Dec 12, 2013 - The US Department of Energy (DOE) will provide over USD 13 million (EUR 9.4m) in funds to five projects that aim for improve solar manufacturing in the US and speed up the commercialisation of photovoltaic (PV) and concentrated solar power (CSP) technologies.
With the financial support, announced on Wednesday, the DOE will help five firms in the states of California, Colorado, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Oregon develop cost-effective manufacturing processes for PV and CSP. The funding, matched by over USD 14 million in private cost share, will be extended as part of the DOE’s SunShot initiative, the goal of which is to make solar power cost-competitive with other energy forms by the end of 2020.
More specifically Colorado-based Abengoa Solar, part of Spanish firm Abengoa (MCE:ABG), will get USD 1.94 million to demonstrate new manufacturing and assembly technologies for use in CSP parabolic trough systems. The project will aim to achieve cost reductions and facilitate the introduction of the technology to the market. Pennsylvania-based PG Industries will receive USD 2.15 million to implement a scheme together with Flextronics International to design and pilot a rapid PV module assembly process that replaces labor-intensive steps with automation. California firm Solaria will be awarded USD 2 million to cut costs for its low-concentration silicon PV module by automating manufacturing procedures. SolarWorld Industries America, a unit of German solar firm Solarworld AG (ETR:SWV), will grab USD 2.44 million to incorporate an advanced light management system into its PV modules, seeking to achieve substantial efficiency improvements at little additional cost. Last but not least, Georgia-headquartered Suniva, will get USD 4.5 million for a low-cost highly efficient silicon PV cell technology that will be introduced to the market in three years.
The US added 930 MW of PV power capacity in the third quarter of 2013 while the figure is set to reach 4,268 MW for 2013 rising 27% on the year, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) said earlier this week.
(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.725)
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