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

SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER 

Solar America Cities: A Bright Idea Takes Off 

Department of Energy (DOE) staff have been busy assisting the 13 Solar America 

Cities since they were selected in June, as well as soliciting additional Solar 

America Cities through a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) released 

in October. 

Solar America Cities award recipients will review regulatory and other policy 

structures affecting solar technology adoption and will create a plan to develop a 

sustainable solar infrastructure for their respective cities. Several cities have already 

set ambitious early goals. Here are a few examples: 

•	 Austin will focus on collaborating with local school districts in the development 

of public school curriculum material. 

•	 Boston will establish the nonprofit, 

Solar Boston, Inc., to handle bulk 

procurement and installation of 

photovoltaic (PV) equipment. 

•	 Berkeley is developing a program 

to finance the cost of solar panels 

that allows property owners to 

pay back the costs through a 

20-year assessment on their Tom Kimbis, SETP Acting Program Manager, speaks 

property tax bills.	 at the Solar America Cities kickoff in Salt Lake City 

Participating cities must have populations of at least 100,000 in order to apply for 

grants of up to $200,000. The Solar America Cities 2008 effort encourages cities 

to commit to achieving a sustainable solar infrastructure, not simply completing a series of experimental solar projects. For more information, please visit 

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/solar_america/open_upcoming_fund_opps.html. 

DOE will host the 1st annual meeting with awardees from 2007 and 2008 in April 

in Tuscon, Arizona. The meeting will allow each Solar America City to discuss 

best practices and lessons learned. 

FEBRUARY 2008


Solar America Cities:


A Bright Idea Takes Off .................. 1


Nellis Air Force Base Installs 


14MW PV System ....................... 2


Solar Energy Grid Integration 


Systems RFQ Announced ............. 2-3


Concentrating Solar Power Awards ..... 3


“Future Gen” Award Announcement .... 4


DOE, NREL, and Sandia Staff 


Visit Japanese PV Grid Integration


Testing Sites ............................ 5


Solar Energy Technologies Program


Sees Change in Leadership ............. 6


NREL Solar Planning Software


Updated, Increasing Usability ......... 6-7


Former SETP Director Participates


in PV Quality Control Forum Hosted 


in China ................................. 7


Funding Opportunity 


Announcements and Awards ........8-11


Solar Events Calendar ................. 12


National Laboratory Technology 


Developments & DOE News... throughout

SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2008 

Nellis Air Force Base Installs 14MW PV System 

On December 17, the switch was thrown on the new 14MW photovoltaic system 

at Nellis Air Force Base in Clark County, Nevada—the nation’s largest PV system. 

Paul Dickerson, the Chief Operating Officer of DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency 

and Renewable Energy, along with representatives from other key partners were 

in attendance at the dedication ceremony. The public-private partnership between 

the U.S. Air Force, MMA Renewable Ventures, SunPower, and the Nevada 

Power Company allowed construction to begin in April on the third party owned 

PV system. 

The array supplies approximately 25 percent of the base’s power needs to the 

12,000 personnel working and living on the base. The system sits on 140 acres on 

the western edge of the base, which used to be a landfill. It is estimated that with 

the acquisition of the system, the base will save approximately $1 to $2 million per 

year in electricity consumption. 

Solar Energy Grid Integration Systems 

RFQ Announced 

On November 28, 2007, Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) issued a Request for 

Quotation (RFQ) for the Solar Energy Grid Integration Systems (SEGIS) program. 

The SEGIS program is a 3-year, 3-stage effort (approximately one year per stage) 

that emphasizes the development of advanced inverters, controllers, and other 

balance-of-system (BOS) components for distributed PV power applications. The 

critical components to be developed in this effort are highly integrated and innovative 

inverters/controllers and associated BOS elements (including communications 

technologies, energy storage, energy management, and numerous interface options) 

for residential and commercial solar energy applications. The closing date for the 

RFQ is February 4, 2008. 

