Program Notes

University Product & Process Award Decisions

On March 12, DOE announced its investment of up to $13.7 million of federal 

funding, over three years (FYs 2008–2010), for 11 university-led projects that 

will focus on developing advanced photovoltaic (PV) technology manufacturing 

processes and products. Combined with a minimum university and industry cost 

share of 20%, up to $17.4 million will be invested in these projects.1 These projects 

are part of the Solar America Initiative (SAI), an integral part of the President’s 

commitment to diversify our energy resources through grants, incentives, and tax 

credits. SAI has stimulated the commercialization of new technologies, and DOE 

is supporting more than 70 companies and 30 universities on projects to drive 

down the costs of solar energy and enhance the industry’s growth. The chart below 

illustrates the growing support for universities under SAI.

U.S. Department of Energy • Solar Energy Technologies Program

Program Notes

University Product & Process 

Award Decisions ................................. 1-2

DOE Announces New Round of 

Solar America Cities Partners...................... 3

Industry Update

Solar PACES Conference Held in Las Vegas...... 3

Nevada Solar OneTM Dedicated ................. 3-4

Global Solar Energy Opens New 40 MW 

Thin-Film CIGS Solar Factory in Tucson .......... 4

Abengoa Solar Plant Announced .................. 5

Silicon Solar Consortium (SiSoC) 

Kickoff Meeting Held February 27-28 ............ 5

Market Transformation

Florida’s Public Service Commission Ratifies 

Net Metering and Interconnection Rule .......... 5

Solar America Cities Launches Website .......... 6

First Annual Meeting of Solar America Cities 

to be Held in Tucson ................................ 6

DOE Presents Tucson with Solar America 

City Sign at “Zoo School” Ribbon-Cutting........ 6

Solar Shines at New Orleans 

Home and Garden Show............................. 7

Solar Energy Technologies Program 

Reaches Out to Builders ........................ 7-8

Orange County, FL Convention Center PV 

System to be the Largest in the Southeast ...... 8 

Summary of Solar Program 

Funding Opportunities.......................... 8-13

Solar Events Calendar............................ 14

National Laboratory Technology 

Developments & DOE News ............throughout

APRIL 2008

SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER

1 The goal of this effort is to fund university R&D activities to support the Solar America Initiative. 

Therefore, 75% of the total project funding, as determined by budget (federal and cost share) must be 

retained by the university. Only 25% of the total project cost may be used for work by sub-tier recipients.
P. 2

SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER APRIL 2008

Awarded universities will leverage their fundamental understanding of materials and 

PV devices to help industry partners advance manufacturing processes and products. 

Each of the universities will work closely with an industry partner to ensure the 

projects retain a commercialization focus and that results are quickly transitioned 

into market-ready products and manufacturing processes. These projects have the 

potential to significantly reduce manufacturing costs and enhance PV efficiencies 

with multijunction cells, improved device architectures and innovative least-cost 

processes for a range of technologies. Additionally, students will be exposed to 

diverse PV-related commercialization efforts, enhancing workforce development 

efforts to retain qualified scientists in the growing domestic PV research and 

development (R&D) industry.

Selected projects are:

•	 Arizona State University (Tempe, AZ) with SolFocus, Inc. and Soliant 

Energy, Inc.: Reliability Evaluation of Concentrator Photovoltaics per IEC 

Qualification Specifications. 

•	 California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, CA) with Spectrolab, Inc.:

100 Millimeter (mm) Engineered InP on Si Laminate Substrates for InP-based 

Multijunction Solar Cells.

•	 Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, GA) with SiXtron Advanced 

Materials, Inc.: Rear Contact Technologies for Next-Generation High-Efficiency 

Commercial Silicon Solar Cells.

•	 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA) with CaliSolar, Inc., 

and BP Solar International, Inc.: Defect Engineering, Cell Processing, and 

Modeling for High-Performance, Low-Cost Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaics.

•	 North Carolina State University (Raleigh, NC) with Spectrolab, Inc.: Tunable 

Narrow Bandgap Absorbers for Ultra High Efficiency Multijunction Solar Cells. 

•	 Pennsylvania State University (University Park, PA) with Honeywell, 

International, Inc.: Organic Semiconductor Heterojunction Solar Cells 

for Efficient, Low-Cost, Large-Area Scalable Solar Energy Conversion. 

•	 University of Delaware Institute of Energy Conversion (Newark, DE) with 

Dow Corning: Development of a Low-Cost Insulated Foil Substrate for 

CIGS Photovoltaics. 

•	 University of Delaware (Newark, DE) with SunPower Corporation:

High Efficiency Back Contact Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells.

•	 University of Florida (Gainesville, FL) with Global Solar Energy Inc., 

International Solar Electric Technology Inc., Nanosolar Inc., and Solyndra Inc.:

Routes for Rapid Synthesis of CIGS Absorbers. 

•	 University of Toledo (Toledo, OH) with Calyxo USA, Inc.: Improved Atmospheric 

Vapor Pressure Deposition to Produce Thin CdTe Absorber Layers.

•	 University of Toledo (Toledo, OH) with Xunlight Corporation: High-Rate 

Fabrication of a-Si-Based Thin-Film Solar Cells Using Large-Area 

VHF PECVD.

For more information about the awards, please visit www.eere.energy.gov/solar/

solar_america/university_product_process_development_support.html.

NATIONAL LABORATORY TECHNOLOGY 

DEVELOPMENTS & DOE NEWS

DOE and Department of Interior to 

Conduct Programmatic Environmental 

Impact Statement of Solar Projects 

on BLM Lands

In January, DOE signed a Memorandum of 

Understanding with the U.S. Department of the 

Interior to cooperatively conduct a Programmatic 

Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for 

solar power projects on lands managed by the 

Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The PEIS 

describes, analyzes, and compares the potential 

environmental impacts on these lands. 

