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

SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER 

Building On Momentum:
 

Solar Program Strategy & Priorities for 2007
 

During the first 18 months of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar 

America Initiative (SAI) we have implemented a broad-reaching change in program 

strategy for one clear purpose: to accelerate the date at which solar photovoltaics 

(PV) technologies can become cost-competitive in all major domestic grid-tied 

markets to 2015. We emphasize that this change was not implemented simply for 

the sake of change, but rather to take advantage of progress in module efficiency 

and fabrication principally achieved by industry, universities, and the national 

laboratories in recent years. These successes form the foundation for the PV systems 

that the DOE program will be supporting in the future. 

To build on this success, priorities in 2007 for the Solar America Initiative include: 1) 

Filling out the industry R&D pipeline for next-generation low-cost, scaleable products; 

2) Establishing a framework for university involvement in SAI; 3) Calibrating the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) research portfolio and role for the 

future; 4) Ramping up testing and evaluation for development and qualification; 

5) Catalyzing the collaboration on industry-wide issues such as standards; and 6) 

Expanding U.S. policy and regulatory measures. 

Other areas the program will focus on include market transformation activities that 

work with cities, states, and the federal government to explore innovating financing 

mechanisms, grid integration, and policy measures to aid PV development. DOE is 

also engaged with NREL and Sandia to create industry roadmaps for each major 

PV material system and processing approach. Roadmaps will be used to coordinate 

R&D among industry, universities, and national laboratories. Roadmapping activities 

are also ongoing for PV market penetration and grid integration. Starting in late 

summer 2007, DOE will engage Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and 

industry players to create a new PV industry roadmap. This encompassing roadmap 

will cover 3-, 10-, and 25-year projections for supply/demand and cost/pricing, 

product standards, areas for collaboration amongst industry players and market 

penetration/grid integration. 

JULY 2007
 

Features 

Building On Momentum: Solar Program 

Strategy & Priorities for 2007 ........... 1 

Technology Development: 

Seeing New Solar Products 

through Collaborative R&D .............. 3 

Former Solar Program Manager, Steven 

Chalk, named Deputy Assistant Secretary 

for Renewable Energy; Craig Cornelius 

Appointed New Program Manager ...... 7 

Market Transformation: Scaling the 

Barriers to Solar Markets ................ 8 

Policy Analysis: Exploring the 

Limits of PV Penetration ................ 10 

News & Updates 

Funding Opportunity 

Announcements and Awards .......... 4-5 

National Laboratory 

Technology Developments..... throughout 

Solar Events Calendar .................. 11
 

Solar Event News ....................... 12
 
SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER JULY 2007 

During the remainder of 2007, we will continue to work on these projects and build 

on the momentum established over the first year of our Solar America Initiative. 

We deeply appreciate the support we have received from the U.S. PV community 

in recent years, and hope to continue to play an important role for the community 

in the years to come. 

PV Priorities for 2007 

Photovoltaics R&D Programs 

•	 Systems Development. Awarded first set of $340 million in cost-shared industryled Technololgy Pathway Partnership projects for PV systems development and 

manufacturing demonstrations. 

•	 New Module Development. Awarded next set of cost-shared projects to incubate PV 

module prototype development and pilot manufacturing demonstrations in June 2007. 

•	 New PV Device Concepts and University Process and Product Development. 

Completing solicitations for new PV device concepts and university support to industry 

process/product development, with awards to be made in 2007. 

•	 Upstream Supply-Chain Development. Formulating a program to fund development 

and optimization of the upstream PV supply chain, including new feedstock materials, 

module-packaging solutions, and PV manufacturing tools standardization and 

accelerated delivery times. 

•	 PV-Grid Integration. Developing concepts for a set of activities to address grid reliability 

and economic issues associated with PV market penetration above 5%–10% of served 

load on grid distribution systems. 

Market Transformation and Deployment 

•	 Federal Government. Developing a concept for a program to establish the federal 

government as a major purchaser of solar electricity. 

•	 States. Engaging with key target states to create favorable regulatory frameworks 

(net metering, interconnection) and rebate programs. 

•	 Cities. Awarded 13 Solar America Cities, which DOE will help to develop local markets 

and downstream sales channels, and create rebate programs and municipal bonds for 

acquiring PV installations. 

Industry Roadmapping 

•	 Technology Roadmapping. Released technology roadmaps for each major PV material 

system and processing approach. Roadmaps will be used to coordinate R&D among 

industry, universities, and national laboratories. The current plan is to perform a biannual 

review of these roadmaps to better coordinate the domestic/international development 

of the PV industry (see www.eere.energy.gov/solar/solar_america/planning.html). 

•	 PV Market Penetration and Grid Integration Roadmapping. In May 2007, initiated a 

study that will map out scenarios for wide-scale market penetration of PV in U.S. 

electricity markets. 

•	 General PV Industry Roadmap. Starting in late summer 2007, we will work with SEIA 

and industry players to create a new PV industry roadmap that will cover projections 

for supply/demand and cost/pricing, product standards, areas for collaboration 

between companies, and policy needs. 

