Grants / Department of Energy / Golden Field Office

DE-FOA-0003058: Advancing U.S. Thin-Film Solar Photovoltaics

Closed Closed December 18, 2023 Opportunity DE-FOA-0003058 ☆ Save

This grant is closed. A newer notice from the same program is open now: Accelerating Scale-up and Pre-piloting of Emerging Chemical Technologies (ASPECT) (DE-FOA-0003647). Status: Closes December 1, 2026 (24 days left). It is in our archive of Golden Field Office notices from 2023.

• Award ceiling$20.0 million
• Award floor$1.0 million
• Total funding$36.0 million
• Expected awards15
• Cost sharingNot required
• Funding typeCooperative Agreement

Key dates

Who can apply

This opportunity was open to small businesses and businesses.

• For profit organizations other than small businesses
• Small businesses
• Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)

i. Domestic EntitiesThe proposed prime recipient must be a domestic, for-profit entity for which the scope of work performed by the prime recipient must represent the majority of the work performed (over 50%), as measured by the total project costs. The proposed prime recipient and subrecipient(s) must be domestic entities. The following types of domestic entities are eligible to participate as a subrecipient of this FOA:1. Institutions of higher education2. For-profit entities3. Nonprofit entities4. State and local governmental entities, and Indian tribesTo qualify as a domestic entity, the entity must be organized, chartered or incorporated (or otherwise formed) under the laws of a particular state or territory of the United States; have majority domestic ownership and control; and have a physical place of business in the United States. DOE/NNSA FFRDCs are eligible to apply for funding as a subrecipient but are not eligible to apply as a prime recipient for Topic 1, and Topic 2.Non-DOE/NNSA FFRDCs are eligible to participate as a subrecipient but are not eligible to apply as a prime recipient. Federal agencies and instrumentalities (other than DOE) are eligible to participate as a subrecipient but are not eligible to apply as a prime recipient. See FOA for additional information.

More grants for small businesses, businesses.

Is this a realistic fit?

• Past Renewable Energy Research and Development awards averaged $2.8 million; this notice allows up to $20.0 million per award.
• Most of the program's money (30% over five years) went to colleges and universities.
• No cost sharing or match is required.

What the grant funds

The Advancing U.S. Thin-Film Solar Photovoltaics FOA will focus on accelerating the capabilities of two thin-film photovoltaic (PV) technologies: metal-halide perovskite PV and cadmium telluride (CdTe) PV technologies. It will fund innovative industrial research and development (R&D) projects that will enable future commercialization of hybrid tandem perovskite PV, defined as a perovskite PV in combination with another technology such as silicon or CdTe. It will also fund industrial research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) projects across the materials, equipment, installation, and performance monitoring sectors to improve the competitiveness of the domestic CdTe PV industry. This FOA promotes American leadership in thin-film PV technology by promoting the domestic manufacture of thin-film PV modules. With this goal in mind, only for-profit entities and teams led by for-profit entities may apply to this FOA (see Section III.A for more details on eligibility criteria) and all work must be performed in the United States (see Section IV.I.iii. and Appendix C).

Category: Energy.

Applying now

This notice no longer takes applications. Apply under the newer notice, DE-FOA-0003647, which is open now.

The notice on Grants.gov keeps its full text and attachments, which is useful for planning a resubmission.