Stage 1: Concept and Marketing Analysis consists of feasibility studies including 

the design and analysis of components for advanced integrated inverter/controller 

and/or energy management control systems. This stage requires the development 

of a preliminary product design; analysis of estimated performance, product cost 

(first-cost and operating cost), and its effect on overall system cost; and investigation 

of the primary technical barriers and approaches to overcoming these barriers. 

Finally, Stage 1 requires the submittal of an updated proposal for Stage 3 to include 

a conceptual design, as well as estimated performance and cost. 

Stage 2: Prototype Development is geared toward the design, construction, and 

testing of the prototype, followed by cost estimates for a variety of quantities 

manufactured per year. Value-added features, as well as the prototype’s ability to 

mitigate any potential negative effects of high-penetration PV distributed generation 

will be assessed. 

An F-18 flies over the new 14MW system at 

Nellis Air Force Base 

NATIONAL LABORATORY TECHNOLOGY 

DEVELOPMENTS & DOE NEWS 

NREL Achieves 19.9% Cell Efficiency 

for CIGS Thin Film Solar Cell 

NREL has demonstrated a new record totalarea efficiency of 19.9% for a CuInGaSe2 

(CIGS) thin-film solar cell measured under 

the AM1.5 global spectrum at 25°C. The 

cell was made by NREL using a “threestage” co-evaporation process with a slight 

modification to the surface region of the 

CIGS absorber. The device layers, reported 

in previous publications, are in brief: a 

soda-lime glass substrate with a sputtered 

Mo back contact, a CdS layer deposited 

by a chemical bath, a ZnO bi-layer, Ni/Al 

grids, and an MgF2 antireflective coating 

using a photolithographic device isolation 

method. The new device is similar to 

previous devices in terms of CdS thickness, 

optical bandgap, open-circuit voltage, 

and short-circuit density. The improved 

performance was due to a higher fill 

factor, which exceeds previous thin-film 

records at 81.2%. Device analysis revealed 

significant reduction in minority carriers’ 

recombination. The new record efficiency 

demonstrates the potential of CIGS to 

achieve very high conversion efficiency. 

Higher conversion efficiency is a primary 

driver for developing products that require 

higher power per area, lower cost per watt, 

and could serve as the benchmark for a 

variety of deposition processes. 

Publication: NREL’s result will be published 

in the Progress in Photovoltaics journal in 

the paper titled, “19.9%-Efficient ZnO/CdS/ 

CuInGaSe2 Solar Cell with 81.2% Fill Factor.” 

P. 2
SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2008 

Stage 3: Toward Commercialization includes the completion of R&D and the initiation 

of a pilot production run of newly developed hardware and concepts. This Stage 

includes hardware development, testing, and delivering hardware to SNL, or other 

agreed upon facilities, for validation of specifications and performance. Stage 3 also 

includes execution of a commercialization and manufacturing plan with financing 

options available for scale-up. 

For more information on this funding opportunity, please visit 

www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/solar_america/pdfs/segis_rfp_nov2807.pdf. 

Concentrating Solar Power Awards 

DOE announced in November that it will invest $5.2 million in projects supporting 

the development of low-cost Concentrating Solar Power (CSP), with Assistant 

Secretary Karsner making the announcement at the American Council on Renewable 

Energy’s National Policy Conference. “Under the President’s leadership, DOE is 

not only supporting research and development of clean energy technologies, but is 

accelerating their commercialization to a rate and scale necessary to meet growing 

energy demand and combat climate change,” Assistant Secretary Karsner said. “Our 

National Laboratories lead the world in energy innovation and DOE is now giving 

them the support to commercialize their innovations.” 

CSP systems can use energy immediately or save it as thermal energy for later 

use. Storage of solar energy in this manner removes the intermittency of sunlight, 

which makes CSP a “dispatchable” source of electricity enabling it to provide 

energy to homes and businesses day or night. Project categories include: (1) thermal 

storage; (2) trough component manufacturing; and (3) advanced CSP systems and/ 

or components. 

