The Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) funds research and development in three technology areas: photovoltaics (PV), concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP), and systems integration with the goal of improving the affordability, reliability, and domestic benefit of solar technologies on the grid. Learn more about the office's work at our next stakeholder webinar.
Solar Energy Technologies Office Newsletter
Solar Energy Basics
Research Areas
The Solar office supports development of low-cost, high-efficiency photovoltaic (PV) technologies to make solar power more accessible.
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SETO supports CSP research and development to improve the performance, reduce the cost, and improve the lifetime and reliability of CSP technologies.
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Systems integration research in SETO helps advance the reliable, resilient, secure, and affordable integration of solar energy onto the nation's grid.
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Soft costs research in SETO addresses challenges associated with non-hardware cost components of a solar energy system.
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SETO supports solar manufacturing and competitiveness R&D to develop pathways to commercialization for disruptive innovation in the solar industry.
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The Solar Energy Technologies Office partners with the national labs and its researchers to develop innovations that lower the costs of solar energy.
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News and Success Stories
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October 14, 2021
Learn more about the open positions in the Solar Energy Technologies Office.
October 13, 2021
Ten “Connected Communities” Will Equip More than 7,000 Buildings with Smart Controls, Sensors, and Analytics to Reduce Energy Use, Costs, and Emissions
October 8, 2021
The U.S. Department of Energy announced a new National Community Solar Partnership (NCSP) target: to enable community solar systems to power the equivalent of five million households by 2025 and create $1 billion in energy bill savings.
September 28, 2021
The U.S. Department of Energy announced it has achieved its summer goal of signing up at least 125 communities for the Solar Automated Permit Processing (SolarAPP+) tool.
Learn more about active and inactive SETO-funded projects at national laboratories, state and local governments, universities, nonprofit organizations, and private companies in the solar energy research database.
Blog Posts
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If you want to power your home with clean energy and lower your electricity bills, but live in an apartment or multifamily home, don’t own your roof, or your roof isn’t suitable for a solar energy system, you can subscribe to a community solar project.
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A solar photovoltaic (PV) installation comes with a proposal and a contract, so if you’re thinking about going solar, it’s important to understand what you’ll be signing.
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Addressing come myths and misconceptions about solar energy and the installation process.
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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is celebrating the Summer of Solar and we spoke to solar homeowner Tionna Richardson of Maryland.
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