The US Department of Energy has announced $27m (£16.7m) of additional funding for research projects working to reduce the cost of solar energy as part of its SunShot programme.
Modelled on President Kennedy's "Moon Shot" project, the SunShot initiative aims to reduce the cost of solar energy by 75 per cent by the end of the decade to roughly $1 a watt.
Supporters of solar energy claim improvements in the efficiency of solar cells and manufacturing technologies will allow developers to produce solar energy at a cost equivalent to conventional power stations – a level known as "grid parity".
Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the new funding would help bolster US competitiveness, as well as accelerate the development of low-cost solar cells.
"America is in a world race to produce cost-effective, quality photovoltaics," he said. "The SunShot initiative will spur American innovations to reduce the costs of solar energy and re-establish US global leadership in this growing industry. These efforts will boost our economic competitiveness, rebuild our manufacturing industry and help reach the President's goal of doubling our clean energy in the next 25 years."
The latest funding has been awarded to nine new projects with the bulk of the grants going to projects focused on improving the US supply chain.
For example, Massachusetts-based 1366 Technologies has received $3m to develop a new silicon wafer manufacturing process, while Minnesota-based 2M has been awarded $4.4m to support the development of flexible solar cells. In addition, PPG and Veeco were awarded $3.1m and $4.8m to support work on new thin-film solar cells, and Varian Semiconductor received $4.8m to help fund the development of new interdigitated back contact cells, which form part of the most efficient silicon solar cells on the market.
A further $7m was awarded by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to fund the latest round of its PV Incubator program, which helps to shorten the commercialisation timeline for promising emerging solar technologies.
Three California-based firms working on the development of thin film solar cells – Caelux, Solexant and Stion – each received $1m through the scheme, while crystal silicon wafer specialist Crystal Solar received $4m in government funding.
The news comes just days after the Energy Department offered Texas-based biofuels specialist KiOR a loan guarantee worth an estimated $1bn for its plans to build four facilities capable of producing oil from wood.
KiOR announced last week that it has received a "term sheet" from the government and will now enter into negotiations with the Energy Department about the precise details of the loan guarantee.
The proposed guarantee and latest round of solar grants is the latest in a series of multi-million dollar incentives provided to the clean tech sector in recent months as President Obama seeks to shift the focus of his climate change strategy from tackling emissions to stepping up spending on clean energy.
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