U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Solar Energy Technologies Program

Solar Initiatives

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Program (SETP or Solar Program) actively supports the deployment of solar energy technologies, often through various initiatives. To achieve its goals, DOE partners with industry and with other government organizations at the federal and local levels.

This section describes the current and past DOE initiatives, led by the Solar Program, and the activities within those initiatives.

Current Initiatives


Solar Decathlon

Illustration of the winning home at the 2007 Solar Decathlon. The building's East-, South-, and West facades are covered with louvers integrated with amorphous silicon photovoltaic cells, creating an extra area for PV.

Germany's Technische Universitat Darmstadt won first place in the 2007 Solar Decathlon. The building's louvers on the East-, South-, and West facades are equipped with Schott amorphous silicon photovoltaic cells, creating an extra area for PV. To increase solar efficiency, the louvers move with the sun.

The Solar Decathlon joins 20 college and university teams in a competition to design, build, and operate the most attractive and energy-efficient solar-powered house. While the home needs to be efficient, students are also charged with the responsibility of making their homes as attractive and livable as possible. The student teams proved successful in showcasing and demonstrating one of the Decathlon's prime objectives: to demonstrate that market-ready technologies exist that can meet the energy requirements of our daily activities by tapping into the sun's power.

Plans for the next Solar Decathlon are already under way, and the event is scheduled to return to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in the fall of 2009.

Past Initiatives


Solar America Initiative

Launched in 2006, the Solar America Initiative (SAI) activities focused on making solar electricity cost competitive with conventional forms of electricity by 2015. SAI was part of the President's Advanced Energy Initiative.

SAI benefited the nation in the following ways:

  • Helping to boost the economy by creating a U.S.-based solar industry
  • Increasing energy security by diversifying the nation's electricity portfolio
  • Decreasing the effect of power outages on cities
  • Reducing the impact on the environment of power generation from fossil fuels, nuclear energy, and natural gas.

Although SAI concluded in 2009, the successes continue to thrive within the DOE Solar Program's daily endeavors. Many activities were integrated into the current portfolio and became a vital part of its core efforts. SETP will continue to work towards accomplishing this goal through public-private partnerships with industry, universities, national laboratories, state municipalities, and nongovernmental organizations.

Additional information is available about SETP activities within each of the subprogram areas: Photovoltaics, Concentrating Solar Power (CSP), Systems Integration, and Market Transformation.

Key activities include the Technology Pathway Partnerships, CSP industry partnerships, Solar Energy Grid Integration Systems, and Solar America Cities.


Million Solar Roofs Initiative

The Million Solar Roofs (MSR) Initiative was created by the Solar Energy Technologies Program and laid the foundation for the market transformation activities of the Solar America Initiative. The goal of the MSR Initiative was to transform markets for distributed solar technologies by facilitating the installation of solar systems.

This solar carport at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico delivers about 23 megawatt hours of clean electricity annually to the local utility grid in New Mexico and more than 400,000 annual visitors see this installation when they visit the cultural center.

The solar carport at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico was built by Diversified Systems Manufacturing, an MSR partner.

Concluded in 2006, MSR included 971 partners nationwide that constitute advocates who are schooled in the technologies and knowledgeable about their local and regional markets. Between 1997 and 2005, 94 coalitions across the country signed on with the DOE as official MSR partnerships. These partnerships comprised 971 private sector firms, electric utilities, builder-developers, nonprofit organizations, and governmental entities-all voluntarily committed to facilitate the installation of a specified number of "solar roofs."

During MSR, the federal government's investment of $16 million had leveraged roughly $7.1 million in cash. It also leveraged in-kind resources and incentive programs throughout the country. This synergy has contributed to the following outcomes:

  • Installation of the equivalent of more than 377,000 solar water heating, photovoltaics (PV), and solar pool heating systems
  • Installation of 200 megawatts (MW) of grid-connected PV capacity and 200 MW of solar water heating capacity
  • Dramatic growth in PV technology acceptance, from 8% of solar installations in 1997 to 41% in 2005

To learn more about the activities completed under the Million Solar Roofs Initiative, please see the Million Solar Roofs Initiative Final Report (PDF 3.8 KB). Download Adobe Reader