The twelve CSP projects selected for negotiation of awards include: 

•	 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) 

For more information, including project descriptions, please visit 

www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/pdfs/csp_prospectus_112807.pdf. 

NATIONAL LABORATORY TECHNOLOGY 

DEVELOPMENTS & DOE NEWS 

SNL Conducts Stage-Gate 

Testing on GreenRay’s 

Micro-Inverter 

Sandia National Laboratories’ Distributed 

Energy Technologies Laboratory (DETL) 

has conducted preliminary evaluations of 

a Solar America Initiative (SAI) deliverable 

from GreenRay, Inc. GreenRay has 

submitted an alpha micro-inverter to 

Sandia’s DETL for thermal and surge 

suppression evaluations, and results 

indicate GreenRay is on track to fulfill 

stage-gate requirements. 

NATIONAL LABORATORY TECHNOLOGY 

DEVELOPMENTS & DOE NEWS 

New “Robotic” Silicon Cluster 

Tool Available at NREL 

NREL has created a new research tool 

that will significantly improve the quality 

of silicon cell testing and silicon device 

fabrication. The Silicon Cluster Tool is 

part of NREL’s Process Development 

Integration Laboratory (PDIL). What makes 

the tool unique are the seven vacuumsealed deposition chambers instead of the 

traditional single chamber, and a computeroperated robotic arm that removes and 

delivers substrates being tested from 

chamber to chamber. Scientists working 

at PDIL are also developing tools for thin 

film solar cell researchers as well as 

research equipment for new atmospheric 

processing. (Atmospheric processing uses 

spray and ink jets to produce solar cells 

instead of the traditional screen printing 

process, which can break fragile solar 

cells. Atmospheric processing research 

may lead to higher throughput and cheaper 

equipment for solar cell manufacturers.) 

When completed, there will also be more 

than a dozen characterization capabilities 

within PDIL. For more information or to see 

an educational video, visit www.nrel.gov/ 

pv/process_integration_approach.html. 

P. 3
SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2008 

“Future Gen” Award Announcement


DOE will invest $21.7 million in next generation PV technology to help accelerate 

the widespread use of advanced solar power. “These projects help create a pipeline 

for the development of next generation solar technology,” Secretary Bodman 

said. “Our goal is to make solar power a more mainstream source of energy—to 

increase energy security and maintain America’s competitive edge. With a continued 

commitment from this Administration to develop and deploy clean, cutting-edge 

technologies, the Department is helping change the landscape for how this Nation 

utilizes its resources and produces energy.” 

Projects selected represent an important early-stage investment from DOE in advanced 

PV technologies, which will help drive U.S. industry competitiveness. These new solar 

technologies have the potential to produce electricity at costs well below the current 

costs of grid-supplied electricity. The device and manufacturing process research 

used by the selected projects is expected to produce prototype cells and/or processes 

by 2015, with the potential for full commercialization shortly thereafter. 

The 25 projects selected by DOE will be implemented at 15 universities and 

6 companies over the three-year project period. They include: 

•	 Arizona State University (Tempe, AZ) 

•	 California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, CA) 

•	 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA) 

•	 Pennsylvania State University (University Park, PA) 

•	 Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, NY) 

•	 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) 

•	 Mayaterials, Inc (Ann Arbor, MI) 

•	 Solasta, Inc. (Newton, MA) 

•	 Solexant, Inc. (Sunnyvale, CA) 

•	 Soltaix, Inc. (Los Altos, CA) 

•	 Voxtel, Inc. (Beaverton, OR) 

•	 Wakonda Technologies (Fairport, NY) 

For more information, including project descriptions, please visit 

www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/solar_america/future_generation_pv.html. 

