Solar Energy Technologies Program
 

Advancing Clean 

Energy Technology

Solar energy is a clean, abundant 

renewable energy source that is 

vital to our energy security and 

independence. Solar technologies use 

the sun to provide heat, light, hot water, 

electricity, and even cooling for homes, 

businesses, and industry. Record sales, 

increased consumer and utility demand, 

enhanced federal and state incentives, 

massive manufacturing growth, and 

large numbers of new jobs create an 

exciting and challenging environment 

for solar energy. 

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) 

has implemented a broad-reaching 

change in program strategy with 

one clear purpose—to achieve high 

market penetration of solar energy 

technologies. To achieve that goal, 

DOE seeks to make electricity from 

solar technologies cost-competitive 

with grid electricity by 2015. 

About the Solar Program 

Through public and private partnerships 

with industry, academia, and national 

laboratories, the DOE Solar Energy 

Technologies Program (SETP) sponsors 

research, development, and market 

transformation activities that reduce 

the cost of solar power. These activities 

include: 

14.2-megawatt solar electric system at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada 

n Photovoltaics (PV) Research and 

 Development (R&D) to significantly 

 improve the cost, reliability, 

 and performance of devices, 

 components, and systems. 

n Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) R&D

 to improve utility-scale power

 systems and demonstrate effective

 storage technologies. 

n Systems integration to facilitate 

 connecting solar technologies to the 

 electric grid. 

n Market transformation to reduce 

 market barriers to solar power 

 through non-R&D activities,

 including infrastructure 

 development, outreach, and 

 technical assistance. 

Multiple Markets, Multiple Solutions 

Improvements in performance and cost 

will continue to open new markets 

for solar technologies. International 

market growth is strong for PV, fueled 

by incentives in countries such as 

Germany and Spain. Domestic growth 

is also increasing as a result of the state 

incentives and federal tax incentives 

for residential and commercial use. 

As manufacturing costs decline, PV 

technologies are used increasingly for 

homes and businesses already connected 

to the grid. 

Due in large part to the research funded 

by DOE, the cost of electricity from PV 

has dropped more than tenfold from 

1976 to today. SETP will focus on PV 

technology pathways that have the best 

chance of reaching cost competitiveness 

by 2015. 

Another category of research is CSP. A 

key attribute of CSP systems is thermal 

storage which allows these systems 

to generate electricity on demand, 

not just when the sun is shining. CSP 

technologies are best suited for utilitylevel power generation. DOE-sponsored 

improvements during the past 15 years 

have reduced the cost of this technology 

by two thirds. With DOE’s continued 

support, industry hopes to achieve cost 

competitiveness with other intermediate 

power supplies by 2015 and with 

baseload power providers by 2020. 

CSP has seen a tremendous resurgence 

worldwide in the last 2 years, with Spain 

and the U.S. enjoying explosive growth. 

As solar technologies provide a larger 

part of the U.S. electricity supply, it 

is important that they be integrated 

seamlessly into the electric power grid. 

This will require new ways of thinking 
Solar Energy Technologies Program
 

Solar Cities Across America
 

about how the country generates 

and distributes electricity and new 

technologies that make it simple, safe, 

and reliable for solar electricity to feed 

into the grid. By working with utilities 

and the solar industry, the Systems 

Integration efforts focus on breaking 

down the regulatory, technical, and 

economic barriers to grid integration. 

www.solaramericacities.energy.gov 

A part of the Market Transformation the United States—an option that will 

activities, Solar America Cities is a DOE last as long as the sun continues to shine. 

partnership that provides financial and 

technical assistance to 25 U.S. cities For More Information 

committed to accelerating the adoption Contact the EERE Information Center of solar energy technologies. 1-877-EERE-INF or 1-877-337-3463 

or visit www.solar.energy.gov or In all of its forms, solar energy will www.solaramericacities.energy.gov provide a renewable energy option for 

Prepared by NREL, a national laboratory of the U.S. Department 

of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, 

operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC. 

DOE/GO-102008-2560 • Revised May 2009 

Printed with a renewable-source ink on paper containing at least 64-megawatt solar plant in Boulder City, Nevada 50% wastepaper, including 10% post consumer waste.