Overview

To fulfill solar energy's promise, the President's Advanced Energy Initiative and the 2007 Budget proposes a new $148 million Solar America Initiative (SAI) - an increase of $65 million over the FY06 budget. The Solar America Initiative will accelerate the development of advanced solar electric technologies, including photovoltaics and concentrating solar power systems, with the goal of making them cost-competitive with other forms of renewable electricity by 2015.
The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technology Program (SETP) will achieve the goals of the SAI through partnerships and strategic alliances with industry participants, universities, Federal and state government, and other non-governmental agencies by focusing primarily on two areas:

Technology Pathway Partnerships - research and development on PV component and system designs, including low-cost approaches for manufacturing; improvements to performance and reliability; and the development of integrated PV systems.

Technology Acceptance - activities that address marketplace barriers and offer the opportunity for market expansion.
Please visit the DOE official EERE SAI Web site for more information and details about activities and funding opportunities related to the initiative.

Sandia National Laboratories - Roles and Capabilities
Sandia National Laboratories facilities and personnel will support the goals of the SAI through:
Cooperation with Technology Pathway Partnerships for R&D on commercial and manufacturing prototype technology;
Non-Technology Pathway Partnership-specific laboratory-scale prototype technology; Long-term, potentially revolutionary R&D;
Access by the Technology Pathway Partnerships to key laboratory facilities.
...with the following capabilities:

Cell Measurement and Analysis - Sandia's world-class cell measurement laboratory performs NIST-traceable measurement of one-sun and multi-sun illuminated current vs. voltage (IV), dark-IV, absolute spectral response, hemispherical spectral reflectance, and more. When combined with numerical simulation software, Sandia researchers are able to glean important information about the performance-limiting mechanisms of both laboratory and commercial Si solar cells.

Module and Systems Analysis -  The PV System Optimization Lab (PVSOL) is a fully instrumented  facility for evaluating all factors influencing system energy production, long-long-term reliability, and safety.

Balance of Systems and Distributed Energy Technologies - Lab capabilities include evaluating pre-production models (prototype, alpha, or beta) for code conformance, performance, and compliance with utility interconnection standards. Sandia also performs evaluations on power electronic inverters, packaged PV systems, intelligent system controllers, battery charge controllers, and hybrid systems

Reliability & Life Cycle Costs Analyses in Technology Acceptance - Sandia has developed a capability to assess the performance, cost and reliability of fielded PV systems.

Manufacturing Science and Technology - The Manufacturing Science & Technology Center focuses on enhancing manufacturing capabilities in theme following key areas: manufacture
of engineering hardware, development of robust manufacturing processes, and design and fabrication of unique equipment.

Material Science and Nano Technology - Microsystems and Engineering Sciences Applications (MESA) is Sancta's state-of-the-art facility designed to accelerate the science and application of microsystem technologies. These small, highly integrated and low-power mechanisms are created using integrated circuit fabrication technology that allows for the combination of diverse functions on a single computer chip.

Strategic Measurement and Analysis Partners - Sandia is linked to several affiliated measurement and testing organizations.

For questions about specific roles, support or inquiries regarding the DOE Solar America Initiative Technology Pathway Partnerships FOA please contact:

Dr. Jeffrey S. Nelson
Phone: 505-284-1715
e-mail: jsnelso@sandia.gov

Useful links
About the Solar America Initiative
Funding Opportunities
Implementation Schedule