As part of its “SunShot Initiative,” the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced it will award $145 million in grants to 69 solar projects in 24 states to encourage development in domestic solar energy projects.

DOE’s SunShot Initiative seeks to reduce the cost of solar energy systems by approximately 75% by 2020, so that the systems are more cost-competitive without long-term subsidies.

Grant recipients include the University of South Florida, which received approximately $980,000 for a project to research the doping of thin-film, cadmium-telluride PV cells to increase solar cell efficiency. The Georgia Institute of Technology received more than $4.3 million to support two projects: one to research high-efficiency PV cells based on thin-wafer silicon and one to develop re-engineered, whole-system designs. The SunShot Initiative grants will be issued through DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

For more information about solar energy projects and financing, please contact Steve O’Day.