Department of energy invested $9 million in data-driven SunShot projects

The Department of energy announced on 30 January its selection of seven data-driven projects, to reduce opportunities for solar energy and accelerated deployment of solar energy in the United States dig out. The Department is about 9 million $ in the seven projects to invest in six States: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Texas. The projects are part of the SunShot initiative to make competitive solar energy a joint national effort until the end of the decade with other energies.

$7 Million offer for four projects Energy Department research teams led by Sandia National Laboratories, the national renewable energy Laboratory (NREL), Yale University and the University of Texas - Austin (UT-Austin). These teams will solve industry problems in cooperation with public and private financial institutions, utilities, and statistical and computational tools to be applied to State agencies and lead regional pilot projects in the country, to test the impact and the scalability of their innovations.

For example, will design solar challenge Yale University of researchers partner with SmartPowers New England and implement innovative strategies that guided bulk purchasing programs for solar power can increase the effectiveness of the community. The team of UT-Austin with complex sets of data from six Texas utilities, is working to better understand customer needs, and identify to optimize the installation and networking opportunities. As NREL develop a computer model for the analysis of data from a network of US solar installers and new kinds of community and regional level strategies for financing and delivery costs identification.

The Department to invest $2 million in three projects led by the University of North Carolina - Charlotte (UNC Charlotte), to analyze the Massachusetts Institute of technology (MIT) and SRI International, decades of scientific publications, patents, and information on costs and production. SRI International will develop advanced software that reads and analyzes to discover thousands of scientific publications and patents, to speed up new ways to solar energy technology innovation and commercialization. Meanwhile, UNC Charlotte apply and computational tools for patent, cost and production data to accelerate solar cost cuts and better predict future costs for new energy technologies. See the DOE press release and the full list of projects.

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SunShot incubator inspired solar energy visionary

It is the kind of challenge, eager to embrace the bold pioneers.

The Energy Department on January 16 announced the availability of more than 12 million $ to the speeding up of innovation within the solar industry as part of the last round of the SunShot incubator. This new opportunity challenges solar financing's best and brightest to groundbreaking advances make solar the solar spectrum - by streamlining on efficiency of solar cells allow.

The last round of the SunShot incubator continue the legacy of transformational solar innovations set by the last participant. Projects focus on two core areas: Janabi innovations in solar hardware and reducing the non-hardware "soft costs" solar – that can be eliminated almost half of the cost of a solar system (see chart) above for details. The complete history, see the blog post of energy.

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5 Questions about the SunShot Prize for Minh Le

Recently, we announced the launch of the SunShot Prize—a new competition aimed at making it faster, easier, and cheaper to install rooftop solar energy systems. Participating teams must demonstrate that solar energy is an affordable solution for American families and businesses. To learn more about the competition, we caught up with Minh Le, Acting Solar Program Manager at the Energy Department. In the Q&A exchange below, Le shares important details about the impetus driving this innovative competition.

Why did the Department launch the SunShot Prize?

The global clean energy race is moving forward at lightning speed, and it’s time for the United States to regain its competitive edge. The SunShot Prize is meant to inspire organizations across the nation to dramatically reduce the costs of going solar. As part of the SunShot Initiative’s larger effort to make solar cost-competitive by 2020, this new program takes aim at soft costs, which are essentially what we think of as "the price to plug in." For the complete story, see the Energy Blog.

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Department of energy starts SunShot price competition

The SunShot prize is intended to reduce in the soft costs associated with small solar systems of more than 65%.
Credit: MREA

Within the framework of the initiative announced the Energy Ministry SunShot the Department on September 12 beginning to make a new contest faster, easier and cheaper, solar panels on the roof to install. The SunShot price makes a total of $10 million in cash prizes for the first three teams that consistently demonstrate that the non-hardware costs or price to plug in, as low as $1 per watt (W) for small photovoltaic (PV) systems, which can be installed to American homes and businesses. This objective corresponds to a decline in the "soft costs" of solar installations - including permitting, licensing, connection to the grid and other non-hardware costs - more than 65%. The winning teams will show that solar energy is a solution affordable for families and businesses in the United States.

The SunShot Prize to inspire innovative, sustainable and verifiable business practices to reduce soft costs $1 / W. achieving which this target SunShot within will bring soft cost target of $0.60 / W for residential system, reach by the end of the Decade. During phase I of the competition to win the teams will be successful to deploy, 5,000 small-scale (is kilowatt) rooftop PV systems with non-hardware costs an average $1 / W. phase II, which is provided the company sustainability the winner, calls for the installation of an additional 1,000 qualified systems.