A pre-planning kickoff took place March 11-12 

at Argonne National Laboratory. Argonne will 

be doing assessment with NREL to target highresource BLM and DOE land that is not located 

in environmentally sensitive areas. A Notice of 

Intent (NOI), to be published in June, will initiate 

the public comment and scoping period. Public 

comment will be gathered and information about 

the PEIS will be provided on a public Web site and 

through numerous meetings in and around the 

lands that will be part of the PEIS. About 1 year 

following the NOI, a draft PEIS will be issued for 

public review. A 90-day public review of the draft 

PEIS will follow, and the final PEIS is planned for 

public release in early 2010.

Sandia Labs Hosts Kick-Off 

Meeting to Develop PV Field 

Measurement Protocols

In February, members of Sandia National 

Laboratories, NREL, Southwest Technology 

Development Institute (SWTDI), and Florida 

Solar Energy Center (FSEC) met to discuss best 

practices for field system testing. The meeting, 

held at Sandia, included topics such as personal 

safety, equipment safety, test planning, proper 

use of reference instrumentation, necessary 

measurements, field test equipment, and 

proper testing for the many PV technologies 

and applications. The collaborative effort was 

conducted to begin development of a standard 

test protocol for field-installed PV systems. The 

adoption of a standard field test procedure will 

ensure that field data are reliable and consistent 

independent of the testing organization. Reliably 

collected data lay the groundwork for improved 

solar model verification, model comparison, PV 

system output validation, and system comparison. 

Furthermore, the group hopes that applying 

analytical techniques to shared data sets will 

improve our understanding of the benefits 

of various approaches. Future plans include 

broadening the participatory group to include 

industry representatives to review and enhance 

the preliminary results from this exercise. 
P. 3

SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER APRIL 2008

DOE Announces New Round of Solar America Cities Partners

On March 28, DOE announced the winners of the second Solar America Cities 

solicitation. Twelve new cities join the inaugural 13 cities, bringing the total number 

of partner cities to 25. The new Solar America Cities partners, representing cities 

from across the country with varying degrees of solar maturity, are: 

The Solar America City partnerships have committed to developing a sustainable solar 

infrastructure that removes market barriers and encourages the adoption of solar 

energy by residents and businesses, and increases the number of solar installations 

within the cities. Each city will receive up to $200,000 in funding from DOE, with 

an equal amount to be matched by the city. Additionally, cities will receive up to 

$200,000 in technical assistance provided by DOE’s national laboratories and other 

experts. This is the final round of awards that DOE will make for this effort. The 

lessons learned and experience garnered by these 25 cities will serve as a model for 

other cities to follow. 

Industry Update

SolarPACES Conference Held in Las Vegas

The United States hosted the International Energy Agency (IEA) 14th Biennial 

Solar Power and Chemical Energy Systems (SolarPACES) Symposium in Las 

Vegas, Nevada, March 3–7. SolarPACES is an IEA Implementing Agreement 

for Concentrating Solar Power and Solar Chemistry and comprises 14 member 

countries at this time. Dr. Tom Mancini of Sandia National Laboratories organized 

the event, while Mark Mehos of NREL served as technical chair. The Symposium 

attracted more than 400 attendees from 25 countries and featured more than 100 

technical papers in the subject topic areas. An “industry” day featured updates 

on projects, policy, and market development. There are currently power purchase 

agreements in place for more than 6 gigawatts (GW) of CSP capacity worldwide. 

The highlight of the conference was a tour of the newly opened Nevada Solar One 

parabolic trough plant.

Nevada Solar OneTM Dedication

The Nevada Solar One CSP plant was dedicated on February 22. The ceremony took 

place at the Acciona facility located near Boulder City, Nevada. The 64-megawatt 

(MW) parabolic trough plant contains 182,000 curved mirrors spread over 400 

acres. Nevada Solar One is the first utility-scale CSP plant to be built in the United 

States in 17 years and is the third largest of its kind in the world.

NATIONAL LABORATORY TECHNOLOGY 

DEVELOPMENTS & DOE NEWS

Outdoor Test Facility at NREL 

Expands SAI’s Testing Capabilities

The Outdoor Test Facility (OTF) at the National 

Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) was 

expanded to house a new solar simulator 

and additional environmental chambers used 

for accelerated exposure testing. The new 

simulator will allow NREL to test solar modules 

from Solar America Initiative (SAI) partners that 

are 266% larger than can be accommodated 

with the current simulator. Before the 

expansion, NREL was receiving solar modules 

from industry to test that were significantly 

larger than could be accommodated on the 

old SPIRE 240A solar simulator with a test 

bed of 80 cm x 100 cm (2 ft x 4 ft). Standard 

module size is increasing, especially among 

manufacturers of building-integrated PV 

products; the new solar simulator, a SPIRE 

4600 with a test-bed area of 137 cm x 200 

cm (4.5 ft x 6.5 ft), will allow NREL to more 

efficiently test the new larger modules, as 

well as increase the number of modules being 

tested because there is now more space for 

module delivery and handling.

“The OTF expansion enhances our ability to deal 

with the increased demand associated with SAI 

subcontracts—particularly from Technology 

Pathway Partnerships and PV Incubator,” 

said Pete Sheldon, who manages NREL’s PV 

Measurements and Characterization R&D Group.

The OTF expansion added 1780 square feet of 

space and reconfigured another 1650 square 

feet. The expanded laboratory space will also 

provide space for additional environmental 

chambers, which will further support DOE’s 

emphasis on reliability. 

NREL’s OTF is used to evaluate prototype, precommercial, and commercial solar electric 

modules. OTF researchers study and evaluate 

advanced or emerging PV technologies under 

simulated, accelerated indoor and outdoor, and 

prevailing outdoor conditions. One of the major 

roles of researchers at the OTF is to work with 

industry to develop uniform and consensus 

standards and codes for testing PV devices. 

Researchers also calibrate primary reference 

cells for in-house use and for use by other 

national laboratories, calibration and testing 

labs, and PV manufacturers. NREL is an ISO 

17025-accredited PV calibration laboratory 

and one of two labs in the world that is ISO 

accredited for both primary and secondary cell 

calibrations and secondary module calibrations. 

The solar industry relies on NREL to maintain 

an independent and reliable measurement 

capability for both solar cells and modules.

