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U.S. Solar Production to Skyrocket with Support from DOE $50 Million SUNPATH Program

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August 03, 2011

U.S. Solar Production to Skyrocket with Support from DOE $50 Million SUNPATH Program

By Cheryl Kaften
TMCnet Contributor

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On August 2, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced a $50 million investment over two years for the SUNPATH program— aimed at reclaiming the nation’s competitive edge in solar manufacturing.

SUNPATH, which stands for Scaling up Nascent PV At Home, represents the second solar Photovoltaic Manufacturing Initiative (PVMI) under the Department of Energy's SunShot Initiative. Sunshot is a collaborative national movement to make solar energy technologies cost-competitive with other forms of energy by reducing the cost of solar energy systems by about 75 percent before 2020.


"This investment provides a necessary boost to domestic solar manufacturing businesses, encouraging them to keep jobs here and establish America's leadership in the world's growing clean energy economy," said Secretary Chu. "In addition to invigorating clean-energy manufacturing, this program will help achieve the SunShot goal of making unsubsidized utility-scale solar cost-competitive with other forms of energy by the end of the decade."

As recently as 1995, the United States maintained a dominant global solar market share, manufacturing 43 percent of the world's PV panels, according to the DOE. In steady decline, U.S. market share shrank to 27 percent by 2000 and to 7 percent by 2010.

A report released this year by Research and Markets—Worldwide Solar Cell Manufacturing Facilities and Production Capacity 2010-2015—found that China and Germany have emerged from the 2008-2009 financial crises as the global leaders in the solar sector. Easy financing from the Chinese government has helped many manufacturers to expand into the solar supply sector.

What’s more, overproduction in China has brought down the prices of solar cells worldwide— and has made it difficult for other countries, including the United States, to compete effectively.

PVMI Part II: SUNPATH seeks to increase domestic manufacturing through investments that have sustainable, competitive cost, and performance advantages. SUNPATH will help companies with pilot-scale commercial production to scale up their manufacturing capabilities, enabling them to overcome a funding gap that often curtails domestic business at a critical stage. By bridging this gap, SUNPATH will help ensure that innovative, low-cost solar technologies are manufactured in the United States.

The PV Manufacturing Initiative accelerates the cost-reduction and commercialization of solar technologies by coordinating solutions across industry. The initiative will help create a robust, domestic PV manufacturing base; and develop a workforce with the critical skills required to deliver reliable, affordable, clean energy.

PVMI Part I: Advanced Manufacturing Partnerships has resulted in the selection of $110 million in projects to three industry and academic consortia to enable substantial cost reductions in PV module production. To ensure that these technologies are manufactured domestically, PVMI Part II: SUNPATH will support an initial ramp-up to high-volume manufacturing. DOE's national laboratories are stepping up their validation facilities to ensure that the technologies developed and manufactured in Parts I and II are tested at scale in multiple locations and climates in the United States. 

The Department of Energy is seeking applicants with industrial-scale demonstrations of PV modules, cells, or substrates that offer lower-cost solutions in line with the SunShot goal.

Applications are due by October 28, 2011.  More information and application requirements can be found at the Funding Opportunity Exchange .


Cheryl Kaften is an accomplished communicator who has written for consumer and corporate audiences. She has worked extensively for MasterCard (News - Alert) Worldwide, Philip Morris USA (Altria), and KPMG, and has consulted for Estee Lauder and the Philadelphia Inquirer Newspapers. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Rich Steeves

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