NATIONAL LABORATORY TECHNOLOGY 

DEVELOPMENTS & DOE NEWS 

NREL Hosts the 22nd International 

Conference on Amorphous and 

Nanocrystalline Semiconductors 

NREL hosted the 22nd International 

Conference on Amorphous and 

Nanocrystalline Semiconductors (ICANS 

22) held in Breckenridge, Colorado in 

late August 2007. ICANS is the premier 

forum for scientific and technological 

exchange among researchers investigating 

amorphous semiconductors and related 

materials. Topics ranged from the 

physics and chemistry of fundamental 

phenomena to the engineering of 

materials and devices. In addition to the 

traditional emphases on amorphous thin 

films and bulk glasses, the conference 

featured key sessions on amorphous 

and nanocrystalline electronic oxides 

and organic semiconductors. Specialists 

on film growth mechanisms, mediumrange order, defects, metastability, and 

electronic transport and optical properties 

provided opportunities for dialogue among 

researchers studying diverse material 

systems. For more information, visit 

www.icans22.org. 

NATIONAL LABORATORY TECHNOLOGY 

DEVELOPMENTS & DOE NEWS 

17th Annual Photovoltaic Science 

and Engineering Conference 

(PVSEC) Held in Fukuoka, Japan 

The 17th PVSEC was held in December in 

Fukuoka, Japan, on the island of Kyushu. 

With 1440 participants it was the biggest 

PV conference ever held in Japan or Asia. 

The choice to hold the conference in 

Kyushu was appropriate because there 

are several PV manufacturing plants 

there. Dan Ton, head of DOE SETP Grid 

and Building Integration program, chaired 

the PV Systems and BOS (Balance of 

Systems) session. DOE, NREL, and SNL 

representatives also gave a presentation on 

the “Renewable Systems Interconnection 

Studies.” The next conference (PVSEC18) 

is scheduled for January 2009 in India. 

P. 4
SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2008 

DOE, NREL, and Sandia Staff Visit Japanese 

PV Grid Integration Testing Sites 

In early December, scientists from DOE’s SETP and NREL visited two PV Grid 

Integration testing sites in Japan: one belonging to the New Energy and Industrial 

Technology Development Organization (NEDO) and the other belonging to the 

Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI). 

NEDO is Japan’s largest public R&D management organization for promoting 

the development of advanced industrial, environmental, new energy, and energy 

conservation technologies. While there, Dan Ton (DOE) and Robert Margolis 

(NREL) met with staff and managers, and were given a presentation on current 

NEDO activities regarding PV grid integration efforts, high penetration PV studies, 

and mega-solar projects. The presentation included information on the demonstration 

project at Ota City on “Grid Interconnection of Clustered PV Power Generation 

Systems.”This project has 553 solar homes (2.13 MW total) in one sub-development, 

nicknamed “PV Town.” Most of the homes have energy storage batteries and are 

being operated under a variety of control algorithms. 

The Ota City project intends to examine reduction in PV output due to high voltages 

and development of a new unintentional islanding function (islanding is the process 

of separating part of a distribution system from the rest of the power grid). The Ota 

City project is similar to new U.S. sub-developments being constructed, with the 

exception being that Japanese systems come equipped with energy storage. Results 

from the Japanese project have highlighted potential technical barriers in the U.S. 

where there may be some issues with inverters automatically turning off due to 

high voltage levels in high PV penetration areas. The presentation closed with an 

explanation of two new projects currently underway that look at verification of 

grid stabilization within large-scale PV power systems and the development of an 

electric energy storage system for new, grid-connected energy resources. 

While visiting CRIEPI, Ton and Margolis gave a presentation on the current DOE 

Renewable Systems Interconnection study. CRIEPI staff then presented on their current 

research regarding PV grid integration efforts, high penetration PV studies, and inverter 

testing. CRIEPI staff also gave a tour of the demonstration test facility for grid interconnection techniques of distributed generation. This test facility is designed to understand 

the impacts on the grid from large amounts of distributed generation (DG)—e.g. voltage 

impacts, islanding impacts, and protection impacts (similar impacts were identified for 

further study by DOE’s Renewable Systems Interconnection study). 

