PREDICTS will fund projects to improve the lifetime and reliability of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules and concentrating solar power (CSP) components.
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced up to USD 17 million in funding through its SunShot Initiative for projects to make solar power electric generation more reliable and to assist the integration of more electricity from solar energy technologies into the grid.
Up to USD 12 million will be available through the “Solar Utility Networks: Replicable Innovation in Solar Energy” (SUNRISE) project. Another USD 5 million will be available through the “Physics of Reliability: Evaluating Design Insights for Component Technologies in Solar” (PREDICTS) project.
SUNRISE will provide funding for projects to assist utilities in developing long-term strategic plans to integrate more renewable energy and insure reliable real-time power system operations while integrating high levels of renewable energy.
PREDICTS will fund projects to improve the lifetime and reliability of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules and concentrating solar power (CSP) components, as well as electronic hardware for grid connection.
Funding will be available in two topic areas: the first for identification, evaluation and modeling of intrinsic failure mechanisms in PV and concentrated solar power (CSP) subsystems and components. The second topic area will cover development of standard testing procedures for the lifetime of microinverters and microconverters.
