U.S. DOE Awards Grants for PV Manufacturing and Installation Innovation
First Solar, a National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) research partner, installed a small PV array used as part of NREL Energy Systems Integration research at the National Wind Technology Center near Boulder, Colorado. First Solar was one of several solar energy research and development grant awardees announced by the U.S Department of Energy (DOE) - May 16, 2024. (DOE photo by Dennis Schroeder / NREL - January 10, 2018)
$71 million awarded to 18 projects in 10 US States
silicon ingot pullers and growth, back contact n-type cells
solar PV infrastructure for grazing beef cattle feasibility in grasslands
roof-integrated photovoltaic shingles
tracker components for floating solar systems
jack-up solar platform to conserve water
roofing-integrated solar racking system
building-integrated PV modules opaque glass solar spandrels
integration of PV systems into refrigerated trailers
“The selected projects will address gaps in the domestic solar manufacturing capacity for supply chain including equipment, silicon ingots and wafers, and both silicon and thin-film solar cell manufacturing. The projects will also open new markets for solar technologies such as dual-use photovoltaic (PV) applications, including building-integrated PV and agrivoltaics.”
source:
DOE Office of Energy Efficiency
and Renewable Energy bulletin
May 16, 2024
Demonstration of Silicon Supply Chain Components
“DOE selected three projects for the Silicon Solar Manufacturing and Dual-Use Photovoltaics Incubator funding program which will support the development of technologies to bring silicon wafer and cell manufacturing onshore. This investment will enable new solar companies to de-risk their technologies with the goal of becoming eligible to apply for capital to scale-up manufacturing, accelerating their path to commercialization. Seven additional projects will advance dual-use PV technologies to harness their potential to electrify buildings, decarbonize the transportation sector, and reduce land-use conflicts.”
source:
DOE Office of Energy Efficiency
and Renewable Energy bulletin
May 16, 2024
Re:Build Manufacturing (Nashua, NH): $1.9 million
Project Name: Solar Crystal Puller
Location: Merrimack, NH
DOE Award Amount: $1.9 million
Awardee Cost Share: $5.8 million
Project Description: Develop and manufacture Czochralski ingot pullers for the solar industry, which melt and then freeze silicon into a crystalline state. The project supports necessary ancillary equipment to support the pullers, such as feeders, ingot handling equipment, and crucible handling equipment. This will ease the U.S. ingot industry’s reliance on imported equipment.
Silfab Solar Cells (Fort Mill, SC): $5 million
Project Name: Cost-Effective, High-Efficiency, Industrial Back Contact Silicon Solar Cells with Passivated Contacts
Location: Fort Mill, SC
DOE Award Amount: $5 million
Awardee Cost Share: $14.9 million
Project Description: Develop back contact n-type cells, which demonstrate increased efficiency compared to PERC technology at 26%. Develop innovations on a 300-megawatt pilot line, co-located alongside the standard n-type cell manufacturing line, for rapid scale-up of back contact cell technology into high-volume manufacturing. Improvements to the solar cells will include surface doping, patterning and isolation, and advanced metalization to reduce the use of silver.
Ubiquity Solar (Hazelwood, MO): $11.2 million
Project Name: Single Crystal Silicon Ingot Growth Using Continuous Czochralski Method (CCz)
Location: Hazelwood, MO
DOE Award Amount: $11.2 million
Awardee Cost Share: $33.6 million
Project Description: Developing the CCz method of manufacturing silicon ingots, which will significantly decrease the cost of manufacturing compared to the standard Czochralski process. The team has successfully demonstrated the CCz technology with smaller ingots, and this project aims to demonstrate the process with larger ingots and wafers used in today’s high-efficiency solar cell manufacturing processes.
Dual-use PV Incubator
Appalachian Renewable Power (Stewart, OH): $1.6 million
Project Name: Diversifying on Farm Income in Appalachia: Quantifying the Integration of Beef Cattle Grazing and Photovoltaics
Location: Stewart, OH
DOE Award Amount: $1.6 million
Awardee Cost Share: $400,000
Project Description: Study the feasibility of installing and managing solar PV infrastructure in grasslands used for grazing beef cattle. Assess the impact of PV products designed for agriculture in the United States on soil health, forage growth, and beef cattle performance. This project plans to empower rural producers across Appalachia to diversify farm income while reducing the carbon footprint of power generation throughout the region.
