science lead at Avalanche Energy. “A fusion reactor that makes electricity is better.”
Radiovoltaics function similarly to solar panels by using semiconductors to harvest radiation. However, existing versions are notoriously inefficient and prone to structural damage from the very radioactive particles they are meant to capture. Avalanche Energy’s research aims to create more resilient, high-output materials that can withstand these extreme environments.
Beyond fusion, DARPA’s interest centers on nuclear batteries. These devices, which harness the energy from radioactive decay in materials like polonium, could provide portable power for years. Velázquez noted that such technology is particularly valuable for “autonomous systems or missions where logistics are a little bit impermissible.”
By securing this funding, Avalanche Energy advances its own internal roadmap to improve energy conversion efficiency. The company is now tasked with refining these materials to meet both military standards for durability and potential commercial requirements for high-density power generation.