The CRIEPI test facility includes a complete distribution system consisting of 

four locations of DG and loads. There are a total of six rotating generators, 16 PV 

arrays, and 16 large inverter-based systems. While similar to the U.S. test facilities 

at NREL, Sandia, and PG&E (San Ramon), the Japanese facilities are larger and 

more comprehensive than any facility in the U.S. CRIEPI scientists have developed 

and are testing a loop power controller (LPC) that compensates for voltage and 

load flow control on the distribution system. 

Concluding their visit, Ton and Margolis visited one other inverter test facility where 

up to 30 inverters can be tested at one time. The three inverters from the Ota City 

project were being evaluated alongside a number of energy storage technologies 

(lead-acid batteries, NiH batteries, and supercaps). 

(Top to bottom) 1. Most homes at Ota City 

have a relatively large PV array (4-5kW). 

2. A street with high penetration of PV systems 

at Ota City. 3. CRIEPI PV arrays for DG test 

site. 4. CRIEPI distribution system control 

panel. 5. CRIEPI inverters under test. 

P. 5
SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2008 

Solar Energy Technologies Program (SETP) 

Sees Change in Leadership 

The former Acting Program Manager of the Solar Energy Technologies Program, 

Craig Cornelius, has left DOE to serve as a Principal at the newly launched clean 

energy private equity firm, Hudson Clean Energy Partners, based in Teaneck, New 

Jersey. The firm invests in companies focused on renewable power, alternative fuels, 

energy storage, and demand-side energy management. 

Under Cornelius’ leadership in 2007, the SETP implemented a significant number 

of new programs, which were successful in accelerating the rate of deployment for 

proven CSP and PV technologies by supporting market transformation activities, as 

well as continuing to aggressively support innovative research to fill the technology 

development pipeline. Cornelius was one of the primary architects of DOE’s funding 

of more than 100 corporations across the United States through programs such as 

Technology Pathway Partnerships, PV Solar Incubators, the recently announced 

Future Generation PV Devices and Processes, and Advanced Concentrating Solar 

Power awards. 

DOE has put a tremendous effort into recruiting a top-notch leader for the Program, 

and will soon announce a selection. During the interim, Tom Kimbis, the former SETP 

Market Transformation Team Lead, will serve as the Acting Program Manager. 

NREL Solar Planning Software Updated, 

Increasing Usability 

The comprehensive solar technology systems analysis model, SAM (Solar Advisor 

Model), is undergoing a facelift to increase its applications for industry and 

government. Released first in 2005, SAM was originally designed as an internal solar 

R&D planning tool for DOE. However, over the past two years, industry planners 

and developers have begun utilizing SAM, necessitating a suite of SAM software 

updates to make the program even more useful to the solar industry. 

SAM provides the user with a consistent framework for comparing and analyzing overall 

system costs, performance, internal rate of return (IRR), and levelized cost of electricity 

(LCOE) across multiple solar technologies (currently included are PV and CSP parabolic troughs, with solar thermal and 

other technologies to be added) and 

across different markets (residential, 

commercial and utility). The software 

is also capable of accounting for the 

effects of federal and state incentives 

and tax credits on project cash flow. 

Notable solar industry members to 

have utilized SAM to date include, 

Acciona, EPRI, GE, Dow, Evergreen 

Solar, SunEdison, Raytheon, FPL, and 

Navigant Consulting.	 Example of a graph comparing LCOE 

generated by SAM. 

NATIONAL LABORATORY TECHNOLOGY 

DEVELOPMENTS & DOE NEWS 

NREL Publishes New Land Use 

Requirements for Solar 

The land required for photovoltaics (PV) to 

provide significant amounts of electricity 

to the grid continues to be an important 

issue for advancing renewable energy 

technologies. Several estimates of the 

total land use required to meet electricity 

demand from PV have been published 

over the past few years. NREL recently 

examined the impact of distributing 

varying configurations (flat, fixed tilt, 

tracking) of PV (and required storage) 

