Strong interest in solar energy systems will likely continue into the foreseeable future so long as government subsidies remain available to make such systems competitive cost-wise with conventional electricity. What happens when the subsidies expire? The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced its SunShot Initiative which seeks to address this very issue. The agency’s effort is aimed at reducing the total cost of solar systems by 2020 to make them cost-competitive with traditional electricity systems without subsidies. The DOE believes achieving this goal will encourage wide-scale use of solar power across the country. With SunShot, DOE hopes to decrease the installed cost of solar systems to about $1 per watt without government help to match the wholesale rate of electricity in the majority of the US. DOE plans to invest significant dollars in cell technologies and manufacturing and develop ways to streamline permitting, inspection and hardware elements of solar systems.
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[...] to achieve a $1/watt system cost by 2020. The funding program is part of the Administration’s Sunshot Initiative. Applications are due by Oct. 28, 2011. More information can be found [...]
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