Solar Energy Projects Chosen for DOE Funding
Thirteen industry-led solar energy projects in the U.S. are slated to receive a total of $168 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
Thirteen industry-led solar energy projects in the U.S. are slated to receive a total of $168 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
As part of the cost-shared agreements, the industry-led teams will contribute more than 50 percent of the funding for these projects for a total value of up to $357 million over three years. These cooperative agreements, to be negotiated, will be the first made available as part of the Solar America Initiative, part of the Advanced Energy Initiative, announced in the 2006 State of the Union Address.
The teams selected for negotiation include companies, laboratories, universities, and non-profit organizations who accelerate the drive towards commercialization of U.S.-produced solar photovoltaic systems. These partnerships are comprised of more than 50 companies, 14 universities, 3 non-profit organizations, and 2 national laboratories. DOE funding is expected to begin in fiscal year 2007.
If successful, the projects will enable the projected expansion of the annual U.S. manufacturing capacity of PV systems from 240 MW in 2005 to as much as 2,850 MW by 2010, representing more than a ten-fold increase.
The projects selected for negotiation include:
- Boeing: High-efficiency concentrating photovoltaic power system. This project will focus on cell fabrication research that is expected to yield very high efficiency systems.
- BP Solar: Low-cost approach to grid parity using crystalline silicon. This project’s research will focus on reducing wafer thickness while improving yield of multi-crystalline silicon PV for commercial and residential markets.
- Konarka: Building-integrated organic photovoltaics. This project will focus on manufacturing research and product reliability assurance for extremely low-cost photovoltaic cells using organic dyes that convert sunlight to electricity.
- Nanosolar: Low-cost, scaleable PV systems for commercial rooftops. This project will work on improved low-cost systems and components using back-contacted thin-film PV cells for commercial buildings.
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