No lab? No problem.

That's the message from the US Department of Energy to cleantech startups. Under the new Entrepreneur in Residence program, the agency will give some choice renewable energy firms the chance test their technology at its labs -- one at each of three locations -- to accelerate time to market.

This Reuters report explains...

The venture capital firms that will sponsor and choose participants in the program are Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers and Foundation Capital, both based in Menlo Park, California, as well as Chicago-based ARCH Venture Partners.

Kleiner Perkins will work with the department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, ARCH will work with the Sandia National Laboratory, and Foundation Capital will work with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The DOE will even throw in $100,000 to sweeten an already sweet deal. Here’s the DOE’s official line.

So nice of our government, wouldn't you say?