NATIONAL LABORATORY TECHNOLOGY 

DEVELOPMENTS: Photovoltaics 

Fabrication of 33.8% One-Sun 

Efficiency GaInP/GaAs/InGaAs 

Solar Cell 

NREL has fabricated a 2-terminal 

multijunction GaInP/GaAs/InGaAs solar 

cell with an efficiency of 33.8% measured 

under AM1.5 global conditions. The 

device area, open-circuit voltage, shortcircuit current density, and fill factor 

were 0.25 cm2, 2.96 V, 13.1 mA/cm2, 

and 86.9%, respectively. This device 

was grown inverted (i.e., top junction 

first) on a single-crystal GaAs substrate. 

The bottom 1.0-eV InGaAs layer was 

lattice-mismatched and grown last. The 

10-micrometer structure was mounted on 

a silicon “handle” and the GaAs substrate 

removed. This efficiency surpasses the 

previous one-sun record of 32.0% for 

Spectrolab’s GaInP/GaAs/Ge solar cell. 

Publication: The result will be published 

in the next Progress in PV, “Solar Cell 

Efficiency Tables.” 

NATIONAL LABORATORY TECHNOLOGY 

DEVELOPMENTS: Photovoltaics 

Manufacturing, Reliability, 

and Diagnostic Activities 

Sandia National Laboratories have done 

work on bench-scale demonstration 

of a non-immersion ultrasonic solderbond diagnostic, which promises to 

substantially increase yield and reliability 

of modules while reducing diagnostic 

costs and speeding implementation. It 

also has worked on the characterization 

of microcracks in silicon wafers and 

cells, using acoustic methods. Other 

advances were made in collaboration with 

industry partners, including: identification 

and resolution of diode faults in precommercial modules, isolation of faulty 

soldering operations, and development of 

improvements that reduced field failures 

of a manufacturer’s product. For more 

information see: www.sandia.gov/SAI/ 

Modulesystems.htm 

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SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER JULY 2007 

Technology Development: 

Seeing New Solar Products Through 

Collaborative R&D 

The Solar America Initiative (SAI)—as part of President Bush’s Advanced Energy 

Initiative—was announced during the 2006 State of the Union Address. The time 

since that announcement has been filled with activity in both R&D and market 

transformation to ensure its implementation. 

The Big Shift: Pre- and Post-January 2006 

Before January 2006, DOE research focused on technical progress to increase 

the conversion efficiencies of solar cells and reduce the manufacturing costs of 

photovoltaic modules. The national laboratories—NREL and Sandia—implemented this R&D drive, which included providing relatively stable funding to 

companies and universities to achieve steady, incremental progress. Hundreds 

of individual projects were funded at the national laboratories, universities, and 

companies and these projects generated continued interest in photovoltaics (PV) 

throughout the country. 

This picture changed, however, after January 2006 when a DOE change in program 

strategy coincided with the investment community taking a fresh look at the 

solar energy industry as well as states and cities developing supportive policies 

for solar energy deployment. These conditions proved ideal for DOE to launch 

a new venture, which shifts the focus of research from technical progress on 

components to integrated PV systems. Under this new strategy—called the Solar 

America Initiative (SAI)—funded companies are expected to develop products 

for priority markets, and industry is expected to influence the research agenda for 

the national laboratories and universities. 

Under the SAI, dramatic progress is anticipated from multiple competitive solicitations coupled with an aggressive process to evaluate results and eliminate awardees 

that do not meet predetermined performance targets. Please refer to Figure 1 for a 

full listing of the Funding Opportunities and Solicitations under the Solar America 

Initiative. The first set of large awards, called Technology Pathway Partnerships, 

funds teams that comprise of multiple partners that seek to reduce costs across the 

entire value-chain. Smaller projects will target earlier-stage technologies and focus 

on improvements at the module level. The large-scale, high-visibility projects are 

intended to help lower PV market barriers and will likely attract public attention 

to developments taking place in solar energy. 

NATIONAL LABORATORY TECHNOLOGY 

DEVELOPMENTS: Photovoltaics 

PV Systems Optimization 

Sandia’s PV Systems Optimization 

Laboratory has developed an inverter 

performance model, which has now 

been integrated into an overall system 

performance model; completed a systems 

performance test procedure for lab 

and field use; and conducted technical 

studies with industry partners on new 

technologies such as new materials 

(e.g., antireflective coatings), bifacial 

modules, and new inverters. Publication: 

“Recommended Practice for the Rating of 

Photovoltaic System Energy Production,” 

and “Performance Model for GridConnected PV Inverters” (both drafts 

for publication later in 2007). 

NATIONAL LABORATORY TECHNOLOGY 

DEVELOPMENTS: Photovoltaics 

Photovoltaic Inverter and BOS 

Development & Testing 

Phase III of DOE’s High Reliability Inverter 

Initiative is complete, with Xantrex 

delivering a prototype new inverter and 

GE completing in-house beta testing. 