• Denver, CO

• Houston, TX

• Knoxville, TN

• Milwaukee, WI

• Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN

• Orlando, FL

• Philadelphia, PA

• Sacramento, CA

• San Antonio, TX

• San Jose, CA

• Santa Rosa, CA

• Seattle, WA
P. 4

SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER APRIL 2008

Attendees at the event included master of ceremonies, Ed Begley Jr., Apple computer 

co-founder Steve Wosniak, and the first American female astronaut in space, Sally 

Ride. Presenting via a video-recorded message was Dr. Rajendra K. Pachauri, the 

2007 Nobel Peace Prize recipient. Tommy Rueckert represented the Solar Program 

for DOE. 

Following the ceremony, EERE Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary John Mizroch 

addressed reporters at a press conference to highlight DOE’s successful $3 million 

cost-shared project which evaluated Acciona collector designs, one of which Acciona 

selected for the plant.

To read more about DOE involvement in the project, please visit www.eere.energy.

gov/news/daily.cfm/hp_news_id=102.

Global Solar Energy Opens New 40-MW Thin-Film 

CIGS Solar Factory in Tucson, AZ

On March 6, Global Solar Energy, Inc., held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its new 

Tucson, Arizona, campus to celebrate the commencement of operations of its 

cutting-edge 40-MW thin-film Copper Indium Gallium diSelenide (CIGS) solar 

factory—the largest CIGS plant in the United States and one of the largest thin-film 

PV factories in the world. Global Solar Energy plans to expand the Tucson facility 

to more than double capacity to 100 MW by 2010. The company also announced 

the ground breaking for a privately owned, on-site, 750-kilowatt (kW) solar field 

that will be the largest CIGS system in the world. The solar field will generate 

electricity for the factory and will also enable further testing of its CIGS technology 

in a real-world application. 

“Given that Global Solar is producing the highest volume of CIGS thin-film solar 

material available, the opening of its plant in Tucson is a remarkable event,” said Tom 

Kimbis, SETP Acting Program Manager. “Production from this facility will help 

satisfy the strong demand for solar products across the world, while providing local 

residents of Tucson, already a Solar America City, with jobs in a rapidly growing, 

high-tech industry. The addition of the Tucson Global Solar plant will help meet 

the 2015 goal of the Solar America Initiative of achieving solar electricity cost 

competitiveness with grid electricity, especially through the use of flexible CIGS 

thin-film technologies in building-integrated applications.”

NATIONAL LABORATORY TECHNOLOGY 

DEVELOPMENTS & DOE NEWS

NREL Solar Models Presented 

at SolarPACES Conference

Two solar energy computer modeling programs 

developed at NREL were presented at the 

SolarPACES conference held in Las Vegas, 

Nevada, in March 2008.

NREL staff presented two papers on computer 

modeling of CSP power systems and PV. One 

paper presented results from the Regional 

Energy Deployment System Model (ReEDs), 

which examines the ability of CSP and other 

renewables to contribute to the U.S. electric 

sector over the next 50 years. The paper 

was presented in an industry panel to the 

entire conference. 

The second NREL paper presented DOE’s Solar 

Advisor Model (SAM) for modeling the costs, 

finances, and performance of CSP and PV 

systems. NREL developed SAM in partnership 

with DOE and Sandia National Laboratories 

to support the implementation of the Solar 

America Initiative. For more information about 

the SAM, visit www.eere.energy.gov/solar/

solar_america/solar_advisor_model.html.

NREL Provides R&D Support to 

World’s Largest Solar Power Plant

NREL’s concentrating solar power research 

team will support testing of the receivers and 

collectors for the largest concentrating solar 

power plant in the world being constructed 

near Phoenix, Arizona, for Arizona Public 

Service. When completed in 2011, the power 

plant will produce 280 MW of solar energy. 

NREL will also support Abengoa with the 

development of a local test site for testing of 

their collectors and will work closely with their 

staff to support testing of advanced collector 

and receiver concepts that will be used in 

follow-on plants.

Ed Begley, Jr., Steve Wosniak, and astronaut Sally Ride are joined by representatives from Acciona, 

Nevada Power, and DOE at the Nevada Solar One dedication ceremony.

The 64-megawatt Nevada Solar One power 

plant went on-line in June 2007 (Photograph 

provided courtesy of Acciona).
P. 5

SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER APRIL 2008

Global Solar is a U.S. corporation that employs 200 people in the United States, 

and it is growing to employ 90 people in Germany. It is a world leader in large-scale 

production of CIGS, and it provides military-grade portable solar systems to U.S. 

and allied armed forces using U.S. intellectual property.

Abengoa Solar Plant Announced

Abengoa Solar has signed a 30-year power purchase contract with Arizona Public 

Service Co. (APS) to build, own and operate a 280-MW CSP trough plant near Gila 

Bend, Arizona. This will be the largest solar plant in the world when it goes on-line 

in 2011. Named Solana, the plant will cover 1,900 acres, have six hours of thermal 

molten-salt storage, and produce enough electricity to power 70,000 homes. Solana 

marks the first commercial plant in the United States to have thermal storage.

Silicon Solar Consortium Kickoff Meeting Held February 27-28

The Silicon Solar Consortium (SiSoC) held its kickoff meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, 

on February 27-28. The goal of SiSoC is to partner universities directly with industry 

by allowing industry partners to direct the research efforts of the university research 

projects. In exchange for industry membership fees, these companies collectively 

decide the direction and scope of the research and retain rights to the intellectual 

property generated from the work. This program is an Industry/University Cooperative 

Research Centers Program through the National Science Foundation and is made up 

of 14 industry partners and two universities. The objectives of the meeting were to 

present progress reports for the ongoing SiSoC research projects; present white papers, 

and select by vote the future projects to be funded; and finalize the SiSoC bylaws.

Market Transformation

Florida’s Public Service Commission Ratifies 

Net Metering and Interconnection Rule

On March 4, Florida’s Public Service Commission ratified its December 18, 2007, 

decision on a rule addressing net metering and expedited interconnection standards. 