The competition runs over 2015.The winner first place will receive $7 million, $2 million will get second place and runners-up will receive $1 million for the competition to achieve goals successfully. In addition to the prize money, which are officially first place team "the winner of America's best rooftop solar"-price. The SunShot initiative is a joint project of the national to solar energy until the end of the decade with other energies get competitive. See the press release of Ministry of energy and SunShot Prize Web site.

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Make the impossible possible: from Kennedy's Moonshot to solar of the SunShot

By Ramamoorthy Ramesh, Director, SunShot initiative & solar energy technologies program

In my two years as a leader who had the Department of energy solar energy technologies program I often been accused, an eternal optimist. I don't see one that has the potential to revolutionize our economic, environmental, and safety as an incredible opportunity - our nation's energy challenges.

That is why, again in 2010, we SunShot initiative, the installed price of solar power to 75% by 2020 to reduce. We took our inspiration from President Kennedy in 1962 "Moon shot" speech, which the country on a path, the lead in the space race and the land a man on the Moon again discontinued. Many thought a manned mission to the Moon was NASA skills higher than, but this bold step United ultimately the country if it proved successful.

There were many pessimists when we launched - even within the industry - who says the SunShot initiative in life, that the subsidy-free, competitive solar happen in this decade could not. But we do not listen to them. And many of these same naysayers now - as price drops of solar panels and America solar of energy industry explodes - changed their tune. Read the full post on the energy blog.

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SunShot initiative investment and solar competition announced

DOE's SunShot initiative is a new competition and investment so that easier and less expensive to solar energy technologies to provide it.
Credit card: Craig Miller Productions

In the context of the initiative announced the Department of energy SunShot the Department on June 13 one new competition and investment to it easier and less expensive to solar energy technologies to deploy. The Department "Americas Best rooftop solar" competition starts to aggressively drive the cost of solar panels on the roof. It is also providing almost 8 million $ on nine small businesses, reduce the cost of financing, with a beautiful and other "soft costs", the almost half of the cost of residential solar systems can make. To promote the use of low-cost residential and small commercial roof solar systems across the nation, the Department of America at the most affordable rooftop solar launches competition us quickly to challenge reduction in the cost of installed roof photovoltaic (PV) systems team. The contest offers prize money $10 million total for the first three U.S. teams, which can install solar PV systems at an average price of $2 per watt 5,000 roof. The competition is to set by an ambitious goal, to make affordable helical creative public private partnerships, original business models and innovative approaches for solar energy for millions of families and businesses. Find America's most affordable rooftop solar competition Web site.

The Energy Department to support incubator program awards up to $8 million to nine highly innovative start-ups in four States by the SunShot. These companies in California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota, develop transformative solutions to optimize the solar system processes such as financing, approval and control. See the list of projects.

A national joint effort to solar power cost is the SunShot initiative until the end of the decade with other energies to make competitive. "Moon Shot" program, to put the first man on the Moon inspired by President Kennedy, SunShot has created initiative provides new impulses for the solar industry, by the need for American competitiveness in the clean energy race. See the DOE press release and the SunShot initiative Web site.

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SunShot Shoots for the Moon with First Grand Challenge Event

By Ramamoorthy Ramesh, director SunShot Initiative & Solar Energy Technologies Program

About two years ago, my good friend Arun Majumdar, director of ARPA-E, coined the term "SunShot" in one of our meetings. We decided then that all of the solar program efforts going forward would focus on the common goal of making solar electricity cost-competitive by the end of the decade. Such a goal was incredibly ambitious, so it was fitting that the initiative’s name would be inspired by President Kennedy’s "moon shot" speech that launched NASA's effort to put a man on the moon.

We have been doing everything in our power to reduce energy costs for consumers and to ensure that American innovators and companies can lead the global transition to a clean energy economy. As the price of solar panels has decreased, the solar energy industry in the United States has exploded. Solar installations doubled from 2009 to 2010, and the domestic market grew to $6 billion in 2010.

We now know that SunShot goals are within our reach. By tapping into the best and brightest minds in science, industry, and academia, we are already making progress. The SunShot Initiative is funding more than 250 projects that explore every possible way to drive down the cost of solar, from developing an efficient solar cell that’s as thin as a human hair to creating a GIS-based tool that can perform site assessments from space. But there is much work left to do.