These products have calculated meantime-between-failures (MTBF) of more 

than 10 years, representing significant 

improvements in residential-size 

inverters. Other accomplishments include 

a proof of concept for a micro-inverter 

with no electrolytic capacitors and a 

calculated MTBF of 250,000 hours of 

operation; completion of a MATLABbased inverter development model 

for single- and three-phase inverters; 

characterization of four commercial 

inverters for long-term evaluations; 

and the development of a 5-year 

strategy document for PV-related power 

electronics and systems controllers, 

which has been folded into the Solar 

America Initiative. For more information 

see: www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/ 

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SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER JULY 2007 

Figure 1. Summary of Solar Program R&D Funding Opportunities AwARDED OPEN UPCOMING 

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY 

ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA) 

OR SOLICITATION AwARD DATE 

FUNDING 

AMOUNT DESCRIPTION 

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. See www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/ 

solar_america/technology_pathway_partnerships.html 

Market Transformation: March 26, 2007 $4.2 M The working Group will address code development and outreach 

Codes and Standards over 5 years activities in areas of critical importance to solar market penetration 

such as interconnection procedures, net metering, product safety, and 

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. See www1.eere. 

energy.gov/solar/solar_america/market_transformation.html 

Market Transformation: State/Utility March 26, 2007 $1.7 M will conduct tailored solar technical outreach to states and utilities 

Solar Technical Outreach over 3 years and will provide resources and best practices to address solar issues 

faced by states and utilities. See www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/ 

solar_america/market_transformation.html 

Market Transformation: Utility 

Capacity Credit Valuation Activity 

Market Transformation: 

Solar America Showcases 

March 26, 2007 

May 16, 2007 

$0.2 M 

for 1 year 

Technical 

Assistance 

will help utilities measure the impact and value of distributed 

photovoltaics on the grid. See www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/ 

solar_america/market_transformation.html 

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 Region Experiment 

Stations, and private firms. See www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/ 

solar_america/market_transformation.html 

Component and Pilot Scale June 20, 2007 $27 M Projects focused on solving technical challenges that must be 

Production: PV Module Incubators over 18 

months 

overcome to scale-up manufacturing and commercialize new products 

by 2010 and shortening the timeline for companies to transition precommercial PV technologies into full-scale manufacturing. 

See www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/solar_america/pdfs/pv_incubator_ 

prospectus.pdf 

Market Transformation: June 20, 2007 $2.5 M and Cities will integrate solar technologies into city energy planning, 

Solar America Cities technical 

support over 

2 years 

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, etc.). 

See www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/solar_america/solar_america_ 

cities_awards.html 

Continued on next page 

P.  
 

SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER JULY 2007 

Summary of Solar Program R&D Funding Opportunities, Continued AwARDED OPEN UPCOMING 

Systems Development and September 12, Up to $30 M For universities to perform targeted materials science and process 

Manufacturing: University Product and 2007 over 3 years engineering research that offers direct, near-term improvements 

Process Development Support in PV products and development processes for commercialization 

by 2010. See www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/solar_america/system_ 

development_manufacturing_univ_process_foa_032607.html 

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY 

ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA) 

OR SOLICITATION 

SOLICITATION 

RELEASE DATE 

FUNDING 

AMOUNT DESCRIPTION 

Component and Pilot Scale July 2007 Up to $24 M To perform exploratory R&D targeting dramatic improvements in 

Production: Advanced Integrated 
 over 3 years
 inverters and energy management technologies for solar electricity 


Inverters and Energy Management production. See www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/solar_america/ 

Systems funding_opportunities.html 

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY 

ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA) 

OR SOLICITATION CLOSING DATE 

FUNDING 

AMOUNT DESCRIPTION 

Device and Process Proof of Concept: June 26, 2007 Up to $4 M 

Future Generation PV Device and per year 

Processes over 3 years 

Concentrating Solar Power Funding August 9, 2007 $10 M-$20 M 

Opportunity Announcement over 2 years 

Round 2- Market Transformation: August 15, 2007 Technical 

Solar America Showcases Assistance 

For companies to perform exploratory R&D for the development 

of innovative and highly disruptive future-generation solar electric 

technologies. The device and manufacturing process research that 

is targeted by this opportunity is expected to produce prototype 

cells and/or processes by 2015, with full commercialization coming 

to fruition in the 2020-2030 timeframe. See www1.eere.energy. 

gov/solar/solar_america/device_process_foa_032607.html 

For companies to develop storage solutions, manufacturing 

approaches, and new system concepts for large-scale concentrating 

solar power (CSP) plants. The collaborative public-private partnerships 

established herein will work to reduce the nominal levelized cost of 

energy (LCOE) of CSP power plants from 13-17 ¢/kwh in 2007 to a 

target of 7-10¢/kwh by 2015 and 5-7¢/kwh by 2020. See www1. 

eere.energy.gov/news/progress_alerts/progress_alert.asp?aid=237 

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. See www1. 