The Commission considered comments received from participants in the rulemaking 

proceeding but made no changes to the rule. The net-metering rule is intended 

to promote the development and interconnection of customer-owned renewable 

generation, and minimize costs for customers attempting to interconnect to their 

utility. It encourages the development of renewable generation by: (1) expanding 

the size of eligible systems from 10 kW to 2 MW; (2) expanding the type of eligible 

systems from solely photovoltaic to all renewable technologies; (3) expediting the 

interconnection of customer-owned renewable generation; and (4) allowing customers 

to offset consumption through net metering. DOE funded the Interstate Renewable 

Energy Council to participate in the rulemaking process and provide information to 

the Commission on best practices. This decision in the nation’s fourth most populous 

state is a significant advancement for the solar community. 

NATIONAL LABORATORY TECHNOLOGY 

DEVELOPMENTS & DOE NEWS

IEEE Conference Adds PV 

Technology Velocity Forum

Each year, IEEE’s Photovoltaic Specialists 

Conference brings together the industry’s 

leading scientists and engineers to advance PV 

technologies. This year, IEEE has added a PV 

Technology Velocity Forum to provide a unique 

opportunity for regulators, policy makers, 

legislators, investors and PV-industry executives 

to engage with scientists and technologists and, 

together, explore methods for driving superior 

emerging technologies through production and 

into the market. Invited speakers and panelists 

will engage with attendees to explore issues 

affecting the adoption of new PV technologies, 

such as policy development, regulations and 

market-based project management. The 

opening session will showcase some of the 

finest research and development programs 

from around the world, including government-, 

state- and privately-funded programs. Different 

program designs and the resulting interactions 

among researchers will be examined as they 

enable or inhibit moving ideas from research 

to development. Subsequent sessions include 

a panel discussion with investors, industry 

management, and technical leaders to examine 

the communication process required to move 

technology through development and into 

production; a presentation of successful case 

studies in the European Union; and a panel 

discussion on macro and micro PV economics. 

John Benner, Principal Scientist at NREL, will 

lead the new forum. For more information, visit 

the conference Web site: www.33pvsc.org. 

SES and Sandia National Labs 

Establish New World Record for 

Solar-to-Electric Efficiency

From ScienceDaily (Feb. 17, 2008) – On a 

perfect New Mexico winter day—with the 

sky almost 10 percent brighter than usual 

—Sandia National Laboratories and Stirling 

Energy Systems (SES) set a new solar-togrid system conversion efficiency record by 

achieving a 31.25 percent net efficiency rate. 

The old 1984 record of 29.4 percent was 

toppled Jan. 31 on SES’s “Serial #3” solar 

dish Stirling system at Sandia’s National Solar 

Thermal Test Facility.

The conversion efficiency is calculated by 

measuring the net energy delivered to the grid 

and dividing it by the solar energy hitting the 

dish mirrors. Auxiliary loads, such as water 

pumps, computers and tracking motors, are 

accounted for in the net power measurement.
P. 6

SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER APRIL 2008

Solar America Cities Launches Web Site

The new Solar America Cities Web site (www.solaramericacities.energy.gov) was 

launched on March 28. This initial Web site includes overview information on 

Solar America Cities, pertinent news and events, information on each of the 2007 

participating cities’ activities, and links to resources that all cities can use in their 

efforts to transform the solar market. Best practices and other resources will be 

added continually to the Web site as they become available. Many thanks to the 

partner cities for their review and contributions to the city pages! Information on 

the 12 new partner cities will be added soon! 

Plans are under way for additional functionality to be added to the Web site in the 

near future, including a discussion board in which cities can communicate with each 

other and with DOE. We are already beginning to see information sharing among 

our partner cities, with several cities exploring the feasibility of adopting the City 

of Berkeley’s property-tax solar-financing model. We hope that this Web site will 

serve not only as an informational resource, but also as a communication tool that 

can provide additional avenues for collaboration.

First Annual Meeting of Solar America Cities 

to be Held in Tucson

DOE and its city partners are gearing up for the Solar America Cities First Annual 

Meeting. The group will meet in Tucson, Arizona, April 14-16, to discuss best practices, 

share lessons learned, present new ideas, and engage in networking opportunities. 

The meeting will include presentations by solar energy experts on best practices 

and national trends, as well as presentations by city teams. More information can 

be found at www.eere.energy.gov/solar/solar_america/sac_meeting.html. 

DOE Presents Tucson with Solar America City Sign 

at “Zoo School” Ribbon-Cutting

On February 13, Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano delivered the keynote address 

at the dedication of Tucson’s Lee H. Brown Family Conservation Learning Center 

at Reid Park Zoo. The “zoo school,” as the center is colloquially known, is the 

greenest, most eco-friendly commercial building in southern Arizona. The new 

10,000-square-foot, two-story educational center replaces the 900-square-foot building 

originally used as an admissions booth in the 1940s. Among the building’s many 

green features are solar panels donated by Tucson Electric Power, two rainwater 

harvesting cisterns, insulation made from recycled blue jeans, furniture that uses 

corn-based fabrics, and a host of energy efficiency measures. The ribbon-cutting for 

this showcase solar-powered building proved an ideal venue for DOE to present the 

City of Tucson with its Solar America City sign. Steve Palmeri of DOE’s Golden 

Field Office presented the sign to Tucson Mayor Bob Walkup. Earlier that day, 

Palmeri met with the Tucson Solar America Cities team to discuss ongoing solar 

plans for the city. 

NATIONAL LABORATORY TECHNOLOGY 

DEVELOPMENTS & DOE NEWS

Sandia National Laboratories 

Reviewing Solar Energy Grid 

Integration Systems (SEGIS) 

Proposals

The SEGIS program is a 3-year effort that 

is part of the Solar America Initiative, and 

it focuses on R&D by industry to develop 

hardware to integrate PV systems into 

the utility grid at high penetration levels. 

