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SETO just launched the American-Made Solar Photo Competition: Hit Me with Your Sun Shot, a new prize in search of the best photos of solar energy. Winners can earn up to $2,500 for a photo in one of eight categories and see their photos featured on DOE’s website, at solar events and conferences, and in other outreach material. Learn more and submit your photos by May 23.
SETO intends to release a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) of up to $30 million for research, development, and demonstration projects to advance concentrating solar-thermal technologies. The potential areas of focus will include solar collectors, supercritical carbon dioxide-based power cycles, and solar receivers and reactors. Read the NOI to learn more about this FOA expected in spring 2024.
To reduce waste and other environmental impacts from solar technologies, SETO is funding innovations across the life span of solar modules. By changing how we design and manufacture panels, extending panel life spans and making them easier to repair, and improving recycling processes, SETO is making sure solar can sustainably power and protect our planet.
American-Made Solar Prize winner, ReJoule, is converting decommissioned electric vehicle batteries into solar storage and deploying it in critical infrastructure. In addition to receiving the top honors in the Solar Prize Round 6, the team won a Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Prize for their community engagement efforts.
Across the country, farmers, landowners, researchers, and solar companies are working together to harvest the sun twice: once with crops, honey, pollinators, and forage for grazing animals—and again with solar panels. Listen and learn as people share their experiences about a climate solution that can increase farm profitability, save water, improve the soil, provide shade for farm workers, develop valuable ecosystem services, and increase the resiliency of rural communities.
Fremont, California became the first local government to earn the SolSmart Platinum designation for prioritizing solar energy deployment, including by adopting the Solar Automated Permit Processing+ (SolarAPP+) platform to streamline residential solar permitting.
The University of Illinois Chicago Energy Resources Center and Stantec recently published the Solar Pollinator Vegetation Implementation Manual. This manual is a guide for solar developers approaching the planning and implementation of pollinator-friendly vegetation at utility-scale solar projects. The manual is the product of three years of research and review by technical advisors and solar industry representatives. Learn more about the Pollinator Habitat Aligned with Solar Energy (PHASE) project and access additional tools on the PHASE website.
DOE announced 10 winners in the inaugural Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Clean Energy Education Prize, Partnerships Track. Each winning team will receive $100,000 to support partnerships between HBCUs and other universities, government agencies, and industry leaders to build new programs and provide professional opportunities that will equip HBCU students with the skills needed to succeed in the clean energy industry.
DOE issued a request for qualifications to identify and evaluate qualified clean energy developers interested in leasing DOE-owned land for commercial clean energy projects within the 890-square-mile Idaho National Laboratory site.
DOE released a request for information to solicit feedback on the Manufacturing Capital Connector, an initiative that would connect companies applying to DOE clean energy manufacturing programs with private sector investors to facilitate the investment necessary to build out the U.S. manufacturing supply chain.
March 2024 | 3 p.m. ET | Virtual
Join SETO and NREL for their three-part tutorial series about open-source tools and open-access solar data.
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Part 1: Introduction to the Solar Data Bounty Prize and Data Sets | March 13 – This session will include an overview of the Solar Data Bounty Prize and the datasets acquired through the prize. It will include a demonstration on how to access the data and a look ahead at lab tools.
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Part 2: Analytics and Quality Tools | March 19 – Some data obtained from the Solar Data Bounty Prize will be evaluated in demonstrations with PVAnalytics, RdTools, and solar data tools.
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Part 3: Modeling Tools | March 21 – This session will demonstrate the use of data obtained from the Solar Data Bounty Prize with modeling tools like pvlib-python and the system advisor model (SAM).
April 2 | 1 p.m. ET | Virtual
On April 8, a total solar eclipse will traverse North America, affecting solar power plants across 12 U.S. states for up to two and a half hours. SETO, NREL, and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation have partnered to evaluate the grid impacts of the eclipse, expanding on prior research completed for the 2017 eclipse. Register for this webinar to see interactive and detailed grid visualizations, learn about study findings, and get information to help utilities and operators anticipate the impact of the eclipse.
Learn more about SETO or DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
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