Federal funding for solar photovoltaic research

Its budget time for the federal government.  While the news has been buzzing about the deficit and cuts in funding, the Department of Energy announced that approximately $12 million has been allotted for solar R&D.  The federal funds will largely be provided to several solar photovoltaics (PV) projects that are undertaken in conjunction with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

The goal of the solar technology research – and the provision of federal funds – is to help bring cutting-edge solar tech out of the laboratory to commercial production.

Bringing solar power from the laboratory to consumers

The Department of Energy’s Photovoltaic Incubator Program will receive about $10 million of the funds through the Recovery Act.  According to the web site:

The goals of the projects include exploring the commercial potential of new manufacturing processes and products; fostering innovation and growth in the domestic PV industry; establishing an efficient and cyclic funding opportunity; and expanding and diversifying domestic “market-ready” PV technologies.

In short, the DOE aims to take prototype solar tech to demonstration or full-scale projects.

Of the total $12 million in solar research funding, about $3 million will be awarded in 2010 to each of four companies under subcontracts with the Department of Energy.  This is the fourth year in a row that funding awards have been presented by the DOE to solar tech companies.

The 2010 funding recipients were announced in January, as follows:

• Alta Devices Inc. of Santa Clara, California will work on developing a solar module with a conversion efficiency better than 20 percent.  The new solar panels could be sold commercially next year, in 2011.
• Solar Junction Corp., based in San Jose, Calif. is developing a manufacturing process for high-efficiency multi-junction solar cell which can be used in concentrating photovoltaics (CPV).
• Tetra Sun, also based in California, is working on back-surface passivation, which helps protect a semiconductor from contamination, for crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells. The result should be high-efficiency, low-cost c-Si solar cells, which are already the most efficient and durable solar cells on the market.
• Semprius Inc., of Durham, North Carolina, will develop a “massively parallel,” microcell-based CPV receiver. The company will combine manufacturing techniques unique to solar power with the inherent benefits of CPV.

With important funding from the Department of Energy/NREL, solar R&D will be able to continue to develop new technologies that are practical, efficient and affordable, and to bring them to the public for actual use!

We’ve got to agree that investing in a clean energy future is worth every dollar.