Author: DOE EERE Staff Published: 5/16/2024 DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
What’s Inside:Solar Snapshot, the newsletter of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO), sharesrecent announcements;deadlines;upcoming events;andmore.
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The White Houseannounced DOE’s $71 million investmentin research and development projects to seed new technologies across the solar supply chain. This funding will enable new entrants to the solar manufacturing market to establish their technologies and access more capital.
New $27 Million Investment to Boost Domestic Solar Supply Chain
DOE selected 10 projects as part of the Silicon Solar Manufacturing and Dual-use Photovoltaics Incubator funding program. These projects will support the development of technologies to onshore silicon wafer and cell manufacturing, while also opening new markets for solar deployment like building-integrated photovoltaics (PV) and agrivoltaics.
DOE Announces $44 Million for Projects that Advance Thin-Film PV
Eight projects will receive a total of $44 million from SETO’s Advancing U.S. Thin-Film Solar Photovoltaics funding program. These solar manufacturing projects will de-risk innovative tandem PV technologies including perovskites and reduce costs for cadmium telluride systems. They will innovate to spur rapid commercialization and production of thin-film technologies.
New Prize Will Shed Light on Distributed Solar Energy Generation Data
DOE just launched the American-Made Data-Driven Distributed (3D) Solar Visibility Prize as part of the Office of Electricity’s (OE) newGrid Resource Integration Technologies (GRIT) Prize Series. The 3D Solar Visibility Prize will award a total of $175,000 in cash prizes to competitors with the best distribution system state estimation tools. As more solar energy is connected to the grid, utility operators and planners require accurate, real-time information to optimize distributed solar energy resources and enhance the reliability and resilience of the grid.Register for an informational webinaronMay 29 at 3
Don’t forget to participate in thesefunding opportunities, prizes, and solicitations:
- Concentrating Solar Flux to Heat and Power Funding Opportunity– Interested applicants can submit mandatory concept papers byMay 16.
- American-Made Upskill Prize for the Solar Manufacturing Workforce– U.S. solar manufacturers and training organizations can partner to submit workforce training plans byMay 21.
- American-MadeSolar Photo Competition: Hit Me with Your Sun Shot– Photographers are encouraged to submit their photos byMay 23.
- Photovoltaics Research and Development Funding Opportunity–Diverse teams of PV researchers are encouraged to submit mandatory letters of intent byJune 12.
- Renewable Energy Siting through Technical Engagement and Planning (R-STEP) Round Two–State-based collaboratives can submit applications byJune 1
Last Shot to Submit Your Sun Shots
It’s not too late to submit your best sun shots to the American-Made Solar Photo Competition: Hit Me with Your Sun Shot, a prize in search of the best photos of solar power. Winners of the competition can earn up to $2,500 for a photo in one of eight categories. The contest will award prizes and feature photos on SETO’s website, at solar events and conferences, and in other outreach material. Learn more and submit your photos byMay 23 at 5 p.m. ET.
Success Story—Improving Interconnection of Solar and Storage
SETO funded the Interstate Renewable Energy Council’sBuilding a Technically Reliable Interconnection Evolution for Storage (BATRIES)toolkit, which lays out solutions to make energy storage interconnection easier than ever before. Learn more about the resulting toolkit that helped states like Michigan, New Mexico, and Vermont adopt best practices in interconnection.
New Solar Resource Webpage for City Energy Planning
SETO’s newest resource page helps city energy planners set solar energy goals and turn local government energy plans for renewable energy adoption into reality, advancing the clean energy transition one community at a time. The webpage provides an overview of tools and resources available from DOE and national labs.
Annual Sharing the Sun Survey & Call for Community Solar Data
Calling all community solar developers! Take a few minutes to participate in the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL’s) Sharing the Sun data collection. This annual dataset takes a snapshot of the community solar market and helps inform the future of the industry. The most recent dataset was released earlier this year and includes information about U.S. community solar projects through the end of 2023. Ensure your community solar projects are included in this dataset—access the2024 data collection formand submit your responses byJune 10. ContactSudha Kannanat NREL with questions.
New Guidance on Domestic Content Bonusto Boost Clean Energy Manufacturing
The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service released guidance on the domestic content bonus, building on and amending guidance from 2023. The Inflation Reduction Act contains a bonus tax credit available to developers of clean energy projects that meet certain requirements, and this guidance will enable more clean energy developers and manufacturers in the United States to take advantage of the bonus.
New Prize Series to Catalyze Collaboration for Renewable Integration
DOE launched the Science Synthesis Prize as part of the new GRIT Prize Series. The GRIT Prize Series coordinates DOE prizes focused on integrating renewables onto the grid to catalyze research and development efforts. TheScience Synthesis Prizeseeks new and comprehensive knowledge on the current state of science in renewable integration and will award $125,000 in cash prizes to winning teams. Students, researchers, engineers, and other industry stakeholders can submit ideas byAugust 30.
PV Cell Efficiency Chart Gets an Update
NREL updated the popularBest Research-Cell Efficiency Chartto better represent tandem PV technologies. Learn more about the changes to this resource.
New Research to Detect and Prevent Cyber Attacks in Clean Energy Technology
Solar energy is the fastest growing and most affordable source of clean electricity in America. However, cyber attacks pose security risks. This is why tailored, long-term security and resilience measures for PV systems are critical to our clean energy future. DOE’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response funded a project withSandia National Laboratoriesto design these measures specifically for PV systems and other distributed energy resources.
Clean Energy Security and Reliability Forum
May 16| 11 a.m. CT| Houston, TX
Join SETO’s Dr. Marissa Morales-Rodriguez at the Clean Energy Security and Reliability Forum, where she will be moderating a panel about innovations in theSecuring Solar for the Grid project.
Affordable Home Energy Shot™ Summit
June 5 | 10:30 a.m. ET| Virtual
Join DOE’s first Affordable Home Energy Shot™ Summit, where stakeholders will discuss this Energy Earthshot™ initiative to reduce the upfront cost of upgrading a home by at least 50% while reducing energy bills by 20% within a decade.
Webinar Materials: Introducing the DOE Transmission Interconnection Roadmap
The Interconnection Innovation e-Xchange (i2X) team hosted a webinar to provide an overview of the newTransmission Interconnection Roadmapand lay the foundation for future deep-dive conversations.Watch a recordingof the webinar anddownload the slide deck.
Learn more about SETOor DOE’sOffice of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
