HomeRenewable energy ›US Department of Energy Invests USD 71 Million in Solar Energy Supply Chain

US Department of Energy Invests USD 71 Million in Solar Energy Supply Chain

The funding will support new markets for solar technologies, including dual-use photovoltaic (PV) applications like building-integrated PV and agrivoltaics.

May 21, 2024. By Abha Rustagi

As part of President Joe Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced a USD 71 million investment to enhance the domestic solar energy supply chain. 

This includes USD 16 million from the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The initiative aims to support US manufacturing capacity for key solar components such as equipment, silicon ingots, wafers, and both silicon and thin-film solar cells. Additionally, the funding will support new markets for solar technologies, including dual-use photovoltaic (PV) applications like building-integrated PV and agrivoltaics.

“The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to building an American-made solar supply chain that boosts innovation, drives down costs for families, and delivers jobs across the nation,” said US Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. 

“Thanks to historic funding and actions from the President’s clean energy agenda, we’re able to deploy more solar power – the cheapest form of energy – to millions more Americans with panels stamped made in the USA,” Granholm.

The DOE has selected three projects under the Silicon Solar Manufacturing and Dual-Use Photovoltaics Incubator funding program. These projects aim to develop technologies for onshore silicon wafer and cell manufacturing, helping new solar companies scale up and commercialize their innovations. 

Additionally, seven projects will advance dual-use PV technologies to electrify buildings, decarbonize transportation, and mitigate land-use conflicts. The selected projects are:

  • Re:Build Manufacturing (Nashua, NH): USD 1.9 million
  • Silfab Solar Cells (Fort Mill, SC): USD 5 million
  • Ubiquity Solar (Hazelwood, MO): USD 11.2 million
  • Appalachian Renewable Power (Stewart, OH): USD 1.6 million
  • GAF Energy (San Jose, CA): USD 1.6 million
  • Noria Energy Holdings (Sausalito, CA): USD 1.6 million
  • RCAM Technologies (Boulder, CO): USD 600,000
  • The R&D Lab (Petaluma, CA): USD 1 million
  • Silfab Solar WA (Bellingham, WA): USD 400,000
  • Wabash (Lafayette, IN): USD 1.6 million

The DOE has also selected eight projects for the Advancing US Thin-Film Solar Photovoltaics funding program. Four projects will focus on improving the efficiency, reducing costs, and strengthening the supply chain for cadmium telluride (CdTe) systems. The remaining four projects will develop innovative tandem PV devices that pair established PV technologies with perovskites, a promising thin-film technology nearing market readiness. These projects are:

  • First Solar (Tempe, AZ and Perrysburg, OH): USD 6 million
  • Cubic PV (Bedford, MA): USD 6 million
  • Tandem PV (San Jose, CA): USD 4.7 million
  • Swift Solar (San Carlos, CA): USD 7 million
  • 5N Plus (Montreal, Canada): USD 1.6 million
  • First Solar (Tempe, AZ and Perrysburg, OH): USD 15 million
  • Brightspot Automation (Boulder, CO): USD 1.6 million
  • Tau Science (Redwood City, CA): USD 2.1 million

This investment aligns with the Biden-Harris Administration’s goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and the Justice40 initiative, which aims to ensure that 40 percent of overall benefits from federal climate and clean energy investments flow to disadvantaged communities.

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