Solar Research and Development Funding Programs

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) funds solar energy research and development projects through competitive solicitations known as funding opportunities, as well as solar energy prizes and challenges.

Funding opportunities encompass at least one of six solar energy research areas: photovoltaics (PV), concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP), systems integration (SI), soft costs (SC), manufacturing and competitiveness (M&C), and solar workforce development (WF).

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All active and completed funding programs are in the tables below. This data is subject to change and is for informational purposes only. SETO does not guarantee that the data is complete or free of error. If you have a question about any of the information below, email solar@ee.doe.gov.

Active Funding Programs

Funding ProgramResearch AreaYear AnnouncedAmount Awarded
Materials, Operation, and Recycling of Photovoltaics (MORE PV) Funding ProgramPV2024$16M
Reliable Energy Siting through Technical Engagement and Planning (R-STEP™)SC2024$11.6M
FY23 Solar-thermal Fuels and Thermal Energy Storage Via Concentrated Solar-thermal Energy Funding ProgramCSP2024$33M
Solar Energy Technologies Office Lab Call FY2025-27All2024$217M
Solar Energy Evolution and Diffusion Studies 4 (SEEDS 4) Funding Program SC2024$9.5M
Silicon Solar Manufacturing and Dual-use Photovoltaics Incubator Funding ProgramMC2024$27M
Advancing U.S. Thin-Film Solar Photovoltaics Funding ProgramMC2024$44M
Reliable Energy Siting through Technical Engagement and Planning (R-STEP™)SC2024$10M
Operation and Planning Tools for Inverter-Based Resource Management and Availability for Future Power Systems (OPTIMA) SI2024$33M
SETO Small Innovative Projects in Solar 2023: Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power and Photovoltaics Funding Program PV, CSP2024$7.8M
Advancing Equity Through Workforce Partnerships Funding Program SC2023$13.5M
Solar and Wind Grid Services and Reliability Demonstration Funding ProgramSI2023$26M
SETO Fiscal Year 2022 Solar Manufacturing Incubator Funding ProgramM&C2022$24M
SETO Fiscal Year 2022 Photovoltaics Research and Development (PVRD) Funding ProgramPV2022$29M
Solar Topics in Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR)M&C2009-23$83M
Foundational Agrivoltaic Research for Megawatt Scale (FARMS)SC2022$8M
Renewables Advancing Community Energy Resilience (RACER) Funding Program SI2022$33M
Deploying Solar with Wildlife and Ecosystem Services Benefits (SolWEB) Funding Program SC2022$14M
SETO Fiscal Year 2022 Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power Research, Development, and Demonstration Funding ProgramCSP2022$25M
SolSmart™ Funding ProgramSC2022$10M
Connected Communities Funding Program SI, SC2021$61M
Solar Energy Technologies Office Fiscal Year 2021 Photovoltaics and Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power Funding ProgramPV, CSP2021$40M
Solar Energy Technologies Office Fiscal Year 2021 Systems Integration and Hardware Incubator Funding ProgramSI, M&C2021$45M
Solar Energy Technologies Office Fiscal Year 2020 Funding Program (SETO 2020)All2020$130M
Solar Energy Technologies Office Fiscal Year 2019 Funding Program (SETO FY2019)All2019$128M

Completed Funding Programs

Research project reports can be found on the Office of Science and Technical Information (OSTI) website.

