Infused with $46.2 million, the Department of Energy’s SunShot Initiative — aimed at making solar energy more affordable for U.S. consumers — will now begin four dozen projects, the DOE announced recently.
Specifically, two programs are designated to develop solar photovoltaic technology and early-stage solar technology research, titled Photovoltaics Research and Development 2: Modules and Systems, and Technology to Market 3, respectively.
The SunShot Initiative has been run by the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) since 2011, with a focus on making solar energy affordable for all Americans.
“The SunShot Initiative is a proven driver of solar energy innovation,” said SunShot Initiative Director Charlie Gay. “These projects ensure there’s a pipeline of knowledge, human resources, transformative technology solutions and research to support the industry.”
SETO is the department’s main office handling funding for solar power. As a result of research completed in May of 2016, the DOE determined that the U.S. solar industry had accomplished 70 percent of the progress it hoped to reach by 2020.
“SunShot funds cooperative research, development, demonstration and deployment projects by private companies, universities, state and local governments, nonprofit organizations and national laboratories to drive down the cost of solar electricity,” the DOE stated on its website.
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