Halfway into the decade-long SunShot Initiative, the nation is nearly 70% of the way to achieving SunShot’s affordability goal to make solar energy fully cost-competitive with traditional energy sources by 2020. Solar energy is one of the fastest growing industries in the United States, and 2014 was a record breaking year for solar – deployment was up 40% over 2013, employment was up 22% year-over-year to 174,000 total solar workers, and solar represented 32% of all new electric generating capacity in the U.S. There is now enough installed solar capacity in the United States to power the equivalent of four million average-sized American homes.
SunShot plays a crucial role in the growth of U.S. solar energy, partnering with more than 350 awardees to accomplish the goal of making solar cost-competitive with other forms of electricity by the end of the decade. Below are success stories from just a few of the SunShot partners. Select an awardee to learn more.
Testing Smart Inverters
Testing Leads to Standardization
Solar Financing Tool
PACE Lease for Commercial Solar
Drones Aid Design
New Technology Reduces Site Design Time
Sun Number Scores
Solar Potential Scores Added to Zillow
3D Solar Wafers
1366 Technologies Lowers Costs with New Wafer Design
Startup-Utility Partnership
Solar Marketplace Improves Customer Access to Solar
Triple-Junction Cells
Prototype Creates Potential for 40% Efficient Cells
SunShot's Halfway Point
Challenging the Solar Industry to Say 'What If' Since 2011
Solar Receiver Redesign
Reducing the cost of heat exchangers by 40%