eere.energy.gov/solar/solar_america/market_transformation_ 

funding_opps.html 

Beginning to Fill the R&D Pipeline: The First Technology Pathway Partnerships 

The announcement of the Technology Pathway Partnerships (TPPs), a large Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), was 

the most dramatic evidence of SAI’s strategy. Entrance criteria for commercial applicants included prototype components, pilot 

production demonstration, and an established business case. At the end of three years, awardees are expected to have commercial 

PV systems and subsystems with annual production of greater than 25 MW. Partnerships with national laboratories, universities, 

and suppliers focus on the development, testing, demonstration, validation, and interconnection of PV components, systems and 

manufacturing equipment—while expecting costs to be reduced to $0.05–$0.10 per kWh by 2015. 

P. 
 
SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER JULY 2007 

In March 2007, DOE announced $340 million in cost-shared industry lead projects 

as part of the Technology Pathway Partners program. These 13 projects included a 

broad cross-section of U.S. industry involving more than 50 companies, 14 universities, 3 non-profits, and 2 national laboratories in 20 states. The selected projects 

leaders are Amonix, BP Solar, Boeing, Dow Chemical, General Electric, Miasolé, 

Nanosolar, SunPower, PowerLight, United Solar Ovonic, Konarka, GreenRay and 

Practical Instruments. Since the DOE announcement, SunPower and PowerLight 

have merged and Practical Instruments is now called Soliant. 

Total DOE project funding will be about $64 million for year 1, $68 million for year 

2, and $48 million for year 3. The teams contribute private cost share well over the 

DOE funding totals. This new portfolio continues DOE’s historical investment in 

thin films and increases support significantly for concentrator photovoltaics and 

crystalline silicon technologies. The portfolio of technologies is intended to deliver 

on the near-term potential in residential markets (32% of funding targeting) and 

commercial markets (48% of funding), and on the longer-term with utility markets 

(20% of funding) (see Figure 2). 

Figure 2. Technology Pathway Partnership Objectives: 

Manufacturing Capacity vs. Time 

Keeping the Pipeline Full: Solicitations for PV R&D 

In addition to the Technology Pathway Partnerships, five other funding opportunities 

will keep the PV R&D pipeline full (see Figure 3 for a summary of the current DOE 

PV portfolio). Most recently, on June 20, 2007 Secretary Bodman announced the 

selections of 10 PV Incubator awardees. These Incubator projects will receive in total 

up to $27 million in DOE funding, with minimum private cost share of 20% of total 

project costs—with partner cost share, the total research investment is expected to 

reach $71 million. The primary objective of these 18-month projects is to address the 

challenges faced by small businesses in transitioning pre-prototype and pre-commercial 

PV technologies into pilot and full-scale manufacturing on an accelerated timeline. 

Projects will work to produce hardware that proves their PV technology is ready for 

commercialization. This and other SAI solicitations are described in greater detail at: 

www.eere.energy.gov/solar/solar_america/funding_opportunities.html. 

acciona Energy announced on June 7th 

that Nevada solar one, a 64-megawatt solar 

thermal power plant near Boulder city, Nevada, 

is now online. the new facility is the largest 

of its type to be built in the world since 1991, 

although a 1-megawatt solar thermal plant 

was built in arizona last year. the Nevada 

solar one plant consists of 350 square acres 

of parabolic mirrors arranged in a grid and 

will produce enough power to supply 15,000 

average U.s. homes. 

NATIONAL LABORATORY TECHNOLOGY 

DEVELOPMENTS: Photovoltaics 

Updated Benchmarks of 

Springerville Utility-Scale 

PV Generating Plant 

working with Tucson Electric Power 

Company (TEP), Sandia has characterized 

the performance and operations of the 

26 crystalline-Si systems, rating a total 

of 3.51 Mw, after 5 years of operational 

experience. Some of the results: average 

annual AC energy output is 1707 kwhac 

per kwdc of array; average annual 

AC system power is 79% of the DC 

nameplate rating; average annual O&M 

cost is 0.12% of the initial capital cost 

of the system, not including inverter 

rebuilds; and the mean time between 

unscheduled maintenance services is 

7.7 months. Additionally, solar generating 

intermittencies have been observed to 

have significant impacts on capacity value 

to the utility and require hardware/control 

system modifications. This is an area of 

high interest and continued investigation. 

For more information see: www.sandia. 

gov/SAI/Reliabilitylifecycle.htm 

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SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER JULY 2007 

Figure 3. SAI Technology Portfolio with Incubator Additions 

Former Solar Program Manager, Steven Chalk, 

Named Deputy Assistant Secretary for 

Renewable Energy; Craig Cornelius Appointed 

New Program Manager 

On April 30, 2007 the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy 

(EERE) announced the appointment of two Deputy Assistant Secretaries. David 

E. Rodgers will become the first Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency 

in the Department’s history and Steven G. Chalk will become the Deputy Assistant 

Secretary for Renewable Energy. Together, they will oversee the technology 

development and deployment of the Nation’s applied R&D portfolio for clean, 

domestic, and affordable energy technologies. Both have extensive background in 

energy policy, technology, and DOE’s commercialization efforts. 

