The U.S. Department of Energy has announced a $25 million fund to drive advancement in concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies, part of the Obama administration’s Climate Action Plan target of doubling renewable energy generation in America by the end of the decade.
The grant builds on the DOE’s Sunshot initiative, which provides a pool of competitive-award spending for projects that can lower the cost of solar energy to point where it is cost competitive with fossil fuels, estimated at USD $0.06 per kilowatt-hour.
Utility-scale concentrating solar power plants may vary in layout and structure, but all rely on the same basic principle: producing energy by using fields of collectors (mirrors, parabolic troughs, etc.) to focus sunlight onto a receiver that heats a special fluid and in turn drives an electric turbine. CSP plants also have the ability to store excess power in thermal vaults for use when the sun isn’t shining.
According to the Energy Department, the funding is aimed at breaking through performance barriers in current CSP technology, increasing the generation capacity of CSP plants at a lower cost and increasing the reliability of commercial CSP systems.
Applicants are encouraged to focus on innovation in all areas of CSP technology – solar collectors, receivers and heat transfer fluids, thermal energy storage, power cycles, as well as operations and maintenance. Individual projects will be awarded between $250,000 and $5 million for technologies that meet eligibility criteria.
“Investments to improve the efficiency and lower the costs of concentrating solar power technologies enhance our ability to deliver affordable solar-generated electricity to American families and businesses, while also moving us closer to achieving President Obama’s goal of doubling renewable energy generation again by the end of the decade,” said Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy David Danielson.
Since its introduction in 2011, the Sunshot initiative has advanced millions of dollars for R&D projects among national laboratories, universities and industry to drive innovations in CSP technologies to make solar energy fully cost-competitive with traditional energy sources.
Based on 2013 DOE figures, these projects have resulted in a fall in the cost of CSP-generated solar energy of USD $0.08 per kilowatt-hour since 2010.