Funding ProgramResearch AreaYear AnnouncedAmount Awarded
Fiscal Year 2024 Small Innovative Projects in Solar (SIPS): Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power and Photovoltaics Funding ProgramCSP, PV2024$5.4M
Solar Energy Technologies Office Fiscal Year 2023 Just-in-Time Lab CallSC2023$2.8M
SETO Small Innovative Projects in Solar 2022: Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power and Photovoltaics Funding ProgramPV, CSP2022$6M
MSRDC Science and Technology Research Partnership All2022$3M
Solar Energy Technologies Office Lab Call FY2022-24All2021$235M
Education Materials for Professional Organizations Working on Efficiency and Renewable Energy Developments (EMPOWERED)SC2020$6M
Solar Energy Technologies Office Fiscal Year 2020 Perovskite Funding ProgramPV2020$40M
Grid Modernization Lab Call FY19-21SI2019$20M
Advanced Power Electronics Design for Solar Applications (Power Electronics)SI2018$20M
Advanced Systems Integration for Solar Technologies (ASSIST): Situational Awareness and Resilient Solutions for Critical InfrastructureSI2018$36M
Generation 3 Concentrating Solar Power Systems (Gen3 CSP)CSP2018$62M
Solar DesalinationCSP2018$21M
Solar Energy Technologies Office Fiscal Year 2018 Funding Program (SETO FY2018)All2018$53M
Solar Energy Technologies Office Lab Call FY2019-21All2018$62M
Enabling Extreme Real-time Grid Integration of Solar Energy (ENERGISE)SI2017$30M
Innovative Pathways M&C2017$3M
Orange Button® – Solar Data StandardSC2017$4M
Photovoltaic Research and Development 2: Modules and Systems (PVRD2)PV2017$20M
Resilient Distribution Systems Lab Call AwardsSI2017$10M
Solar Forecasting 2SI2017$12M
Technology to Market 3 (T2M3)M&C2017$25M
Concentrating Solar Power: Concentrating Optics for Lower Levelized Energy Costs (CSP: COLLECTS)CSP2016$9M
Grid Modernization Lab Consortium Foundational ProjectsSI2016$10M
Photovoltaic Research and Development (PVRD)PV2016$17M
Photovoltaic Research and Development: Small Innovative Projects in Solar (PVRD-SIPS)PV2016$20M
Solar Energy Evolution and Diffusion Studies 2 – State Energy Strategies (SEEDS2-SES) SC2016$21M
Solar Training and Education for Professionals (STEP)SC2016$10M
Sustainable and Holistic Integration of Energy Storage and Solar PV (SHINES)SI2016$18M
Technology to Market 2: Incubator 11, SolarMat 4M&C2016$25M
Solar in Your Community ChallengeSC2016$5M
Concentrating Solar Power: Advanced Projects Offering Low LCOE Opportunities (CSP: APOLLO)CSP2015$32M
Physics of Reliability: Evaluating Design Insights for Component Technologies in Solar 2 (PREDICTS 2)PV2015$7M
Solar Market PathwaysSC2015$16M
Solar Powering America by Recognizing Communities (SPARC)SC2015$13M
SunShot National Laboratory Multiyear Partnership (SuNLaMP)All2015$230M
SunShot Prize: The Race to 7-Day SolarSC2015$10M
Technology to Market: Incubator 10, SolarMat 3, SunPath 2M&C2015$23M
Catalyst Energy Innovation PrizeSC2014$1M
Concentrating Solar Power: Efficiently Leveraging Equilibrium Mechanisms for Engineering New Thermochemical StorageCSP2014$10M
Next Generation Photovoltaics 3PV2014$14M
Solar Manufacturing Technology 2 (SolarMat 2)M&C2014$25M
Incubator ProgramAll2007-14$127M
CSP Heat Integration for Baseload Renewable Energy Deployment (CSP HIBRED)CSP2013$10M
Diversity in Science and Technology Advances National Clean Energy in Solar (DISTANCE-Solar)PV2013$1M
Solar Foundational Program to Advance Cell Efficiency Round 2PV2013$16M
Grid Engineering for Accelerated Renewable Energy Deployment (GEARED)SC2013$15M
National Laboratory Concentrating Solar Power ResearchCSP2013$27M
Physics of Reliability: Evaluating Design Insights for Component Technologies in Solar (PREDICTS)PV2013$12M
Rooftop Solar Challenge IISC2013$12M
Solar Energy Evolution and Diffusion Studies (SEEDS)SC2013$9M
Solar Manufacturing Technology (SolarMat)M&C2013$13M
Solar Utility Networks: Replicable Innovations in Solar Energy (SUNRISE) Funding OpportunitySI2013$8M
Bridging Research Interactions through collaborative Development Grants in Energy (BRIDGE)PV2012$8M
Concentrating Solar Power SunShot Research and DevelopmentCSP2012$56M
National Laboratory Systems Integration ResearchSI2012$77M
Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative: High Operating Temperature FluidsCSP2012$10M
Plug-and-Play Photovoltaics Funding OpportunitySI2012$25M
Improving the Accuracy of Solar Forecasting Funding OpportunitySI2012$11M
Extreme Balance of System Hardware Cost Reduction (BOS-X)SI2011$42M
Photovoltaic Supply Chain and Cross-Cutting Technologies Round 2M&C2011$20M
Solar Foundational Program to Advance Cell Efficiency Round 1PV2011$35M
Next Generation Photovoltaics Round 2PV2011$24M
SunShot Photovoltaic Manufacturing InitiativeM&C2011$110M
Rooftop Solar Challenge Round 1SC2011$12M
Scaling Up Nascent PV AT Home (SUNPATH)M&C2011$37M
Solar Electric Grid Integration - Advanced Concepts (SEGIS-AC) Funding OpportunitySI2011$26M
Solar Projects to Reduce Non-Hardware Balance of System CostsSC2011$14M
Baseload Concentrating Solar Power GenerationCSP2010$62M
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 CSP AwardsCSP2009$30M
High Penetration Solar Deployment Funding OpportunitySI2009$38M
Solar Outreach Partnership (SolarOPs)SC2009$10M
Advanced Heat Transfer Fluids and Novel Thermal Storage Concepts for CSP GenerationCSP2008$35M
Concentrating Solar Power Research and DevelopmentCSP2007$25M