Through SEGIS, new inverters, power-system 

controllers, and overall energy-management 

systems will be developed that will 

facilitate the evolution of our electric grid to 

accommodate and optimize high penetration 

of distributed renewable generation. Sandia 

is managing the SEGIS program on behalf 

of DOE, with supporting technical leadership 

from NREL. Twenty-six SEGIS proposals were 

received from industry teams. The proposals 

are currently under review, and winners will 

be determined in early April. Cost-shared 

contracts will then be awarded to as many 

as 14 winning teams for the first stage of the 

program, “Concept R&D and Market Analysis.” 

SEGIS’ first-stage expected hardware 

developments include innovative, highly 

reliable, and advanced inverters, controllers, 

and balance-of-system hardware for systems 

that include value-added communications 

and energy management to meet the goals of 

the program. Stages 2 and 3 include a 1-year 

prototype development stage and a 1-year 

commercialization stage that culminates in 

pilot production of new products. Extensive 

testing and analysis will be conducted at 

Sandia and contractor sites.

Steve Palmeri (left) of DOE presents Tucson 

Mayor Walkup with a Solar America City sign 

at the dedication of the new Lee H. Brown 

Family Conservation Learning Center. Governor 

Napolitano applauds in the background.
P. 7

SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER APRIL 2008

Solar Shines at New Orleans Home and Garden Show

The 53rd Annual New Orleans Home and Garden Show, the largest home and garden 

show of its kind with over 70,000 attendees, returned to the Superdome February 

28–March 2. DOE and its New Orleans Solar America Cities partners staffed a 

booth that was part of the BuildSmart Expo at the show. The Expo featured a 

special exhibit area for energy efficient and green building businesses and products; 

a full schedule of informative workshops, including workshops on solar energy, led 

by top professionals; and a display of full-scale demonstration models showcasing 

energy efficiency and green building products and techniques. A large PV panel was 

displayed at DOE’s booth, and information on solar energy, the New Orleans Solar 

America Cities partnership, and the new Louisiana 50% solar tax credit was provided 

to visitors. Outside the Superdome, a large billboard drew onlookers’ attention to 

the new www.SolarPowerNola.org Web site and Louisiana solar tax credit. 

Solar Energy Technologies Program Reaches Out to Builders

Professionals in the building industry learned more about solar technologies and the 

benefits of incorporating solar into their building plans at the International Builders’ 

Show (IBS), February 13-16, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, 

Florida – the site of a planned 1-MW PV installation. SETP exhibited along with other 

federal agencies (Environmental Protection Agency/Energy Star, Housing and Urban 

Development/Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing, Building America, 

Lighting for Tomorrow) in a larger pavilion, entitled “Ask the Experts.” During the 

show, three new publications for builders were introduced with educational, technical, 

and financial resources. 

•	 Making Cents Out of Solar: Put More Power Into Your Building Plans

www.eere.energy.gov/solar/pdfs/making_cents.pdf

NATIONAL LABORATORY TECHNOLOGY 

DEVELOPMENTS & DOE NEWS

Sandia and NREL Host 

Accelerated Aging and 

Reliability Workshop April 1-2

Sandia National Laboratories and NREL are 

teamed in an expanded DOE-sponsored PV 

reliability project with multiple elements. 

These include establishing and employing 

methodologies, such as Failure Modes Effects 

Analysis and Fault Tree Analysis, to drive 

development of new accelerated tests and 

generate lab data to be used in developing 

a predictive model for PV technologies and 

systems. Other lab efforts include development 

of protocols, such as technology screening 

protocols, that can be applied in the product 

development process. Data sources for the 

predictive model will include lab-based 

experimentation, including accelerated lifetime 

tests, long-term aging experiments in extreme 

climates, and partner-owned installations. An 

industry outreach element of this activity is a 

workshop on Accelerated Aging and Reliability 

to be held in Lakewood, Colorado, on April 

1-2, 2008. The high level of industry interest 

in PV reliability is evident in the list of more 

than 100 registered participants representing 

more than 30 companies from the PV industry, 

as well as other organizations. Attendees will 

delve into how reliability is defined across 

the various sectors of the industry and how 

installed photovoltaic system reliability can 

be improved. The steering committee expects 

to gather input from attendees and publish a 

summary of the results by May 2008. 
P. 8

SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER APRIL 2008

•	 Planning for PV: The Value and Cost of Solar Electricity

www.eere.energy.gov/solar/pdfs/planning_for_pv.pdf

•	 Solar Successes: The Best of Today’s Energy Efficient Homes

www.eere.energy.gov/solar/pdfs/solar_success.pdf

With nearly 100,000 IBS attendees, the pavilion garnered 600 leads from builders, developers, 

engineers, architects, and homeowners who are interested in energy efficiency and solar. 

Additionally, this year, for the first time, the National Association of Homebuilders 

(NAHB) held “Green Day,” celebrating all things green in the building industry, and 

officially launched the NAHB National Green Building Program and the Certified Green 

Professional designation. 

Orange County, FL, Convention Center PV System 

to be the Largest in the Southeast 

On January 31, SETP Acting Program Manager, Tom Kimbis, and Mayor Crotty of 

Orange County, Florida, announced plans to install a large-scale rooftop PV system 

at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. The 1-MW system will be the 

largest PV system in the southeastern United States. It is expected to occupy about 

200,000 square feet of roof, and will generate 1,300 to 1,500 MW-hours of electricity 

per year, equivalent to the amount needed to power 80 to 100 typical homes. This 

project is one of DOE’s Solar America Showcases—high-visibility, large-scale solar 

installations for which DOE provides technical assistance. Bob Reedy from the Florida 

Solar Energy Center is leading DOE’s team of technical assistance experts for this 

effort. The project is also being supported by the Orlando Utilities Commission, 

Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and Orange County.

Other Solar America Showcases under way include Forest City Military Communities 

in Honolulu, Hawaii, and the City of San Jose, California, which plans to install 

multi-MW solar arrays on a cluster of city buildings. The 2008 Solar America 

Showcases solicitation is open, with a closing date of June 12. A previous 2008 

solicitation closed on March 12.

Summary of Solar Program

Funding Opportunities

Pipeline of Program Activities

The Solar Energy Technologies Program (SETP) is engaged with a range of stakeholders 

and activities along the solar pipeline. From Materials and Device Concepts to key 

Market Transformation efforts, SETP is supporting the development of innovative 

projects to accelerate the growth of the U.S. solar industry.

