The U.S. Department of Energy selected 19 projects (9 in CSP, 10 in PV), with a total funding of $6 million, that will pursue innovative, targeted, early-stage ideas in solar energy research and development. The projects were selected through the Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) Small Innovative Projects in Solar (SIPS) 2022 Funding Program. SIPS projects focus on novel, high-risk, or high impact ideas that can produce significant results within the first year of performance, quickly validating new concepts and laying the foundation for continued research. SIPS is an ongoing SETO program that has funded more than 100 projects since it began in 2015.
The SIPS program is also designed to increase the diversity of clean energy researchers by streamlining the application process and encouraging applications from researchers who have never applied or been selected for a SETO award. Of the 19 recipients, 15 are first-time lead researchers on a SETO-funded project.
“Bringing new researchers into the DOE ecosystem with their bold, innovative ideas is an incredibly fruitful way to advance our work in clean energy, and break through incremental improvements” said Kelly Speakes-Backman, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. “I can’t wait to see the knowledge and technological advances that will grow out of these new solar projects.”
Projects were awarded in two solar energy research areas: PV and concentrating solar-thermal power (see CSP winners here). PV projects will improve power conversion efficiency, energy output, reuse and recycling processes, service lifetime, and manufacturability of PV technologies. The following organizations were selected to receive PV SIPS awards:
Arizona State University (Tempe, Arizona)
Project Name: Planar Transformer Systems for Modular Power Electronics in Long-haul, Low-cost PV Systems
DOE Award Amount: $300,000
Project Summary: This project team will design new power electronic converters for connecting solar PV systems to the grid that are modular and redundant. The new converters will be smaller than current devices, easily repaired and upgraded, and made using methods and materials that are less sensitive to supply chain changes. This will support longer operational lifetimes while maintaining high performance in PV systems.
Argonne National Laboratory (Lemont, Illinois)
Project Name: Solar-Leap: A Democratized Tool to Manage Long-Term Impact of Environmental and Operational Conditions on Asset Performance Degradation
DOE Award Amount: $300,000
Project Summary: This project will develop tools to accurately analyze and predict the long-term reliability of PV modules in different extreme climates and related stress conditions. Current tools only use small data sets or laboratory-based experiments, which can be less accurate in predicting real-world, long-term PV module performance. The new tools developed by the project team will use sensor data and maintenance records from an extensive fleet of PV modules to more accurately determine the effects of field conditions and develop strategies to mitigate these negative effects. The team will work closely with PV industry members–with a specific focus …….