The US Department of Energy (DoE) has launched three funding opportunities under the aegis of its flagship program, SunShot Initiative. A total of $65 million is available for funding in the latest round for three program areas. The department is now accepting applications for these programs. SunShot Initiative has turned out to be a successful program for the US government, having achieved 90% of its targets by 2016 much earlier than the scheduled 2020, according to the DoE (see SunShot Progress).
PV Research and Development Program
For this program, $25 million has been allocated which will help improve PV module and system design to facilitate rapid installation and interconnection of PV systems. It will include hardware and software solutions.
A total of 25 to 30 projects for three topic areas are expected to be awarded the $25 million. The letter of intent can be submitted till December 1, 2016, post the informational concept paper webinar which will discuss topics 2 and 3.
Concept papers can be submitted until December 14, 2016. The submission deadline for full applications and SIPS applications is March 3, 2017. More details about deadlines and the program can be accessed here.
The expected time frame for award negotiations is July and August 2017.
Technology to Market 3
This is the third round of the Technology to Market 3 (T2M3) program. The idea is to help bring innovative and impactful solar energy technologies to the market. Around 10 to 25 awards are expected to be given under this program for a total of $30 million.
A brief mandatory concept paper is expected to be submitted on December 12, 2016. The submission deadline for letters of intent is November 28, 2016 while full applications can be submitted by February 21, 2017. More on the
deadlines on DoE website.
The award negotiations are expected in June-July 2017.
Systems Integration Program
This is the subprogram under the Solar Forecasting 2 Funding program of the SunShot Initiative for which the DoE has set aside $10 million in this round. It supports projects that enable grid operators to better forecast how much solar energy will be added to the grid and accelerate the integration of these forecasts into energy management systems used by grid operators and utility companies. Six to eight awards are likely to be awarded the funding with each ranging between $750,000 and $2 million, making up the total $10 million.
Even for this program, a mandatory concept paper is due on December 30, 2016. Full applications are accepted by March 24, 2017. Detailed deadlines for various stages can be read here.
.png?w=50&fm=png){kind=logo}