ARENA has committed an additional AUD 95.4 million to ACAP, extending the national solar PV research program through 2033
ACAP aims to advance ultra low-cost solar technologies, targeting higher efficiencies, longer module lifetimes and lower manufacturing costs
The funding will support research infrastructure, industry collaboration and early-career fellowships across 7 Australian research institutions
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has committed an additional AUD 95.4 million to the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics (ACAP). The solar PV research center now has enough funding to extend its research program through 2033.
The funding builds on more than a decade of collaboration between researchers and industry partners focused on improving solar cell efficiency, durability and cost-effectiveness.
This follows ARENA’s previous funding of AUD 45 million for ACAP that extended its research on solar PV till 2030 (see ARENA’s $45 Million For $0.30/W Solar Cost). In July 2025, ARENA said it has provided over AUD 388 million to solar PV R&D and an additional AUD 104 million to support ACAP.
Founded by Professor Martin Green, ACAP is advancing solar PV technology research to support ARENA’s 30-30-30 vision—achieve 30% solar module efficiency and reduce installed solar costs to AUD 0.30/W by 2030, to bring down electricity costs to under AUD 20/MWh. With this ultra low-cost solar (ULCS), ARENA says the country will be able to accelerate solar deployment to 1 TWh by 2050.
In a separate statement, ACAP said the ARENA has extended its support to the solar research program with AUD 7 million/year funding to 2032. Under ACAP 3.0, ACAP says it has set ambitious goals beyond 2030. This includes research-scale tandem cell efficiencies approaching 40%, commercialization of 35%-efficient tandem modules, module lifetimes of around 40 years and manufacturing cost trajectories targeting about 10 cents/W at scale.
“ACAP 3.0 is about moving faster and going further. We’ll combine materials discovery with AI-enabled experimentation and a collaborative national program to deliver competitive technologies that are bankable for manufacturers and investors,” said ACAP Executive Director Professor Renate Egan.
Led by the University of New South Wales (UNSW), ACAP is made up of a national consortium of research institutions and Australian universities. Its members include Australian National University (ANU), CSIRO Energy and CSIRO Manufacturing, the University of Melbourne, Monash University, the University of Queensland and the University of Sydney.
ACAP says the additional funding from ARENA will support early career fellowships and collaboration and a new state-of-the-art infrastructure across its 7 research institutes.
ACAP believes the ULCS goal could create a 2,000 GW PV market in Australia, producing around 1,000 TWh for domestic use and 2,600 TWh annually for exports (see Australia’s 30-30-30 Solar Target Could Unlock 2,000 GW Market).
“If Australia is to achieve ultra low-cost solar, we need to keep pushing the limits of cell efficiency. ACAP’s work is doing exactly that, helping deliver high-performance solar cell and module technologies that will reduce costs at scale,” stated ARENA CEO Darren Miller.
In its Annual Report 2025, ACAP highlighted its industry collaborations. A total of 7 tier-I solar manufacturers including JA, LONGi, Huasun, Tongwei, Trinasolar, AIKO, Yingfa joined the ACAP Industry Consortium.