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Solar Energy Technologies Office
Top News: Solar Prize Seeks Ideas for Innovation; Celebrating CSP Research Milestone
Thomas Edison once said that the value of an idea lies in the using of it. Put your own
ideas to the test with the
American-Made Solar Prize by crowdsourcing challenges for competitors and sharing potential solutions. See how the novel idea of concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP) evolved into
40 years of CSP research and progress at Sandia National Laboratories. And if you want to help the National Energy Renewable Laboratory expand one of their top research sites into a broader mix of energy technologies,
submit your ideas by August 27.
These stories and more in this edition of the SETO newsletter.
Solar Prize Competition Needs Your Ideas
The American-Made Solar Prize is currently underway and there are multiple ways to participate and win cash. This
$3 million prize competition is designed to revitalize U.S. solar manufacturing and is looking for your ideas and business challenges to inspire the solutions that competitors create. This process, called
Ideation, is an opportunity for businesses and solar community members to crowdsource knowledge, share potential solutions, and start a conversation about some of the biggest challenges in the solar industry so that the solutions competitors create are
impactful and solve real-world problems. Ideation submissions that are adopted as the foundation of one of the Go! Contest winners could receive a $1,000 cash prize.
Whether you’re planning to compete in the
Ready!, Set!, and Go! Contests or support competitors as a member of the
American-Made Network, here are some upcoming dates to remember:
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Ready! Contest: The
Ready! Contest has begun but it’s not too late to join.
Submit your solution by October 5. The Ready! Contest winners will be announced in November 2018.
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Set! Contest: The
Set! Contest will begin in November 2018 and winners will be announced at a demo day event in February 2019.
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Go! Contest: The
Go! Contest will begin in February 2019 and winners will be announced at a second demo day in late spring 2019.
To learn more about the competition and how you can get involved, make sure you check out these
recent webinars and visit the
American-Made Solar Prize website.
Sandia Celebrates 40 years of CSP Research
Sandia National Laboratories began research in concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP) in July of 1978 at the newly constructed National Solar Thermal Test Facility when concentrating solar-thermal
power was still a novel idea. At the time, it was the world’s first multi-megawatt solar tower and the research performed at Sandia lead to the world’s first operating solar tower, Solar One. Congratulations to Sandia for 40 years of CSP research! Learn more
about
Sandia’s CSP research history and the milestones achieved.
Photo courtesy of Sandia National Laboratories.
Request for Information: National Wind Technology Center Facility and Infrastructure Investments
The DOE Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO) has issued a request for information to gain input from stakeholders regarding infrastructure and equipment investments that would expand energy
research and development opportunities beyond wind energy technologies at the National Wind Technology Center. WETO is requesting public input on the specific facility and infrastructure investments that would encourage new research and development for a variety
of energy industries. The expanded technology areas of interest include: fuel cells and hydrogen, advanced manufacturing, solar, grid integration and storage, marine hydrokinetic, hydropower, and geothermal technologies.
Learn more and respond by August 27.
Solar Plus: An Economic Review for Residential Use
Batteries and load control devices can increase the value of distributed solar photovoltaics (PV) for both utilities and end users of electricity. This analysis, funded by the Solar Energy Technologies
Office and performed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, summarizes the end-user economics of battery and load control technologies that increase the value of PV by controlling and shifting PV output—an approach referred to as solar plus—which can
increase on-site PV use. The report discusses how these values can justify the incremental costs of solar plus devices like batteries and load control devices for a wide variety of technologies, geographies, and customer load profiles.
Read the report.
Featured Resource
Exploring Alternative Uses of Highway Right-of-Way to Reduce Costs
This fact sheet explores how state transportation departments are installing renewable energy resources such as solar panels in the highway right-of-way on state-owned property. This will help to reduce electricity costs for lighting roads and can be used to
power maintenance buildings through net metering.
Learn more.
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Events
Energy Exchange and Better Buildings Summit
August 21-23 | Cleveland, Ohio
This event brings together energy professionals in the public and private sectors to discuss and learn about emerging and advanced technologies in the energy efficiency and renewable energy fields through technical training, panel discussions, and a trade show.
Register.
DOE Grid Modernization Initiative Peer Review
September 4-7 | Arlington, Virginia
A portfolio of grid modernization activities of over 80 projects across 13 programs from the Energy Department will be showcased at this event. It will provide a comprehensive review, provide lessons learned, and share best practices in the grid modernization
efforts.
Register.
Webinar: Reinventing Demand Response with DERs
September 6 | 2:00-3:00PM ET
This webinar will explore technologies that can be used to balance supply and demand with the amount of renewable and distributed energy resources (DER) already on the grid.
Register.
GTM Forum: Blockchain in Energy
September 11 | San Francisco, California
Join start-ups, investors, and utilities at this one-day forum to get up to speed on the role blockchain technology can play in the energy sector and discover real-world use cases.
Register.
Solar Power International
September 24-27 | Anaheim, California
This four-day event, hosted by the Solar Energy Industries Association and the Smart Electric Power Alliance, features an extensive educational program and exhibit show floor for solar, storage, and smart energy professionals to learn, network, and collaborate
with industry experts.
Register.
SETO in the News
Solar Photo of the Week
A rooftop array perched on a coastal hill on the picturesque island of Vinalhaven in Maine. Photo by William Byers.
Download the photo.
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