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

Solar Energy Technologies Program

Recovery Act Funding for Solar Technologies

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The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) supports the advancement of solar technologies. Details of the solar funding are provided below and include press releases and public announcements, financial opportunities, and solar projects.

The Recovery Act was signed into law by President Obama on February 17, 2009. It includes $16.8 billion for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's (EERE) programs and initiatives. Of this amount, $117.6 million is allocated for specific activities within the Solar Energy Technologies Program (SETP or the Solar Program).

Recovery Act Funding Announcement

DOE Announces $87 Million in Funding to Support Solar Energy Technologies October 08, 2009
At the opening of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Solar Decathlon on the National Mall, Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced up to $87 million will be made available to support the development of new solar energy technologies and the rapid deployment of available carbon-free solar energy systems. Complete list of awardees (PDF 197 KB) is available. Download Adobe Reader.

President Obama Announces Over $467 Million in Recovery Act Funding for Geothermal and Solar Energy Projects May 27, 2009
Solar energy is a rapidly expanding industry with a double-digit annual growth rate in the United States. DOE is focused on supporting the U.S. industry's scaleup of manufacturing, production, and distribution that enable solar technologies to become cost-competitive with conventional sources of energy.

Financial Opportunities

SETP is providing $117.6 million in Recovery Act funds for solar energy technologies. A complete list of all open financial opportunities is available. Below is a list of the ones related to the Recovery Act.

  • Recovery Act: Photovoltaic (PV) Technology Incubators

    Projects are focused on solving technical challenges that must be overcome to scale-up manufacturing and commercialize new products by 2012 and shortening the timeline for companies to transition pre-commercial PV technologies into full-scale manufacturing.

Photo of the National Solar Thermal Test Facility, which is located at Sandia National Laboratories and sits on 110 acres of land. This aerial photo shows the different concentrating solar power technologies like the central tower with 222 heliostats and parabolic dishes surrounded by extensive acreage.

The National Solar Thermal Test Facility provides experimental engineering data for proposed plants that are planned for large-scale power generation.

Funded Projects

With the support of Recovery Act funds, the Solar Program has awarded the following projects to leverage partnerships with solar companies, universities, and national laboratories. In addition, the funds will be used to support work at DOE national laboratories.

  • The solar market transformation project focuses on two tasks. One is supporting special projects to ramp up innovative programs and concepts in Solar America Cities. This project also establishes solar installer instructor training in specific regions across the country.
  • The high penetration solar deployment project accelerates the placement of high levels of PV penetration into existing or newly designed distribution circuits.
  • The national laboratory call supports new research and development projects for next-generation PV devices and processes as well as supply chain and crosscutting technologies. For the concentrating solar power industry, this project supports research on advanced heat transfer fluids and novel thermal storage and enhancing capabilities for testing and evaluating advanced concepts.
  • The PV Technology Pre-Incubator project helps small solar businesses transition from concept verification of a solar PV technology to the development of a commercially viable PV prototype by 2012.
  • The PV Supply Chain and Cross-Cutting Technologies project identifies and accelerates the development of unique PV products or processes that will impact the solar industry.
  • Recovery Act funds support upgrades and expansion at the National Solar Thermal Test Facility at Sandia National Laboratories. With the dramatic growth of the CSP industry, a critical need for the solar industry is to have the ability to independently test and validate performance of the advanced technologies that are being developed.

Learn More

If you have questions about the Recovery Act and the funding it allotted to the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, please contact the EERE Information Center.

For more information about the Recovery Act, visit the following Web sites.

To receive updates on Recovery Act activities, subscribe to EERE Progress Alerts and the Financial Opportunities RSS Feed.