Avalanche Energy announced today that it has been awarded a $5.2 million contract by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The company will spearhead a project to engineer a new class of materials called radiovoltaics, which are designed to transform hazardous radiation into usable electricity.
While the Pentagon aims to utilize these materials for long-endurance nuclear batteries in spacecraft and autonomous military hardware, the technology holds significant promise for the broader energy sector. Avalanche Energy believes these materials could overcome a major, long-standing bottleneck in fusion power generation.
Solving the fusion energy gap
Fusion energy currently faces a major obstacle: capturing the immense energy released during reactions. Most experimental designs currently rely on conventional steam turbines, which struggle with efficiency and often capture only about 60% of the power generated.
“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 operate on a principle similar to solar panels, using semiconductors to harvest radiation. However, current versions are notoriously inefficient and prone to structural degradation from the very radioactive particles they are intended to capture. Avalanche Energy’s research is focused on developing more resilient, high-output materials capable of withstanding these extreme conditions.
Beyond fusion, DARPA’s interest is focused on nuclear batteries. These devices, which harness energy from the radioactive decay of materials like polonium, could provide portable power for years at a time. Velázquez noted that this technology is especially valuable for “autonomous systems or missions where logistics are a little bit impermissible.”
By securing this funding, Avalanche Energy is accelerating its internal roadmap to improve energy conversion efficiency. The company is now tasked with refining these materials to meet both stringent military durability standards and the potential commercial requirements for high-density power generation.