The purpose of this Notice is to provide potential applicants advance notice that the Solar Energy Technologies Office on behalf of the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), intends to issue a FOA titled, "Photovoltaics Research and Development (PVRD) 2: Modules and Systems". NO APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED THROUGH THIS NOTICE. Please do not submit questions or respond to this Notice of Intent. Prospective applicants to the FOA should begin developing partnerships, formulating ideas, and gathering data in anticipation of the issuance of this FOA. It is anticipated that this FOA will be posted to EERE Exchange October 2016. The planned FOA supports improvements in module design as well as approaches to reduce installation and interconnection time, which represent important development avenues for reducing the cost of PV electricity and energizing the future growth of the U.S. PV industry. This funding opportunity encourages project teams to optimize the completed product by considering the holistic module and system architecture rather than focusing on individual components.
Applicant eligibility is anticipated to follow the same criteria as provided in the previous PVRD funding opportunity, which was released in September, 2015. Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) and Government-Owned Government Operated institutions (GOGOs) are not expected to be eligible to apply as primary applicants, but may be included as sub-recipients on proposals to this funding opportunity. Comprehensive details on eligibility will be released in the funding opportunity announcement.
Projects are expected to range in size from $100,000 to 225,000 in Topic Area 1 and $500,000 to $2,000,000 in Topic Areas 2 and 3. Cost Share is anticipated to be 20% for all Topic Areas, with academic and non-profit institutions able to apply for a waiver to reduce the cost share to 10%.