Planning Process
The Solar Program's planning process sets the direction for our management and research and development activities. It improves our decision-making by identifying opportunities and avoiding problems. Our plan ensures all activities funded by the Solar Program have a common market perspective and set of national goals. Our plan develops and evaluates technical and economic targets for the solar electric systems considered in the Solar Program that will result in solar energy technologies being market competitive by 2015.
Steps to Success
The Solar Program's planning process has evolved over time from a systems-driven to a market-driven approach. The systems-driven approach emphasized the importance of how many aspects of a technology are related. The market-driven approach considers what technology R&D improvements and market transformation changes are needed in the industry and marketplace to accelerate the commercialization of solar energy technologies.
The Solar Advisor Model (SAM) is a solar technology systems analysis tool that supports program planning. SAM allows users to investigate system output, peak and annual system efficiency, levelized cost of energy, and system capital and operating and maintenance costs.
Four key steps support Solar Program planning:
Step 1—Identify Technology Improvement Opportunities (TIOs)
The first step involves identifying where the technology improvement opportunities lie within the solar conversion technologies. The goal is to reduce costs and improve performance to allow for large-scale market penetration.
Step 2—Assess R&D Contribution
We look at how R&D proposals contribute to the overall technology improvements. We then prioritize program goals around those R&D activities that will lead to the greatest technology improvements.
Step 3—Develop Multi-Year Research Plan
A multi-year plan helps the Solar Program to prepare for future technology developments within and outside the Solar Program. The Solar Program Multi-Year Plan is similar to a business plan that clearly defines the program's vision, mission, strategy, goals and objectives, and implementation plan. It also shows how the funding will be allocated within the program and is the primary vehicle used to track program progress.
Step 4—Assess Progress
This step establishes benchmarks used to measure technology improvements. A "Stage-Gate" review process is used to assess progress. This review process begins with low funding, then funding is slowly increased as projects pass through a series of "review gates" to determine if additional funding is warranted based on R&D results and progress. The exception to this process is R&D activities with clear long-term funding requirements-for example, future-generation photovoltaic work that sometimes requires high-risk tradeoffs.
Steps 2 and 3 were completed over the last few years. In FY 2008, the emphasis will be on Steps 1 and 4 as new TIOs arise and the need to assess on-going R&D activities continues. Determining a project's "levelized cost of energy" (LCOE) will also be more heavily emphasized.
The Solar Program's primary R&D technology areas are photovoltaics and concentrating solar power. Both technologies hold promise for cost competitive, utility-scale power generation. Under the photovoltaic subprogram, the focus for FY 2008 will be grid-integration activities, taking an aggressive look at large percentages of renewable energy penetration of the grid. We will also look at reliability issues.
Implementation Plan
The following activities will provide short-term and long-term direction for the Solar Program. Solar Program planning implementation includes the following:
- Update the Solar Program Multi-Year Plan every two years, including the utilization of technology roadmaps developed jointly with the industry and university sectors.
- Create an Annual Operating Plan each year.
- Evaluate the Solar Program twice a year.
- Conduct peer reviews every two years to evaluate quality of science.
- Provide education and training and technical outreach to utilities and state and city governments.
For more details about our planning process, read the Solar Energy Technologies Program Multi-Year Program Plan 2008-2012 (PDF 3.2 MB). Download Adobe Reader.