Under President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today unveiled a $71 million investment, which includes $16 million from the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
This investment aims to support research, development, and demonstration projects aimed at expanding the network of domestic manufacturers across the U.S. solar energy supply chain.
The selected projects will target gaps in domestic solar manufacturing capacity, focusing on equipment, silicon ingots and wafers, as well as both silicon and thin-film solar cell manufacturing. Additionally, these projects will pave the way for new markets in solar technologies, including dual-use photovoltaic (PV) applications such as building-integrated PV and agrivoltaics.
These initiatives align with the Biden-Harris Administration’s objective of rapidly deploying clean energy to aid in achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. Furthermore, they support the administration’s Justice40 initiative, which aims to ensure that 40% of overall benefits from specific federal climate and clean energy investments benefit disadvantaged communities disproportionately impacted by underinvestment and pollution.
U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm emphasized, “The Biden-Harris Administration is dedicated to establishing an American-made solar supply chain that fosters innovation, reduces costs for households, and generates jobs nationwide. With historic funding and initiatives from the President’s clean energy agenda, we can expand the deployment of solar power — the most cost-effective energy form — to millions more Americans, proudly bearing the ‘made in the U.S.A.’ label on panels.”
The Department of Energy (DOE) has chosen three projects for funding under the Silicon Solar Manufacturing and Dual-Use Photovoltaics Incubator program.
These projects aim to develop technologies that will bring silicon wafer and cell manufacturing back to the United States.
This investment will empower new solar companies to validate their technologies, with the aim of qualifying for funding to scale up manufacturing, thereby accelerating their journey to commercialization. Additionally, seven other projects will push forward dual-use PV technologies to unlock their potential in electrifying buildings, decarbonizing transportation, and mitigating land-use conflicts.
The ten selected projects are as follows:
- Re:Build Manufacturing (Nashua, NH): $1.9 million
- Silfab Solar Cells (Fort Mill, SC): $5 million
- Ubiquity Solar (Hazelwood, MO): $11.2 million
- Appalachian Renewable Power (Stewart, OH): $1.6 million
- GAF Energy (San Jose, CA): $1.6 million
- Noria Energy Holdings (Sausalito, CA): $1.6 million
- RCAM Technologies (Boulder, CO): $600,000
- The R&D Lab (Petaluma, CA): $1 million
- Silfab Solar WA (Bellingham, WA): $400,000
- Wabash (Lafayette, IN): $1.6 million
Thin-film PV technologies, including cadmium telluride (CdTe) and perovskites, offer potential advantages compared to the current dominant silicon technology.
These advantages include less energy-intensive manufacturing, lower production costs, simpler supply chains, and higher lifetime energy yield. Out of the eight projects selected by DOE for the Advancing U.S. Thin-Film Solar Photovoltaics funding program, four will focus on enhancing efficiency, reducing costs, and strengthening the supply chain for CdTe systems.
CdTe was identified in DOE’s Solar Photovoltaics Supply Chain Review as an opportunity for expanding domestic solar panel production. Enhancing the efficiency of material usage and recycling during panel construction holds promise for enhancing the competitiveness of domestic CdTe PV.
The remaining four projects will demonstrate innovative tandem PV devices that combine established PV technologies like silicon and copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) with perovskites. Perovskites are an emerging thin-film PV technology nearing market readiness and with potential for U.S. manufacturing. Additionally, one project will leverage the U.S.-Canada trade partnership to increase the supply of tellurium in the United States.
The selected projects are as follows:
- First Solar (Tempe, AZ and Perrysburg, OH): $6 million
- Cubic PV (Bedford, MA): $6 million
- Tandem PV (San Jose, CA): $4.7 million
- Swift Solar (San Carlos, CA): $7 million
- 5N Plus (Montreal, Canada): $1.6 million
- First Solar (Tempe, AZ and Perrysburg, OH): $15 million
- Brightspot Automation (Boulder, CO): $1.6 million
- Tau Science (Redwood City, CA): $2.1 million
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