The U.S. Department of Energy selected 19 projects (10 PV research projects) with a funding of 6 million dollars that pursue innovatively targeted, early-stage ideas in solar energy research and development. Projects got selected through the Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) and the Small Innovative Projects in Solar (SIPS) 2022 Funding Program.
SIPS projects focus on novel, high-risk, or high-impact ideas for PV research projects that can produce significant results within one year of performance by quickly validating new concepts and laying the groundwork for continued research while giving out more than 100 projects since it launched in 2015.
SETO is designed to encourage a diverse group of researchers on PV research projects. The SIPS program makes it easier for new scientists to join their pool and encourages grants to first-time lead researchers on PV research projects.
Bringing new researchers into the DOE ecosystem with their bold, innovative ideas will create new technology for clean energy.
Here are some of the projects (PV research projects) selected to receive awards, which increased in two areas: power conversion & CSP.
1- Arizona State University
Location: Tempe, Arizona
Project Name: Planar Transformer Systems for Modular Power Electronics in Long-haul, Low-cost PV Systems
DOE Award Amount: $300,000
2- Argonne National Laboratory
Location: Lemont, Illinois
Project Name: Solar-Leap: A Democratized Tool to Manage Long-Term Impact of Environmental and Operational Conditions on Asset Performance Degradation
DOE Award Amount: $300,000
3- Case Western Reserve University
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Project Name: Accelerating Cycles of Learning of Advanced Silicon Architectures: Cell Processing Approaches and their Effect on Degradation Mechanisms
DOE Award Amount: $300,000
4- University of Alabama
Location: Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Project Name: Precursor Engineering of All-Inorganic Perovskite Absorber and Rapid Photonic Annealing for Large-Area Highly Stable Perovskite Solar Modules
DOE Award Amount: $300,000
5- University of Arizona
Location: Tucson, Arizona
Project Name: Advanced Perovskite Solar Cell Development and Stability Using In-Line Electrochemical Methodologies
DOE Award Amount: $300,000
6- University of Connecticut
Location: Storrs, Connecticut
Project Name: Performance Assessment of PV Panels Using Impedance Spectroscopy
DOE Award Amount: $300,000
7- University of Delaware
Location: Newark, Delaware
Project Name: In-situ Hydrogen Microstructural Characterization of Silicon Heterojunction Passivation: Addressing Open Circuit Voltage Degradation and Mitigation Pathways
DOE Award Amount: $300,000
8- The University of Hawaii at Manoa
Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
Project Name: Monolithic Encapsulation of Perovskite Solar Cells with Transparent Conductive Composites for Long-Term Stability
DOE Award Amount: $300,000
9- University of Virginia
Location: Charlottesville, Virginia
Project Name: High-Efficiency Recycled Silicon Solar Cells
DOE Award Amount: $250,000
10- Uriel Solar
Location: Westlake Village, California
Project Name: Investigations of Single-Crystal Cadmium Telluride on Silicon to Enable Future PV Devices
DOE Award Amount: $300,000
Hence, all these awards are the motivation for shifting from traditional energy resources to renewable solar.