See Figure 1. Summary of Solar Program Funding Opportunities on the following page.

NATIONAL LABORATORY TECHNOLOGY 

DEVELOPMENTS & DOE NEWS

U.S. Botanic Garden to Display 

Informational Panels on Solar 

America Cities

This summer, visitors to the U.S. Botanic 

Garden will be greeted with 11 Solar America 

Initiative (SAI) informational panels. The 

panels will cover topics ranging from general 

information about solar energy and SAI, to 

details about what individual Solar America 

Cities are doing to achieve SAI goals. The 

panels will be positioned along the walkways 

leading up to the garden entrance, through 

which nearly 500,000 visitors pass each 

summer. The panels are expected to be ready 

for the opening of the Botanic Garden’s exhibit, 

“One Planet – Ours!”, which runs from May 24 

through October 13. The summer exhibit will 

focus on sustainability as it applies to gardens, 

landscape, and communities. The Botanic 

Garden has also partnered with a number of 

government agencies and nongovernmental 

organizations—the U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, National Wildlife Federation, 

American Horticultural Society, among others

—to showcase various displays and themes. 

For more information about the exhibit and the 

U.S. Botanic Garden, visit www.usbg.gov. 

Solar informational panels will be placed 

outside the U.S. Botanic Garden (Photo 

courtesy of U.S. Botanic Garden).
P. 9

SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER APRIL 2008

Figure 1. Summary of Solar Program Funding Opportunities

Funding Opportunity

Announcement (FOA) 

or Solicitation

Award

Date

Funding

amount Description STATUS

Systems Development and 

Manufacturing: Technology 

Pathway Partnerships (TPP)

March 8, 

2007

$168 M 

over 3 years 

Cost-shared industry-led projects 

for PV systems development, and 

manufacturing demonstrations. 

Collective portfolio of projects will 

reduce direct manufacturing and 

installation costs by at least 30% by 

2010, and will deliver up to 2.4 GW of 

new manufacturing capacity by 

year-end 2010. 

• Amonix (CA)

• Boeing (CA)

• BP Solar (MD)

• Dow Chemical (MI)

• General Electric (DE)

• GreenRay (MA)

• Konarka (MA)

• Miasole (CA)

• Nanosolar (CA)

• Soliant (CA)

• SunPower (CA), includes 

PowerLight (CA)

• United Solar Ovonic (MI)

Market Transformation: 

Codes and Standards

March 26, 

2007

$4.2 M 

over 5 years

Working Group will address code 

development and outreach activities 

in areas of critical importance to solar 

market penetration (e.g., interconnection 

procedures, net metering, product safety, 

international standards coordination). 

Will lead to a major improvement in 

the responsiveness, effectiveness, and 

accessibility of codes and standards to 

U.S. solar stakeholders at all levels.

Solar America Board of Codes and 

Standards (SolarABCs)

PV Capacity Credit Valuation Study:

• State University 

of New York (NY)

• Tucson Electric Power (AZ)

Market Transformation: 

State/Utility Solar 

Technical Outreach

March 27, 

2007

$1.7 M 

over 3 years

Will conduct tailored solar technical 

outreach to states and utilities and will 

provide resources and best practices to 

address solar issues faced by states 

and utilities.

Utility Technical Outreach:

• Solar Electric Power Association (DC)

State Technical Outreach:

• Clean Energy Group (VT)

• National Association of Regulatory 

Utility Commissioners (DC)

• National Conference of State 

Legislatures (CO)

Component and Pilot Scale 

Production: PV Module 

Incubators

March 27, 

2007

$27 M

over 18 

months

Projects focused on solving technical 

challenges that must be overcome 

to scale-up manufacturing and 

commercialize new products by 

2010 and shortening the timeline for 

companies to transition pre-commercial 

PV technologies into full-scale 

manufacturing.

• AVA Solar (CO)

• Blue Square Energy (MD)

• CaliSolar (CA)

• EnFocus Engineering (CA)

• MicroLink Devices (IL)

• Plextronics (PA)

• PrimeStar Solar (CO)

• Solaria (CA)

• SolFocus (CA)

• SoloPower (CA)

CLOSED PENDING OPEN PROPOSED

Continued on following page
P. 10

SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER APRIL 2008

FOA or Solicitation Award

Date

Funding

amount Description STATUS

Market Transformation:

Solar America Showcases 

(SAS)

May 16, 

2007

Technical 

assistance 

only

Showcases are designed to help facilitate 

large-scale installations that involve 

cutting-edge solar technologies, novel 

applications of solar, high-visibility sites, 

and/or high likelihood of replicability. SAS 

does not provide financial assistance; 

instead, it provides technical assistance 

through teams of DOE-funded solar 

experts from the National Renewable 

Energy Laboratory, Sandia National 

Laboratories, the Southeast and 

Southwest Regional Experiment Stations, 

and private firms.

• City of San Jose (CA)

• Forest City Military 

Communities (HI)

• Orange County Convention 

Center (FL)

Market Transformation:

Solar America Cities

June 21, 

2007

$2.5 M 

and technical 

support over 

2 years

Cities will integrate solar technologies 

into city energy planning, zoning, and 

facilities; streamline city-level regulations 

and practices that affect solar adoption 

by residents and local businesses (e.g., 

permitting, inspections, local codes); 

and promote solar technology among 

residents and local businesses (e.g., 

outreach, curriculum development, and/or 

implementation, incentive programs).

• Ann Arbor (MI)

• Austin (TX)

• Berkeley (CA)

• Boston (MA)

• Madison (WI)

• New Orleans (LA)

• New York (NY)

• Pittsburgh (PA)

• Portland (OR)

• Salt Lake City (UT)

• San Diego (CA)

• San Francisco (CA)

• Tucson (AZ)

Device and Process 

Proof of Concept: Future 

Generation PV Devices 

and Processes

November 8, 

2007

$21.7 M 

over 3 years

For companies to perform exploratory 

R&D for developing innovative, highly 

disruptive future-generation solar electric 

technologies. Device and manufacturing 

process research targeted here is 

expected to produce prototype cells 

and/or processes by 2015, with full 

commercialization in the 2020–2030 

timeframe.