On June 1, 2007, Craig Cornelius, was selected as the Acting Program Manager for 

the Solar Energy Technologies Program. Craig has led the Solar America Initiative 

since November 2005, and has also worked within DOE to complete strategic 

reviews of EERE’s 11 Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy programs. His 

work has helped guide improvements in program strategies and objectives, R&D 

planning, risk assessment and portfolio management, market research, and industry 

partnering. Cornelius came to DOE from NASA, where he played a leadership role 

in the formulation of the President’s Vision for Space Exploration —a multi-decade 

program that will develop the next generation of human and robotic systems for 

solar system exploration. 

NATIONAL LABORATORY TECHNOLOGY 

DEVELOPMENTS: coNcENtRatiNG solaR PoWER 

Enhanced System for CSP 

Mirror Optical Characterization 

NREL researchers designed a new optical 

characterization system to test long focal 

length and/or flat mirror panels used in 

concentrating solar power technologies. 

This new system enhances the Video 

Scanning Hartmann Optical Test (VSHOT), 

a system originally designed to test 

point-focus mirrors used in parabolic dish 

technology and modified to test profiles 

of single-axis curvature mirrors used in 

parabolic trough technology. The VSHOT 

uses laser ray-tracing to map mirror 

surfaces. Enhancements include new 

digital video hardware/software, as well 

as a large target capable of capturing 

reflected rays off of flat or nearly flat 

mirrors. NREL is close to finalizing a 

CRADA with the Australian company 

Solar Systems in which NREL will design 

a similar optical test system for their 

mirror development needs. Completion 

and shakedown of the new system is 

expected in mid to late summer. For 

more information see: www.nrel.gov/csp/ 

troughnet/testing_standards_reports.html 

NATIONAL LABORATORY TECHNOLOGY 

DEVELOPMENTS: coNcENtRatiNG solaR PoWER 

Dish/Stirling Development 

Continuous efforts in reliability improvement have resulted in over 8,500 hours 

of operating experience for the six 

Stirling Energy Systems (SES) dishes at 

Sandia, with over 30% gross efficiency 

and over 25 kw net per dish measured. 

Structural improvements have reduced 

the design weight of the rotating platform 

by about 4000 lbs. Further developments 

in controls and operation have led to 

these results. Sandia will continue to 

work closely with SES as they move to 

complete their 40-unit next-generation 

build. For more information see: www. 

energylan.sandia.gov/sunlab/projects.htm 

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SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER JULY 2007 

Market Transformation:
 

Scaling the Barriers to Solar Markets
 

Tom Kimbis of the DOE Solar Technologies Program heads a new $20 million 

Solar Energy Market Transformation subprogram. The Solar Energy Market 

Transformation subprogram currently has 37 distinct activities that are supported 

by 25 individuals across DOE headquarters, the DOE Golden Field Office, Sandia, 

NREL, and support service contractors. 

A Widget Fable on Market Barriers 

To understand market transformation, during a recent solar program review Kimbis 

used a humorous parable of an imaginary Widget Company in Widgetvale, California 

to describe some of the issues that face the solar industry. This imaginary Widgetmaker 

has a “eureka” moment leading to a new SuperWidget, twice the size and speed of 

any Widget and certain to transform the market. A consumer survey confirms the 

Widgetmaker’s beliefs and Widget Company retools, starts production, and finally 

ships its first 100,000 SuperWidgets. 

In this story, a catastrophic journey to market begins. The Widgetmaker receives a 

call from a store in the State of Sol where SuperWidget purchasers are returning the 

product, stating that they couldn’t be properly installed. Sol had created legislation 

a few years earlier, putting safety limits on the size and speed of widgets so that the 

SuperWidgets are illegal. Other states, towns, and even the federal government had 

modeled new widget laws after the Sol law, and full trucks began turning back for 

Widgetvale. Then another obstacle: SuperWidgets work so well in southern Soleil 

that they are judged to be a threat to the WidgetGrid. Some analysts compare 

possible damage caused by SuperWidget installations to a series of exploding 

nuclear suitcases. 

The catastrophes accelerate further. Banks compare SuperWidget investments with 

the Titanic. The insurance industry raises concerns and rates due to fire danger. USA 

Tomorrow calculates a 198-year payback for SuperWidgets. A state enacts legislation 

requiring, for its citizen’s safety, that all SuperWidgets be examined individually—including being unpacked, disassembled, and reassembled by hand—by an under-funded 

and overloaded group of three Widget Experts. Finally, the Widgetmaker starts 

hearing that his competitors are shipping new series of MiniWidgets, MicroWidgets, 

and NanoWidgets. Ironically, the SuperWidget does not transform the market; it is 

the market that transforms and downsizes the SuperWidget. 