The SunShot Grand Challenge: Summit and Technology Forum next month will give us the opportunity to highlight the progress of the past two years and reassess the challenges that must be overcome in order to reach the 2020 goal. We are inviting everyone who is contributing to this effort to join us at what promises to be an exciting event June 13–14 in Denver, Colorado. For the rest of the story, read the complete Energy Blog.

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Finance Announces Department of energy solar solar "Plug-and-play"

A new effort of SunShot supports Plug- and -play photovoltaics for homes initiative.
Credit card: MSB energy of associates

The Energy Department on 24 April announced that up to $5 million this year "Plug-and-play" to develop photovoltaic (PV) systems. These are commercially available systems, purchased, installed and can be operational in a day. This effort is part of the Energy Department strategy deployment by reducing the non-hardware spur solar power, or "soft" on costs such as installation, approval and interconnection, currently more than half of the total cost of living systems. With the innovations basically the design and installation of residential PV systems, reducing costs for homeowners and simplification change the funding, part of the Department of energy SunShot initiative helps installations and grid connection.

The cost of solar PV still down, soft costs and other non-module hardware costs, such as electronics and mounting hardware, now for a large part of the total cost of the systems are as modules. This offers great opportunities to reduce costs through efficient installation and allow processes or new ways to connect solar panels on the Web affordably and effectively.

Plug & play solar panels make the process of the purchase, installation, and solar energy systems connect faster, easier, and less expensive, potentially significant cost reductions in this area unlock. Plug & play PV systems could be installed without special training or tools and easily connected into a PV ready circuit. An automatic detection system would initiate communication between the solar system and the utility. Plug & play systems are already widely used in the computer and automotive industry and the DOE believes that similar innovation in the solar industry to reduce costs and simplify installations can be made. As part of a planned five year program invest DOE first $ 5 million this year for two projects, the innovative plug & play prototypes through partnerships with universities, industry, utilities and other stakeholders will develop. The Department of energy plans to support an additional requirement of $20 million to the Congress in the next four years to this effort. See the DOE press release, the full funding opportunity announcement and the SunShot initiative website.

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New ideas arise from the SunShot incubator

To a new idea to slip, need solar startups often a supportive environment to help, to take their first steps toward the introduction of new technologies into the market. In the last five years, DOE SunShot invested incubator program in nearly 40 small businesses to help to bring the way.

How businesses develop innovative solar technologies produce and a 17.5 million investments in seven companies is to win, to more than $1.6 billion in private finance through the first round of the program incubator gone. On 8 February, DOE announced that it will provide $ 12 million for the next generation of solar technologies in the 7th round of the successful SunShot incubator program. The objective of this funding opportunity is hardware progress solar energy support and soft cost reductions and pilot production projects. Read the full story in DOE's energy blog.

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DOE offers universities possibilities for SunShot solar further objectives

DOE is University research teams support the search for ways to improve the heat-transfer fluids for the concentration of solar power systems.
IMG credit: U.S. Department of the Interior

DOE announced two opportunities for researchers in universities, which initiative, a program to promote the aims Department SunShot drastically to reduce the total cost of the American solar energy on 20 January. DOE is up to $10 million to support the development of the liquids make available heat transfer the efficient, making the cost of energy from solar power (CSP) systems focus. The Department opened the second round of the SunShot initiative postdoctoral research awards for applied research in universities, laboratories and other research institutions.

See the call for heat-transfer fluids DOE supports University-based CSP research projects for the development and demonstration of liquids, which are more stable than current technologies at temperatures greater than 800 ° c. CSP plants mirror focus sunlight to a working medium generates heat, steam which spins a turbine or powers creates a heat engine, the electricity. Higher temperature working fluids could thus to combine systems with heat engines CSP, to convert the working fluid in power more than 50% of the heat.

This funding will be awarded within the framework of multidisciplinary University research initiative, a program of research, technology transfer in the market to speed up and preparing a new generation of scientists and engineers. DOE expected one or two projects within five years by this opportunity to finance. For more information, see the funding opportunity announcement on DOE funding opportunity Exchange Web site.

In addition, DOE opened the next round of SunShot postdoctoral research initiative awards, which provides students with the chance of advanced clean energy technologies. Receiver performs applied research at universities, laboratories and other research institutions. This program includes an opportunity for recipients in a research exchange programme with Australia under the United States and Australia solar energy cooperation take part. See the DOE progress alert, SunShot postdoctoral of researcher Web page and the SunShot initiative website.

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