Solar Energy Technologies Office

U.S. DOE Awards $8.9M to Small Solar Businesses

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) has awarded funding to 21 small solar companies through the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) 2024 Phase I Release 2 and Phase II Release 2 funding opportunities.   Funded through DOE’s SBIR and STTR programs, Phase I research and development projects focus … [continued]

Credit: AndySproles/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Updated Report & Data Illustrate Distributed Solar Pricing & Design Trends

We are pleased to announce the release of the latest edition of Berkeley Lab’s Tracking the Sun annual report, describing trends for distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in the United States, including the growing contingent of distributed solar-plus-storage systems. The report is based on data from roughly 3.7 million systems installed nationally … [continued]

Photo by Joe DelNero/National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

4 Kinds of Solar Workers Powering the Clean Energy Transition

Meeting our climate goals and decarbonizing the power sector will create millions of clean energy jobs. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) expects the solar industry will need to grow from more than 330,000 employees now to between 500,000 and 1,500,000 workers by 2035 to achieve the country’s decarbonization goals. … [continued]

Success Story—@DiSCo’s Rhythm Keeps Hackers Offbeat: How an Award-Winning Software Tool Improves Cyber Defense Using…

An award-winning project expands the toolbox that helps utilities and manufacturers prevent cybersecurity attacks from affecting the U.S. electric grid. In 2019, The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO), in collaboration with other DOE program offices, invested $4.5 million for the development of this first-of-its-kind software … [continued]

U.S. Invests $9.5 Million to Study the Social Dynamics of Large-Scale Solar Siting & Permitting

Research will identify innovative practices that benefit communities and facilitate solar deployment WASHINGTON D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today invested $9.5 million in four new projects supporting social science research that examines the ways that siting practices can influence public attitudes toward and permitting of large-scale solar … [continued]

Funding Notice: Solar Technologies’ Rapid Integration & Validation for Energy Systems (STRIVES)

Office: Solar Energy Technologies Office and Wind Energy Technologies Office FOA number: DE-FOA-0003331 Link to apply: Apply on EERE Exchange FOA Amount: $31 million The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) and Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO) announced the Solar Technologies’ Rapid Integration and Validation for Energy Systems (STRIVES) funding opportunity, which … [continued]

Photo by Zach Shahan/CleanTechnica.

Siting Solar & Wind Energy Projects: NREL Releases Comprehensive Databases of Local Ordinances on Solar…

New Machine-Readable Data Sets Compile State, Local Zoning Laws and Ordinances for Siting Wind Energy and Solar Power Projects To Inform Planning for Decarbonization Goals State and local zoning laws and ordinances influence how and where wind and solar energy projects can be sited and deployed — which can have … [continued]

Want to Launch a Perovskite Solar Company?

The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office is funding the American-Made Challenges: Perovskite Startup Prize, a two-stage, $3 million prize competition designed to accelerate the development and manufacturing of perovskite solar cells by moving world-class research out of the lab and into new U.S. companies. Competitors who advance from the … [continued]