Looking at the Solar Markets 

Solar may not be as bad as SuperWidgets, but, according to Kimbis, “It’s close.” 

Continuing, Kimbis said, “Many of the examples used in the SuperWidget story 

are actually quite similar to the solar barriers we have encountered during our 

first year or two working on Market Transformation.” The lesson to be learned 

is that it isn’t good enough just to make great technologies. You must also study 

the marketplace to identify any conditions that would preclude the successful 

introduction of those products. 

NATIONAL LABORATORY TECHNOLOGY 

DEVELOPMENTS: coNcENtRatiNG solaR PoWER 

Heliostat Cost Reduction 

A study was completed to identify and 

quantify means of reducing the costs of 

heliostats for power tower applications. 

Two separate workshops enlisted the 

input of 30 experts to complete the 

study. The study concludes that R&D 

efforts can reduce heliostat price by at 

least $17/m2—from $126/m2 to $109/ 

m2. Continued reduction to ~$90/m2 is 

expected through learning during the 

deployment of the initial 9 Gw of power 

plants over a decade or more. This 

equates to a power tower system cost of 

$0.056/kwh. Publication: G.J. Kolb et al., 

“Heliostat Cost Reduction Study,” Sandia 

National Laboratories, SAND Report and 

ASME conference paper, May 2007. 

NATIONAL LABORATORY TECHNOLOGY 

DEVELOPMENTS: coNcENtRatiNG solaR PoWER 

Molten Salt Heat Transfer 

Fluid Development 

Thermal stabilities and viscosities of 

different salt formulations have been 

investigated and reported, with plans to 

optimize promising nitrates. Publication: 

D.A. Brosseau and R.w. Bradshaw, 

“Sandia Solar Technologies FY07 Test 

Plan: Molten Nitrate Salt Investigations for 

Thermal Energy Storage,” Sandia National 

Laboratories Report, August, 2006. For 

more information see: www.nrel.gov/csp/ 

troughnet/pdfs/2007/brosseau_sandia_ 

molten_salt_tes.pdf 

P. 
 
SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER JULY 2007 

The specific goal of the Market Transformation subprogram is to reduce market 

barriers and promote market expansion of solar energy technologies through 

non-R&D activities. To identify these activities, Kimbis and his team held meetings 

open to the public and issued requests for information to those who weren’t at these 

meetings. Representatives from utilities, solar companies, federal agencies, states, cities, 

academia, the building industry, and the financial community provided guidance as 

to which activities were appropriate and worthwhile for DOE to fund. 

Paving the Way for Market Development 

This valuable guidance led to the following key activities: 

Solar America Board of Codes and Standards. A consortium led by New 

Mexico State University will receive $4.2 million over 5 years to examine codes 

and standards issues and provide best-practice recommendations. Standards 

specify minimum sets of test conditions that, if passed, reduce risks for potential 

market problems such as product failure, inadequate performance, or danger to 

humans. The consortium includes the Arizona State University’s Photovoltaic 

Testing Laboratory, BEW engineering consultants, Florida Solar Energy Center, 

Interstate Renewable Energy Council, PowerMark, Sherwood Associates, Inc., 

and Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. 

Solar America Cities. To address barriers and opportunities at the local level, 

we are partnering with 13 cities ready to make solar mainstream by 2015. We 

will provide a combined $2.5 M in financial assistance plus hands-on technical 

assistance to help cities in their efforts to integrate solar into city energy planning 

and facilities, streamline city-level regulations and permitting, and promote solar 

technology locally through outreach and education. The 2007 Solar America 

Cities—announced June 20 by Secretary Bodman—are: 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; and Tucson, AZ. 

State and Utility Solar Technical Outreach. Recognizing the important role of 

States in the growth of solar markets, we have awarded three groups to provide solar 

technology information and policy best practices to key decision makers such as 

state legislators, public utility commissions, and clean energy fund administrators. 

The Program will provide a combined $795,000 over three years to the National 

Conference of State Legislatures, the National Association of Regulatory Utility 

Commissioners, and the Clean Energy Group. We also wish to support outreach 

to utilities as they further integrate solar technologies into their programs and 

business plans. To that end, we have awarded the Solar Electric Power Association 

with $990,000 over three years to provide tools, information resources, and hands-on 

assistance to help utilities advance their solar efforts. 

Solar America Showcases. Under this activity, DOE will provide technical 

assistance to large (greater than 100 kW), high-impact solar installation projects 

that stand out for their high-visibility, novel application or potential for replication. 

An initial set of three projects were awarded in May 2007, and we are accepting 

proposals for the next round until August 15. The initial Showcase projects include 

a large PV installation on the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, 

crowds at the 2006 solar Decathlon. Please 

see page 12 for details on the 2007 event. 

