***Selections for Solar Desalination were announced on June 19, 2018. See a list of projects here.***

Subprogram: Concentrating Solar Power
Funding Number: DE-FOA-0001778
Funding Amount: $15 million

The Solar Desalination funding program will develop novel technologies or concepts using solar thermal energy to assist in creating freshwater from otherwise unusable waters. Thermal desalination is a potential solution to increase water supplies for municipal water and agriculture, and is an important technology to purify water produced from various industrial processes, including oil and gas production. Advancing state-of-the-art thermal technologies and energy-efficient desalination systems will reduce the levelized cost of water by reducing the levelized cost of heat, resulting in more efficient thermal desalination processes and lower overall capital and integration costs for solar thermal desalination.

Awards will be separated into four topics:

• Innovations in thermal desalination technologies;
• Low-cost solar thermal energy collection and storage;
• Integrated solar thermal desalination systems; and
• Analysis for solar desalination.

The Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) expects to make 7-10 awards under Solar Desalination, each ranging between $500,000 and $5 million for a total of $15 million. Prior to submitting a full application for this opportunity, a brief, mandatory concept paper is due on December 4, 2017. See all application deadlines in the table below.

Download the full funding opportunity on the EERE Exchange website

Read the EERE press release about this funding opportunity announcement

For FOA-specific support, contact SolarDesalFOA@ee.doe.gov

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