- US DOE has opened a $6.5 million funding round for small innovative projects in solar PV and CSP technologies
- Small solar PV projects can focus on new and emerging areas of PV research, aiming to significantly lower the costs and improve efficiency
- The department targets to award $250,000 each to the 7 to 12 PV projects it plans to select
The Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) under the US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced a funding round of $6.5 million as Small Innovative Projects in Solar (SIPS) 2023 for seedling research and development projects in the domain of solar PV and concentrated solar-thermal power (CSP).
It wants to shortlist innovative and novel ideas in the 2 technologies that are ‘riskier than research ideas based on established technologies’.
For solar PV, projects that focus on new and emerging areas of PV research that can produce significant results within the 1st year of performance and can lay the foundation for continued research. “These projects should aim to significantly lower costs and improve the power conversion efficiency, fielded energy output, reuse and recycling of system components, service lifetime, and manufacturability of PV technologies,” stated the DOE.
Of the funding amount, SETO plans to select between 7 to 12 projects that stand to win $250,000 each. As for CSP projects selected, each can win $400,000 funding.
It encourages applications from early-career researchers who have never applied or never been selected for a SETO award. These could be diverse teams from universities, federally funded research and development centers, nonprofits, community-based organizations, state agencies, local governments, and solar developers.
The funding opportunity was announced on April 13, 2023 for applications to be submitted till June 1, 2023.
