Solar News

Earlier this week, the Department of Energy announced its new SUNPATH program via a press release. SUNPATH, which stands for Scaling Up Nascent PV AT Home, will invest $50 million over the next two years into the solar PV manufacturing industry that has been spiraling downward since 2000.  According to PV-Tech.org, Energy Secretary Steven Chu was quoted as saying: "This investment provides a necessary boost to domestic solar manufacturing businesses, encouraging them to keep jobs here and establish America's leadership in the world's growing clean energy economy."

This program is the second phase of the DOE SunShot initiative, not at all related to last summer's Junk Shot, to lower the price of solar systems by 75% by 2020. SUNPATH will help by providing financing for pilot-scale manufacturers to expand their capabilities and enter the market with high-quality, affordable, American-made solar products.

According to the Department, entering commercial production can be a precarious time for young companies and they can often benefit greatly from relatively nominal investment to cover gaps in funding.  DOE hopes that by continuing to innovate and develop new, more efficient systems, the United States can stay ahead of China's mass-commercialization - at least for the time being.  Secretary Chu continued, "In addition to invigorating clean energy manufacturing, this program will help achieve the SunShot goal of making unsubsidized utility-scale solar cost-competitive with other forms of energy by the end of the decade."

There's no doubt that $50 million can put this "nascent" fledgling back in the nest, but it is still unclear whether she is, or every will be, ready to fly faster than the low cost producers in Asia (i.e. China). After all, most companies choose to outsource rather than pay competitive wages domestically; but hopefully, like in the biotech industry, this will create a large workforce supported by a competitive, technical arms race that will drive further innovation and reinvigorate American solar manufacturing.

Companies interested in the program need to have industrial-scale demonstrations of their low-cost solar products in line with SunShot's overarching goals. Applications for funding are due by October 28, 2011.