geographically throughout the United 

States. The NREL report quantifies the 

state-by-state per-capita “solar electric 

footprint” for the United States, where 

the solar electric footprint is defined as 

the land area required to supply all enduse electricity from PV. The goals of the 

analysis were to provide a state-by-state 

breakdown of end-use electricity use 

(accounting for the embodied energy 

in produced goods); evaluate the solar 

energy density, or land use required to 

produce a given amount of solar energy 

(based on a range of PV configurations); 

estimate the state-by-state per-capita 

solar electric footprint for recent electricity 

use patterns and current PV system 

performance; and compare the per-capita 

solar footprint to several other per-capita 

demands for land use. NREL based the 

solar electric footprint on meeting the 

entire nation’s electricity needs with PV. 

While this scenario is extreme, it does 

provide insight into the potential scale of 

land-use impacts associated with meeting 

a large fraction of the nation’s electricity 

requirements from PV. 

Publication: The results of NREL’s 

study were published in the technical 

paper titled, “The Regional Per Capita 

Solar Electric Footprint for the United 

States” available at: www.nrel.gov/docs/ 

fy08osti/42463.pdf. 

P. 6
SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2008 

Screenshot from 

SAM software. 

As more users come online, a team from NREL and Sandia have been working to add 

new features to make SAM a more integral business tool. These new features include 

performance and cost metrics for additional solar technologies such as dish/Stirling 

and power towers; enhanced access to weather data; integration of the Sandia inverter 

model to simulate how inverter performance affects overall system performance; and 

integration of a PV module performance model (specific to manufacturer) similar to 

the model currently used by the California Energy Commission. 

For the most recent version of SAM, please visit 

https://www.nrel.gov/analysis/sam/download.html. 

Former SETP Director Participates in 

PV Quality Control Forum Hosted in China 

On December 12, 2007, Craig Cornelius participated in a well-attended quality control 

forum hosted by Suntech, Inc. in Wuxi, China. The event focused on enhanced quality 

control and reliability of solar PV modules along the whole value chain. In addition to 

participation from DOE’s SETP, the 

U.S. delegation included representatives from national laboratories 

and Underwriters Laboratories, 

Inc. (UL). Continued collaboration with Chinese partners under 

the auspices of the Asia Pacific 

Partnership program is expected to 

insure that PV manufacturers adopt 

state-of-the-art reliability practices 

for long-term competitiveness of 

the global industry. Cornelius speaks to the forum convened in Wuxi, China. 

NATIONAL LABORATORY TECHNOLOGY 

DEVELOPMENTS & DOE NEWS 

DOE Convenes Workshop on 

Computational Research Needs 

for Renewable Energy 

DOE’s Office of Science and its Office 

of Energy Efficiency and Renewable 

Energy convened a workshop on the 

computational research needs for 

renewable energy on September 19-20, 

2007, in Rockville, Maryland. Dr. Steve 

Hammond, director of NREL’s Materials 

and Computational Science Center, 

was co-chair of the workshop that had 

participation from universities, industry, 

and other national labs. The workshop 

was divided into five parallel breakout 

panels: Renewable Fuels, Bioenergy 

Conversion, Renewable Electricity from 

Solar Energy, Renewable Electricity from 

Wind Energy, and Energy Distribution. 

Each panel developed a set of priority 

research directions for a program of 

computational research in alternative 

and renewable energy. The Solar 

Energy panel’s priorities correlated to a 

number of different photovoltaic device 

technologies. Computer simulation is a 

key part of research for the development 

of novel solar materials with specific 

optical and electrical properties or 

for optimizing processes for different 

solar energy conversion technologies. 

Addressing the computational research 

needs identified in this workshop will 

reap tremendous benefits in advancing 

the basic science underlying alternative 

and renewable energy technologies. A 

workshop report is in progress. 