• Arizona State University (Tempe, AZ)

• California Institute of Technology 

(Pasadena, CA)

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology 

(Cambridge, MA)

• Mayaterials, Inc. (Ann Arbor, MI)

• Pennsylvania State University 

(University Park, PA)

• Rochester Institute of Technology 

(Rochester, NY)

• Solasta, Inc. (Newton, MA)

• Solexant, Inc. (Sunnyvale, CA)

• Soltaix, Inc. (Los Altos, CA)

• Stanford University (Stanford, CA)

• University of California, Davis (Davis, CA)

• University of California, San Diego 

(La Jolla, CA)

• University of Colorado (Boulder, CO)

• University of Delaware (Newark, DE)

• University of Florida (Gainesville, FL)

• University of Illinois (Urbana, IL)

• University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI)

• University of South Florida (Tampa, FL)

• University of Washington (Seattle, WA)

• Voxtel, Inc. (Beaverton, OR)

• Wakonda Technologies (Fairport, NY)

Summary of Solar Program Funding Opportunities, Continued

Continued on following page

CLOSED PENDING OPEN PROPOSED
P. 11

SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER APRIL 2008

FOA or Solicitation Award

Date

Funding

amount Description STATUS

Concentrating Solar Power 

Funding Opportunity 

Announcement

November 29, 

2007

$5.2M for 

Phase 1

For companies to develop storage 

solutions, manufacturing approaches, 

and new system concepts for large-scale 

concentrating solar power (CSP) plants. 

Collaborative public/private partnerships 

established herein will work to reduce the 

nominal levelized cost of energy of CSP 

power plants from 13-17 ¢/kWh in 2007 

to 7-10¢/kWh by 2015 and 5-7¢/kWh 

by 2020.

• 3M (St. Paul, MN)

• Alcoa (Alcoa Center, PA) 

• Brayton Energy (Hampton, NH)

• Hamilton Sundstrand 

(Canoga Park, CA)

• Infinia (Kennewick, WA)

• PPG Industries (Pittsburgh, PA)

• Skyfuel (New York, NY)

• Solar Millennium (Berkeley, CA)

• Solucar (Lakewood, CO)

Systems Development and 

Manufacturing: University 

Product and Process 

Development Support

March 12, 

2008

Up to $13.7M 

over 3 years

For universities to perform targeted 

materials science and process 

engineering research that offers 

direct, near-term improvements in PV 

products and development processes for 

commercialization by 2010.

• Arizona State University 

(Tempe, AZ)

• California Institute of Technology

(Pasadena, CA)

• Georgia Institute of Technology 

(Atlanta, GA)

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology 

(Cambridge, MA)

• North Carolina State University 

(Raleigh, NC)

• Pennsylvania State University 

(University Park, PA)

• University of Delaware Institute of 

 Energy Conversion (Newark, DE) 

 with Dow Corning

• University of Delaware (Newark, DE) 

with SunPower Corporation

• University of Florida (Gainesville, FL)

• University of Toledo (Toledo, OH) 

 with Calyxo USA, Inc.

• University of Toledo (Toledo, OH) 

 with Xunlight Corporation

Solar America Cities March 28, 

2008

$2-$3 M 

over 2 years

Building on the success of the initial Solar 

America Cities FOA, the Solar Program 

issued a similar FOA to allow more cities 

to participate. Solar America Cities are 

recognized as partners who are highly 

committed to solar technology adoption 

at the local level.

• Denver (CO)

• Houston (TX)

• Knoxville (TN)

• Milwaukee (WI)

• Minneapolis-St. Paul (MN)

• Orlando (FL)

• Philadelphia (PA)

• Sacramento (CA)

• San Antonio (TX)

• San Jose (CA)

• Santa Rosa (CA)

• Seattle (WA)

Summary of Solar Program Funding Opportunities, Continued

Continued on following page

CLOSED PENDING OPEN PROPOSED
P. 12

SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER APRIL 2008

FOA or Solicitation CLOSING 

Date

Funding

amount Description STATUS

Component and Pilot Scale 

Production: Solar Energy 

Grid Integration Systems

January 21, 

2008

Up to $24 M 

over 3 years

To perform exploratory R&D targeting 

dramatic improvements in inverters and 

energy management technologies for 

solar electricity production.

The Solar Program released this FOA on 

November 28, 2007, which will provide 

up to $6.25 M per year for 3 years. 

There will be up to fourteen Phase 1 

recipients in FY 2008. Applications 

are due on January 10, 2008, and 

decisions are expected by mid March 

2008.

Solar America Showcases March 12, 

2008

Technical 

assistance 

only

The first Solar America Showcases Notice 

of Technical Assistance (NOTA) was well 

received and the Solar Program released 

a similar NOTA. To receive technical 

assistance for a Solar America Showcase, 

the project must be a large-scale (>100 

kW), high-visibility solar installation that 

uses a novel solar technology, a novel 

application for a solar technology, and 

replicable components.

Applications received and currently 

under review. Decisions expected in 

April 2008.

FOA or Solicitation CLOSING 

Date

Funding

amount Description STATUS

Component and Pilot 

Scale Production: PV 

Module IncubatorsRound 2

April 18, 

2008

$3 M per 

award

Projects focused on solving technical 

challenges that must be overcome 

to scale-up manufacturing and 

commercialize new products by 2010-

2011 and shortening the timeline for 

companies to transition pre-commercial 

PV technologies into full-scale 

manufacturing. PV Incubator is led by the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

LOI released: 

March 3, 2008

Technical Questions Due: 

March 24, 2008

Responses due: 

April 18, 2008

Responses reviewed: 

April 25-June 11, 2008

Selections announced: 

August 2008

Awards made: 

Late-August, 2008

Solar America Showcases June 12, 

2008

Technical 

assistance 

only

The Solar America Showcases Notice 

of Technical Assistance (NOTA) was 

well received and the Solar Program 

plans to release a similar NOTA. To 

receive technical assistance for a Solar 

America Showcase, the project must be 

a large-scale (>100 kW), high-visibility 

solar installation that uses a novel solar 

technology, a novel application for a solar 

technology, and replicable components.