NATIONAL LABORATORY TECHNOLOGY 

DEVELOPMENTS: coNcENtRatiNG solaR PoWER 

Theoretical Overlay Photographic 

(TOP) Alignment System for 

Parabolic Trough Collectors 

Alignments have been completed at the 

newly constructed Arizona Public Service 

Saguaro 1-w plant, with a cycle time 

of 70 seconds per trough module. The 

long-term goal for this method is 30 s per 

module. An error analysis indicates rootmean-square alignment uncertainties 

that are less than the slope errors of the 

mirrors themselves. Publication: R.B. 

Diver and T.A. Moss, 2006, “Practical 

Field Alignment of Parabolic Trough Solar 

Concentrators,” ISEC2006, Denver, CO. 

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SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER JULY 2007 

Florida; integrating PV into a large military housing development in Hawaii led by 

Forest City Military Communities; and integrating PV into a set of eight city-owned 

facilities in the City of San Jose, California. 

Education. This area targets a possible lack of trained PV installers over the long-term. 

DOE is working with many groups and individuals across the country to identify 

best practices in this area that may lead to future action. DOE will not be training 

or certifying installers, and DOE may decide that this is entirely a market-driven 

issue with a market solution. 

Product Certification. Market Transformation is working with Underwriters 

Laboratories to respond to industry concerns about the slow pace of module safety 

certification. It also has increased funding for the Solar Rating and Certification 

Corporation (SRCC), helping it to eliminate certification bottlenecks for solar water 

heaters and to develop a business plan to become self sufficient. 

Building-Integrated PV (BIPV). NREL’s BIPV team is working with DOE’s Buildings 

Program to improve its software and analysis tools to help better integrate solar 

panels into building structures. 

Finance. Whether the buyer is large (such as the federal government) or small 

(such as a homeowner), there is a need to identify high-priority financial issues and 

the most appropriate roles for DOE to play within the financial marketplace. This 

work is just beginning. 

Policy Analysis:
 

Exploring the Limits of PV Penetration
 

Policies become critical as the impacts of solar energy on various segments of society 

become clearer. For example, utilities around the world have traditionally discouraged 

solar customers—for obvious reasons: The markets in which utilities work require 

them to maximize income from every customer for the benefit of their investors. And 

solar customers do not increase utility profits like traditional customers do. 

But before breaking the traditional paradigm, we must first understand it so that 

new policies can be created that benefit all aspects of society. Paul Denholm and 

Robert Margolis, two NREL energy and policy analysts, have evaluated the limits of 

large-scale deployment of solar photovoltaics in traditional electric power systems 

in an attempt to understand these limits. Their new understanding can lead to more 

effective operating paradigms and policies. 

Can PV Really Provide Enough Energy for a Utility? 

Denholm and Margolis recently published two articles on this topic in the journal 

Energy Policy. Their first article evaluated the ability of PV to provide up to 50% 

of the energy for a Texas utility system by comparing hourly output of a simulated 

large PV system to the amount of electricity actually usable within the utility’s 

service territory. 

DOE SOLAR WEB SITES 

SOLAR: 

Solar America Initiative: 

www.eere.energy.gov/solar/solar_america 

EERE Solar Energy Technologies Program: 

www.eere.energy.gov/solar 

NREL Solar Research: www.nrel.gov/solar 

PHOTOVOLTAICS: 

NREL PV Research: www.nrel.gov/pv 

SNL PV Systems R&D: www.sandia.gov/pv 

BNL PV Environmental, Health and Safety 

Assistance Center: www.pv.bnl.gov 

ORNL Solar Technologies Program: 

www.ornl.gov/sci/solar 

PV Value Clearinghouse: 

www.nrel.gov/analysis/pvclearinghouse/ 

CONCENTRATING SOLAR POwER: 

NREL CSP Research: www.nrel.gov/csp 

TroughNet: www.nrel.gov/csp/troughnet 

BUILDINGS: 

EERE Buildings Technologies Program: 

www.eere.energy.gov/buildings 

NREL Buildings Research: 

www.nrel.gov/buildings 

Solar Decathlon: 

www.solardecathlon.org 

OTHER: 

Golden Field Office: 

www.eere.energy.gov/golden 

Industry Interactive Procurement System (IIPS): 

https://e-center.doe.gov/iips/faopor.nsf/ 

ViewMenu?ReadForm 

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SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER JULY 2007 

The two researchers found that under high penetration levels and existing gridoperation procedures and rules, the system had excess PV generation during certain 

periods of the year that increased PV costs—that is, the PV electricity had to be 

dumped. The limited flexibility of baseload generators, which cannot respond to 

rapid changes in load, produces more unusable PV generation when PV provides 

more than approximately 10%-20% of a system’s energy. 

Help from Flexibility, Load Shifting, and Storage 

Margolis and Denholm’s second article evaluated technologies that might enable 

PV to overcome the limits discovered in the first article. They considered means 

to increase system flexibility, load shifting via demand-responsive appliances, and 

energy storage. Increasing flexibility from the study’s baseline of 65% to 90% almost 

doubles the amount of energy that variable loads can provide. Load shifting through 

appliances (e.g., water heaters) with controls sensitive to utility load is another 

option to increase the coincidence of PV output and electricity demand without 

drastically altering lifestyle. However, not all appliances (e.g., heat pumps) are suited 

for this type of control. 

