I'm an IT guy but my degree is in electrical engineering.
I have something I'd like to work on: an alternative to photovoltaics for solar power generation.
I don't want to go into details about exactly what or how, but suffice it to say that it doesn't involve any kind of "fringe science" - just off-the-shelf components.
My motivation is simply to chart a path that would chip away at fossil-fuel electric power generation and by extension, provide another way for us to power the electric and plug-in-hybrid cars we so sorely need in order to get off of our decades-long oil binge.
I'm concerned that photovoltaics have to get more exotic and therefore more expensive in order to be more efficient, and that you have to scale up the amount of those materials in order to scale up the generation. I think I can get around that, and what I hope to study can use other sources of heat besides just solar radiation.
My problem is that I'd have to quit my job, lease or buy lab/workshop space, and get hold of a fair amount of equipment, materials, and components. I don't need to "invent" anything per se; just develop some expertise, build various prototypes, and perform a lot of testing so I can make comparisons to PV generators.
Best I can tell, what I need is a Government grant to carry me through this for a year or two. I don't want my results to be owned by any corporation; I want to make it possible for anyone to benefit from my findings and I want the flexibility to extend or initiate a line of inquiry based on new data.
Any ideas or opinions on how I might proceed? I've started working on the text of an unsolicited proposal to send to the DOE and/or other agencies, but I'd like to hear from people who do that sort of thing or have seen it done.