Energy.gov

How President's Kennedy's 1962 "moon shot" speech is inspiring a bold path forward for solar energy in America.

In the future, installing a solar array for your home could be as easy as plugging in common household appliances.

Over the past five years, the Energy Department’s SunShot Incubator program investments have helped get nearly 40 small businesses off the ground.

Serving approximately 9,000 homes with clean renewable energy, the Paloma and Cotton Center solar plants highlight the rapidly rising solar corridor in Gila Bend, Arizona. | Photo courtesy of the town of Gila Bend, Arizona.

The SunShot initiative announces a $60 million funding opportunity (FOA) to advance concentrating solar power in the United States.

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville is participating in its first Solar Decathlon 2011 competition, featuring its home, “Living Light.” Named for its very brightly sunlit double facade glass system, the home’s blueprint was inspired by the cantilever barns of Southern Appalachia, which feature giant eves to provide shade and a two-core design.



Entrepreneurs from Durham-based solar startup Semprius teamed with Governor Bev Purdue to announce the company’s plan to build a new high-tech manufacturing facility in Henderson. The factory is expected to create more than 250 full-time jobs over the next five years, which is a particular boon for Henderson, where the county unemployment rate reached 13.3% in May.

Pioneering startup Innovalight partnered with NREL to invent the first liquid silicon on the market. When paired with Innovalight’s industrial screen printing process, this silicon ink technology offers a novel path to producing solar cells with higher conversion efficiencies at lower cost.

The Energy Department announced $4.5 billion in conditional loan guarantees to three California photovoltaic solar power plants. Combined the projects will create enough energy to power 275,000 homes.

Experts at the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have confirmed that two companies in their PV Incubator Program have set new world records for their respective technologies.

Secretary Chu announced conditional commitments for approximately $2 billion in loan guarantees to two California concentrating solar power plants.

Can you imagine a photovoltaic module that’s able to generate and store electricity on its own? Or an electric vehicle (EV) powered by a technology more durable than the advanced batteries in today’s EVs? Innovative solid-state nanocapacitors are making this clean technology possible.