Finally, the study considered storage benefits, while recognizing there are storage 

losses and additional capital and operating costs for storage systems that need 

to be included. Their analyses showed that for a 25% increase in average PV 

cost, a combination of 11 hours of storage, and a utility with 80% flexibility, 

PV could provide roughly half of the system’s energy. They concluded, “This 

level of PV penetration would truly require a radical transformation of the 

electricity system—from a centrally controlled to a highly distributed and 

interactive system.” 

An intriguing possibility that results from changing a utility’s traditional loads is the 

use of surplus or low-value PV-generated electricity to supply mid-day recharging 

for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Such an application could be an additional 

benefit from PV generation. 

For details on the two studies summarized above, view the following two articles: 

•	 P. Denholm and R.M. Margolis, Evaluating the limits of solar 


photovoltaics (PV) in traditional electric power systems, 


Energy Policy 35 (2007) 2852–2861.
 

•	 P. Denholm and R.M. Margolis, Evaluating the limits of solar 


photovoltaics (PV) in electric power systems utilizing energy storage 


and other enabling technologies. Energy Policy (2007), in press.
 

For more information, please visit: www.nrel.gov/analysis/pvclearinghouse/ 

SOLAR EVENTS CALENDAR 

Solar 2007: Sustainable 

Energy Puts America to work 

July 7–12, 2007: cleveland, oh 

www.ases.org/solar2007 

Solwest Renewable Energy Fair 

July 27–29, 2007: John Day, oR 

www.solwest.org 

17th workshop on Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells 

and Modules: Materials and Processes 

august 5–8, 2007: vail, co 

www.nrel.gov/silicon_workshop
 

SPIE Optics & Photonics—
 

Solar Energy and Its Applications
 

august 26–30, 2007: san Diego, ca 

www.spie.org/ 

2007 Joint ACS/AIChE 

Rocky Mountain Regional Meeting 

august 29–september 1, 2007: Denver, co 

www.uwyo.edu/rmr2007acs%2Daiche 

22nd European Photovoltaic Solar 

Energy Conference and Exhibition 

september 3–7, 2007: Milano, italy 

http://p12611.typo3server.info 

ISES Solar world Congress 2007 

september 18–21, 2007: Beijing, china 

www.swc2007.cn 

Solar Power 2007 

september 24–27, 2007: long Beach, ca 

www.solarpowerconference.com 

2007 Solar Decathlon 

october 12–20, 2007: Washington, Dc 

www.solardecathlon.org 

Greenbuild 2007 

November 7–9, 2007: chicago, il 

www.greenbuildexpo.org 

Energy Efficiency Global Forum & Exposition 

November 11–14, 2007: Washington, Dc 

www.eeglobalforum.com/ 

2007 Material Research (MRS) Fall Meeting 

November 26–30, 2007: Boston, Ma 

www.mrs.org/s_mrs/sec. 

asp?CID=4749&DID=164574 

Solar 2008 

May 3–10, 2008: san Diego, ca 

www.ases.org/programs/conference.htm 

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SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER JULY 2007 

SOLAR EVENT NEWS 

2007 Solar Decathlon Set to Go in October 

The third Solar Decathlon competition (www.solardecathlon.org) will be held 

October 12–20, 2007, in Washington, D.C. The event requires university teams 

to build and operate energy-efficient solar-powered homes on the National Mall, 

forming a temporary “solar village.” In January 2006, DOE selected the following 

20 teams to participate in the competition—sixteen teams from 13 states, as well as 

four teams representing Puerto Rico, Canada, Spain, and Germany: 

• Carnegie Mellon University •	 Technische Universität Darmstadt 

• Cornell University •	 Texas A&M University 

•	 Georgia Institute of Technology • Universidad Politécnica 

de Madrid •	 Kansas State University 

•	 Universidad de Puerto Rico •	 Lawrence Technological 

University • University of Cincinnati 

•	 Massachusetts Institute • University of Colorado 

of Technology •	 University of Illinois 

•	 New York Institute of Technology •	 University of Maryland 

•	 Pennsylvania State University •	 University of Missouri–Rolla 

•	 Santa Clara University •	 University of Texas at Austin 

•	 Team Montréal (école de Technologie Supérieure, Université de 

Montréal, McGill University) 

Beginning on October 12, teams will be judged in 10 areas encompassing architecture, 

engineering, livability, comfort, power generation for space heating and cooling, water 

heating, and powering lights and appliances. The Decathlon’s prototype solar homes 

are zero-energy, yielding zero carbon emissions, and will include the latest high-tech 

solutions and money-saving benefits to consumers, without sacrificing comfort, 

convenience, and aesthetics. Each house must also produce enough “extra” energy 

to power an electric car. Visitors can tour the homes daily, except for Wednesday 

October 17, when they are closed for competition purposes. 

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 

P. 12