The United States department of energy launched a new initiative that will bring down the total costs of utility-scale photovoltaic systems by 75 percent to make solar power cost competitive with large-scale energy sources without the help of subsidies by 2020.
The “SunShot Initiative” will reduce the cost of large-scale PV installations to about $1 a watt or about 6 cents per kilowatt-hour to further the deployment of solar energy systems across the country.
Current PV installations costs amount to 22 cents/kWh, which could be further reduced to 15 cents and below due to federal grants.
As part of the initiative, the department will award $27 million for projects that will boost the development, commercialization and manufacturing of advanced solar energy technologies.
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Of the said amount, $20 million will be given to five projects that are expected to further develop the country’s supply chains – including material and tool suppliers and technology developers – for photovoltaic manufacturing.
The remaining $7 million will be invested by the department’s national renewable energy laboratory in the latest round of PV incubator program, which seeks to accelerate the commercialization timeline for potential emerging solar technologies.
The companies under the incubator program are working with the department’s national laboratories to expand their technologies and manufacturing processes, as well as transfer their products from the pre-commercial stage to prototype state and eventually to pilot and full-scale manufacturing operations.
The department said it will be working closely with partners in the government, industry, research laboratories and academic institutions across the nation.
To date, the department has reportedly invested over $1 billion in solar energy research that pulled in significant private financing to back up more than $2 billion total solar research and development projects.
“These efforts will boost our economic competitiveness, rebuild our manufacturing industry and help reach the President’s goal of doubling our clean energy in the next 25 years,” said Steven Chu, secretary of the department of energy.
United States President Barack Obama last month announced in his State of the Union Address plans to scale up the country’s clean energy share in the national grid to 80 percent by 2035.
“America is in a world race to produce cost-effective, quality photovoltaics. The SunShot Initiative will spur American innovations to reduce the costs of solar energy and re-establish United States global leadership in this growing industry,” said Mr. Chu.
