Record-Breaking Demand: Photovoltaic Funding Receives 37,000 Applications in the First Hour

The rush for photovoltaic funding was great, with 37,000 applications in the first hour of the second round of funding call. The Energy Department announced $27 million in funding available for photovoltaics research and development for Fiscal Year 2022. The funding is for projects that reduce costs and supply chain vulnerabilities, further develop durable and recyclable solar technologies, and advance perovskite photovoltaic (PV) technologies toward commercialization. Of the $29 million, $10 million will be funded by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to increase the reuse and recycling of solar energy technologies.

The Small Innovative Projects in Solar (SIPS) 2023 funding opportunity will award $6.5 million for seedling R&D projects that focus on innovative and novel ideas in photovoltaics (PV) and concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP) . In France, a 360 million euro ($450 million) project was built in 2014, capable of supplying electricity to a city the size of nearby Bordeaux. In Austin, Texas, 37,000 of Austin Energy’s customers were in the Customer Assistance Program (CAP), and applications were taken on a first-come, first-served basis for a low-income solar program. Finally, a case study in Lagos, Nigeria showed that financing based on fuel savings is a practical and implementable way to greatly reduce or eliminate the use of diesel generators using solar PV systems.