P. 7
SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2008 

Figure 1. Summary of Solar Program Funding Opportunities CLOSED PENDING OPEN PROPOSED

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 Assocation 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) 

Continued on following page 

P. 8
SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2008 

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

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) 

Continued on following page 

P. 9
SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2008 

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

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) 

FOA OR SOLICITATION CLOSING 

DATE 

FUNDING 

AMOUNT DESCRIPTION STATUS 

Systems Development and 

Manufacturing: University 

Product and Process 

Development Support 

October 16, 

2007 

Up to $30M 

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. 

Applications were received. In Merit 

Review process, decisions expected 

in February 2008. 

Solar America Cities January 10, 

2008 

$2-$3 M 

over 2 years 

Building on the success of the initial Solar 

America Cities FOA, the Solar Program 

plans to issue a similar FOA to allow more 

cities to participate. This initiative may 

select up to 10 cities for awards. Solar 

America Cities are recognized as partners 

who are highly committed to solar 

technology adoption at the local level. 

Applications due January 10, 2008, and 

decisions expected by late March 2008. 

Component and Pilot Scale 

Production: Solar Energy 

Grid Integration Systems 

February 4, 

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 February 4, 2008, and decisions 

are expected by mid April 2008. 

FOA OR SOLICITATION CLOSING 

DATE 

FUNDING 

AMOUNT DESCRIPTION STATUS 

Solar America Showcases March 12, 

2008 

June 12, 

2008 

Technical 

assistance 

only 

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/ 

Continued on following page 

P. 10
SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2008 

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

FOA OR SOLICITATION RELEASE 

DATE 

FUNDING 

AMOUNT DESCRIPTION STATUS 

Component and Pilot Scale 

Production: PV Module 

Incubators 

FY 2008 TBD by 

appropriations 

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. 

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 opportunities 

in solar energy technologies. Will solicit 

applications from accredited universities 

and colleges defined as Minority 

Serving Institutions. 

P. 11
SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2008 

SOLAR EVENTS CALENDAR 

FEBRUARY ’08 

Concentrating Solar Power Congress 

Feb 5 -6, 2008, Barcelona, Spain 

www.greenpowerconferences.com 

3rd International Solar Cities Congress 2008 

Feb17-21, 2008, Adelaide, SA, Australia 

www.solarcitiescongress.com.au 

Power Gen 2008 

Feb 19-21, 2008, Las Vegas, NV 

pgre08.events.pennnet.com/fl/index.cfm 

Solar 08 “Putting Light to Work’ 

Feb 24-28, 2008, Cairo, Egypt 

www.solar.sabrycorp.com 

PV Expo 2008: 1st International 

Photovoltaic Power Generation Expo 

Feb 27-29, 2008, Tokyo, Japan 

www.pvexpo.jp 

MARCH ’08 

Washington International Renewable 

Energy Conference (WIREC) 

March 3-7, 2008, Washington, DC 

www.americanrenewables.org 

23rd Photovoltaic Symposium 

March 5-7, 2008, Bad Staffelstein, Germany 

www.otti.de (not in English) 

Asia Solar Energy PV Exhibition and Forum 

March 5-7, 2008, Shanghai, China 

www.asiasolarexpo.com 

4th Newgrace China International Solar 

Energy and PV Exhibition (CSPE 2008) 

March 31-April 2, 2008, Shanghai, China 

www.ch-solar.com/exhibitionbrief.html 

APRIL ’08 

PV Technology and Investor Conference 

April 2-4, 2008, Munich, Germany 

www.photon-expo.com 

Organic Photovoltaics 2008 

April 2-4, 2008, Philadelphia, PA 

www.intertechpira.com/alternativeenergy 

MAY ’08 

Solar 2008 

May 3-10, 2008, San Diego, CA 

www.ases.org/programs/conference.htm 

Semicon Singapore 2008 

May 5-7, 2008, Singapore 

semiconsingapore.semi.org/index.htm 

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 

Energethica 2008 

May 22-24, 2008, Genoa, Italy 

www.emtrad.it (not in English) 

4th European PV Hybrid 

& Minigrid Conference 

May 29-30th, 2008, Athens, Greece 

www.otti.de/kolleg.htm 

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