GAF Energy (San Jose, CA): $1.6 million
Project Name: Advanced Thermal and Energy Modeling of Roof-integrated Photovoltaic Shingles
Location: San Jose, CA
DOE Award Amount: $1.6 million
Awardee Cost Share: $400,000
Project Description: Develop, test, and validate a combination of optical, thermal, and energy models for roof-integrated PV shingles to improve assessments of electricity production and heating and air conditioning effects on the building. The project is building a testing facility for roof-integrated PV systems equipped with weather, PV, and temperature monitoring. Partnering with Sandia National Laboratories and its network of Regional Test Centers allows for testing and validation of PV models across U.S. climates. New standards will be proposed for temperature and energy modeling of roof-integrated PV systems, which will encourage building designers to integrate PV into rooftops for the electrical and thermal advantages they deliver.
Noria Energy Holdings (Sausalito, CA): $1.6 million
Johnson Controls and GRID work with volunteers assembling and installing a floating PV array on a Walden water retention pond at the City's water facility in Walden, CO. The parts are assembled and fastened on land then pushed into the water row by row. (DOE photo by Dennis Schroeder / NREL - September 12, 2018)
Project Name: Tracking and Positioning System for Floating Solar
Location: Sausalito, CA
DOE Award Amount: $1.6 million
Awardee Cost Share: $1 million
Project Description: Develop tracker components for floating solar systems, demonstrate and test various sizes of installations, and test certifications to ensure reliable operation and product bankability. The proposed technology allows floating PV islands to rotate and follow the sun throughout the day. Tracking the sun leads to increased power output per solar panel installed, reducing the cost of electricity from floating solar arrays.
RCAM Technologies (Boulder, CO): $600,000
Project Name: A Low-Cost Jack-Up Solar Platform to Conserve America’s Water
Location: Boulder, CO
DOE Award Amount: $600,000
Awardee Cost Share: $160,000
Project Description: Mount solar panels onto frames placed over irrigation canals to generate renewable energy and save water by reducing evaporation. Locating solar in this way reduces land use for renewable energy generation and capitalizes on existing electrical infrastructure that is integrated within many water canal projects. The team will adapt 3D concrete printing from the offshore energy industry to build solar platforms, reducing the cost and complexity of installation and encouraging PV deployment in this sector. The platform can be manufactured on or near-site using local materials and workforce.
The R&D Lab (Petaluma, CA): $1 million
Project Name: Roofing for Solar, Starling RFS
Location: Petaluma, CA
DOE Award Amount: $1 million
Awardee Cost Share: $400,000
Project Description: Refine, manufacture, and commercialize a new roofing-integrated solar racking system. The racking system enables rapid solar installation after roof construction. The system will be designed for improved reliability and lower cost, with roof-integrated wire management for increased safety and aesthetics.
Silfab Solar WA (Bellingham, WA): $400,000
Project Name: Development of High Efficiency Silicon Solar Spandrels
Location: Bellingham, WA
DOE Award Amount: $400,000
Awardee Cost Share: $100,000
Project Description: Develop high-quality, high-efficiency building-integrated PV modules in the form of solar spandrels, which have opaque glass that is well suited for the glazed surfaces between two floors of commercial and high-rise buildings where transparent glass windows are not needed. The project focuses on the technical challenges of merging conventional module manufacturing with construction practices for glass-walled facades. The team will demonstrate key outcomes in PV and building International Electrotechnical Commission reliability tests, a suite of models for thermal performance, electrical performance, return on investment calculations, and building lifetime energy use.
Wabash (Lafayette, IN): $1.6 million
Project Name: Design, Fabrication, and Durability Assessment of a Sustainable Composite Refrigerated Trailer Integrated with Photovoltaics
Location: Lafayette, IN
DOE Award Amount: $1.6 million
Awardee Cost Share: $700,000
Project Description: Demonstrate the integration of PV systems into refrigerated trailers for a year-long study of PV performance, durability, and energy costs. Efficient, flexible, and lightweight PV modules are being integrated onto the rooftop of a composite refrigerated trailer to address long-term durability, environmental exposure, vehicle loads, and maintenance. The team will track PV performance through mechanical, thermal, humidity, vibration, shock, and impact loads.
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Learn more about SETO’s manufacturing and competitiveness research, the domestic solar supply chain, and dual-use solar technologies.
Other grant awards: thin-film technologies
First Solar (Tempe, AZ and Perrysburg, OH): $6 million
Cubic PV (Bedford, MA): $6 million
Tandem PV (San Jose, CA): $4.7 million
Swift Solar (San Carlos, CA): $7 million
5N Plus (Montreal, Canada): $1.6 million
First Solar (Tempe, AZ and Perrysburg, OH): $15 million
Brightspot Automation (Boulder, CO): $1.6 million
Tau Science (Redwood City, CA): $2.1 million