Energy.gov

On December 6, 2016, the SunShot Initiative will host a webinar to discuss the new 2030 goals that were announced last month, which set a target to halve the cost of solar from 2020 to 2030 to achieve a levelized cost of electricity of just $0.03 per kilowatt hour from utility-scale solar. Please join us as we discuss the importance of moving solar energy into the next decade and the role SunShot plans to play.

The SunShot Initiative announces the launch a new prize competition that aims to expand solar access to all Americans, especially to communities that have been left out of the solar boom. The Solar in Your Community Challenge, informed by our work with the National Community Solar Partnership, aims to spur the development of new and innovative financial and business models that serve non-rooftop solar users and low- and moderate-income communities.

Today, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Ernest Moniz and Minister Moulay Hafid Elalamy, Ministry of Energy, Mines, Water, and Environment (MEMEE) and Director Badr Ikken of the Research Institute in Solar Energy and New Energies (IRESEN) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate in the development of a Solar Decathlon Africa competition in 2019.

The Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy today announced a commitment for its SunShot Initiative to cut the cost of solar-generated electricity by 50% between 2020 and 2030.

The deadline to apply to the third round of the Small Business Voucher (SBV) Pilot program has been extended through November 13 at 11:59pm ET. The SBV Pilot program gives small businesses access to technical assistance from national labs. This assistance helps companies overcome critical technology and commercialization challenges to help bring the next generation of clean energy technologies, including solar, to market.

SunShot Initiative awardee Dr. Dileep Singh of Argonne National Laboratory has been named a fellow of ASM International for his contributions to the science and technology behind concentrating solar power (CSP) and other energy innovations. This award is one of the highest honors in the field of materials science.

The Energy Department today announced $21.4 million in funding for 17 new projects to help reduce the "soft costs" commonly found with solar energy, such as installation, permitting, and connecting to the grid.

Report details the economic and environmental benefits our nation is already starting to realize thanks to the increased deployment.

The U.S. Department of Energy today announced a new Energy Materials Network (EMN) consortium, the Durable Module Materials (DuraMat) National Lab Consortium led by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

Today the Energy Department announced up to $107 million in new projects and planned funding in order to support America's continued leadership in clean energy innovation through solar technology.

The SunShot Initiative is leading a number of educational and informational sessions at the 2016 Solar Power International conference from September 12-15 in Las Vegas. Join us as we delve into upcoming funding programs, highlight our current awardees and their innovative projects, and discuss some of the most important trends in the solar industry. See all of SunShot's events below.

Through high-performance computing capabilities and innovative visualization tools, the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) determined that the eastern United States could handle even higher penetration levels of wind and solar. The power system models helped researchers discover that the grid in this area could feasibly accommodate solar and wind penetration levels as high as 30%.

The Department of Energy today announced 43 small businesses that will participate in the second round of the Small Business Vouchers (SBV) pilot, two of which focus on solar energy. The two solar projects, which together will receive $204,000 in support from national laboratories, are working to improve solar energy storage solutions and reduce the costs and time associated with analyzing and testing solar arrays.

The Cell and Module Performance Lab at the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory provides cell and module measurements services to the global photovoltaics (PV) community and has done so for the past three decades. In recent years there have been extraordinary changes in the PV community and the needs of the Cell and Module Performance Lab’s clients have changed as well. In response to these changes the Cell and Module Performance Lab will implement a fee structure for all cell and module measurements beginning October 1, 2016.

The Energy Department's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy today announced a total of $11 million for 16 projects intended to develop innovative, early-stage solutions in both photovoltaics (PV) and concentrating solar power (CSP).

The number of U.S. households with rooftop solar is rapidly growing. The amount of grid-connected solar is expected to double in just two years. With this large number of PV homes in the U.S. and a continuing robust market for additional PV installations, an ever-increasing number of PV homes will likely be sold or refinanced.

Today the White House announced the Clean Energy Savings for All Americans Initiative, which aims to ensure that every American family can choose to go solar and to cut their energy bills – and that every American community has the tools they need to tackle local air pollution and global climate change. Read the fact sheet here.

Five Catalyst startups have received an additional $260,000 to boost their solar innovations and reduce soft costs making going solar easier, faster and cheaper for all Americans. Six months after Demo Day in Philadelphia, each team has demonstrated progress in meeting the targets and goals they identified in the seed round of the Catalyst Incubation contest. Prize awards are as follows:

By adopting solar friendly practices, like streamlining the permitting process and providing online resources for local solar development, communities position themselves for greater solar investment opportunities. A new SunShot funded program called SolSmart aims to capitalize on this effort by recognizing communities who make it faster and easier to go solar.

On May 25, 2016 at Solar Power Southeast, the Energy Department named the Northern and Central California SunShot Alliance, the Connecticut Permit to Plug-in Team, and Sunrun teams SunShot Prize Change Champions.

Energy Department releases the On the Path to SunShot reports, a series of eight research papers examining the state of the U.S. solar energy industry and the progress made to date toward the SunShot Initiative’s goal to make solar energy cost-competitive with other forms of electricity by 2020.

Energy Department announces five additional military bases will join Solar Ready Vets, a solar jobs training program that prepares service members for careers in the solar industry when they leave active duty, and awards $10 million to 10 new projects through its Solar Training and Education for Professionals (STEP) funding program, which was created to help meet the solar industry’s growing demand for well-qualified, highly skilled installers and other industry-related professionals.

New Funding Opportunity Announcement will Support Companies Working to Modernize the Grid

Our office is hiring multiple solar energy technology managers to fill vacancies on the Photovoltaics, Concentrating Solar Power, Technology to Market, and Systems Integration teams.

Solar Energy technology managers are responsible for managing funding opportunity announcements, which includes developing concepts, planning workshops, organizing merit reviews, and collaborating with contracting officers. In addition, technology managers monitor and evaluate technology portfolios to ensure that projects are making progress on pre-established goals and deliverables and make recommendations to the program manager on use of project funding.

Today GreenTech Media announced that the U.S. solar energy industry passed 1 million installations sometime around the end of February. This news comes as solar continues to represent a major and growing share of the new generation that comes online across the U.S.