SunShot Initiatives

Courtesy of the US Department of Energy’s SunShot Initiative Program website:

Accelerating Solar Deployment

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) SunShot Initiative accelerates large-scale deployment of solar energy technologies by reducing non-hardware balance of system (BOS) costs and eliminating market barriers that affect solar installations.

DOE partners with manufacturers, communities, universities, utilities, and other stakeholders to ensure that new solar innovations transition smoothly and affordably into the marketplace.

Reducing Non-Hardware BOS Costs

  • Customer acquisition
  • Financing and contracting
  • System design and engineering
  • Permitting, interconnection, and inspection
  • Installation and performance
  • Operations and maintenance

Eliminating Market Barriers

  • Favorability of policy and the regulatory environment
  • Business and customer maturity

DOE-Funded Projects

To accelerate deployment of solar technologies, DOE supports the following efforts:

  • Rooftop Solar Challenge to Induce Market Transformation (funding source for SSTI)
  • Solar Projects to Reduce Market Barriers and Non-Hardware Balance of System Costs

 

Solar America Communities

DOE’s Solar America Communities program is committed to developing a sustainable solar infrastructure that removes market barriers and encourages the adoption of solar energy by residents and businesses in local communities. The objective is to develop comprehensive approaches that lay the foundation for a viable solar market and provide a model for communities throughout the United States. The Solar America Communities Outreach Partnership will bring the lessons learned and best practices from the Solar America Cities partnerships to communities across the United States.

 

Solar Decathlon

The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon challenges collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive. The winner of the competition is the team that best blends affordability, consumer appeal, and design excellence with optimal energy production and maximum efficiency.

 

Reducing Solar Grid Integration Costs

Seamless integration of solar energy into the U.S. power grid, while ensuring grid reliability and stability, is vital to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) SunShot Initiative, and enabling widespread adoption of this clean, renewable energy source across the nation.

Innovative, cost-effective solutions are required to make it simple, safe, and reliable for solar electricity to be fed into the grid. Such solutions are needed to significantly increase the amount of electricity that solar can generate for the nation. DOE collaborates with the solar industry, utilities, and national laboratories to address the technical and cost barriers to connecting large-scale solar energy systems into the grid. By eliminating barriers across federal, state, and local lines, deployment of solar technologies can be mitigated and power grid integration optimized.

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/sunshot/reducing_grid_integration_costs.html

 

Reducing Solar Technology Costs

The development of more efficient, affordable photovoltaics (PV) and concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies are crucial to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) SunShot Initiative, and making solar cost-competitive with other sources of energy.

DOE is fueling innovative solar technology solutions with focused project funding and partnerships with national laboratories, universities, and industry.

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/sunshot/reducing_technology_costs.html