Notice of Technical Assistance currently 

open, see: http://e-center.doe.gov/iips/

faopor.nsf/8373d2fc6d83b6668525645

2007963f5/c21e8d152fceb9e1852573

b8007c40a8?OpenDocument. 

Summary of Solar Program Funding Opportunities, Continued CLOSED PENDING OPEN PROPOSED

Continued on following page
P. 13

SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER APRIL 2008

Summary of Solar Program Funding Opportunities, Continued CLOSED PENDING OPEN PROPOSED

FOA or Solicitation RELEASE 

Date

Funding

amount Description STATUS

Concentrating Solar 

Power: Advanced High 

Temperature Storage 

Solicitation

FY 2008 $18 M 

over 3 years

Two topic areas are of interest for this 

solicitation to support CSP technologies: 

(1) advanced high temperature heat 

transfer fluids (HTF) with an objective 

to identify and characterize novel fluids 

or fluid types that possess the physical 

and chemical properties required for 

an improved HTF and thermal storage 

fluid for CSP technologies; and (2) novel 

concepts for high temperature thermal 

energy storage (TES) with an objective is 

to generate and evaluate novel concepts 

for TES that have potential to reduce the 

cost of TES to less than $15/kWhthermal 

and achieve round trip efficiencies greater 

than 93%. 

Funding has been appropriated. 

The solicitation notice is in review 

and release of the announcement is 

anticipated in April 2008.

PV Supply Chain FY 2008 TBD by 

appropriations

The PV Supply Chain solicitation will 

address the grid parity goals of SAI by 

developing subsystem components, 

materials, or processes that can be 

supplied across the industry to reduce 

cost, enhance performance, or extend 

lifetime over today’s technology. 

Minority University 

Research Associates

FY 2008 TBD by 

appropriations

DOE plans to provide support to 

attract and encourage qualified science, 

engineering, and business minority 

undergraduate and graduate students to 

pursue advanced degrees and careers 

in science and technology by providing 

scientific and technical R&D opportunties 

in solar energy technologies. Will solicit 

applications from accredited universities 

and colleges defined as Minority 

Serving Institutions.
P. 14

SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER APRIL 2008

SOLAR EVENTS CALENDAR

april ’08

PV Technology and Investor Conference

April 2-4, 2008, Munich, Germany

www.photon-expo.com

4th International Congress on Energy 

Efficiency and Renewable Energy Sources 

April 7-10, 2008, Sofia, Bulgaria

www.viaexpo.com/congress-ee-vei/

eng/congress.php

Solar, Wind & Earth Energy Trade Fair 2008

April 8-10, 2008, Gwangju, Korea

www.sweet.or.kr

Solar America Cities 1st Annual Meeting 

April 14-16, Tucson, AZ

www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/

solar_america/sac_meeting.html

Northwest Solar Expo 2008

April 16 -20, 2008, Portland, OR

www.nwsolarexpo.com/

Organic Photovoltaics 2008

April 21-23, 2008, Philadelphia, PA

intertechpira.com/alternativeenergy

MAY ’08

SOLAR 2008 - 

The National Solar Energy Conference

May 3-8, 2008, San Diego, CA

www.ases.org/solar2008/

Semicon Singapore 2008

May 5-7, 2008, Singapore

www.semiconsingapore.org 

SNEC 2nd International 

Solar and PV Conference

May 10-12, 2008, Shanghai, China

www.snec.org.cn/ 

33rd IEEE Photovoltaic 

Specialists Conference

May 11-16, 2008, San Diego, CA

www.33pvsc.org/public

International Green Energy Expo Korea 2008

May 21-23, 2008, Daegu, Korea

www.energyexpo.co.kr/eng

Solar Innovations & Investment Summit

May 21-23, 2008, London, UK

www.greenpowerconferences.com/

renewablesmarkets/sii_london.html

Energethica 2008

May 22-24, 2008, Genoa, Italy

www.emtrad.it (not in English)

4th European PV Hybrid 

and Minigrid Conference

May 29-30th, 2008, Athens, Greece

www.otti.de/kolleg.htm

JUNE ‘08:

Solar Taiwan 2008

June 11-13, 2008, Taipei, Taiwan

www.optotaiwan.com

Intersolar 2008

June 12-14, 2008, Munich, Germany

www.intersolar.de

Photovoltaics Summit 2008

June 18-20, 2008, San Diego, CA

intertechpira.com/alternativeenergy

JULY ‘08:

Intersolar North America 2008

July 15-17, 2008, San Francisco, CA

www.intersolar.us

World Renewable Energy Congress X 

and Exhibition

July 19-25, 2008, Glasgow, UK

www.wrenuk.co.uk 

PV Japan 2008

July 30 - Aug 1, 2008, Tokyo, Japan

www.pvjapan2008.org 

SEPTEMBER ‘08:

23rd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy 

Conference and Exhibition

Sept 1 - 5, 2008 , FERIA VALENCIA Convention 

& Exhibition Centre, Valencia, Spain 

www.photovoltaic-conference.com

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU

This DOE Solar Energy Technologies 

Program Newsletter is for you—the 

participants and stakeholders in the DOE 

Solar Program and the Solar America 

Initiative. We envision sending this 

newsletter every quarter. If you have 

any comments or suggestions about the 

frequency or content of the newsletter, 

please e-mail solar@ee.doe.gov.

A Strong Energy Portfolio 

for a Strong America

Energy efficiency and clean, renewable 

energy will mean a stronger economy, 

a cleaner environment, and greater 

energy independence for America. 

Working with a wide array of state, 

community, industry, and university 

partners, the U.S. Department of 

Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy invests in a diverse 

portfolio of energy technologies.

For more information contact:

EERE Information Center 

1-877-EERE-INF (1-877-337-3463)

www.eere.energy.gov