Small Innovative Projects in Solar: Concentrating Solar Power and Photovoltaic (SIPS: CSP & PV) - Annual | DE FOA 0002888

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002888

The Department of Energy (DOE), through its Golden Field Office, is offering annual funding under the opportunity titled "Small Innovative Projects in Solar: Concentrating Solar Power and Photovoltaic (SIPS: CSP and PV) - Annual" (Funding Opportunity Number DE-FOA-0002888). The program is designed to back small, highly targeted research and development efforts that test novel solar concepts quickly and credibly, with the goal of generating meaningful technical results early and positioning successful ideas for follow-on work. The awards will be made as cooperative agreements, which generally means DOE will have substantial involvement during the project period (for example, through technical coordination, milestones, and ongoing federal project management), rather than operating as a hands-off grant.

This funding opportunity is explicitly framed around federal climate and clean energy priorities, including the national targets of reaching carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035 and moving toward net-zero economy-wide emissions by no later than 2050, while emphasizing an equitable clean energy transition. In practical terms, the solicitation is meant to accelerate innovation that can translate into deployable clean energy technologies, supporting broader efforts to address the climate crisis through technology advancement and eventual market impact.

The FOA includes two topic areas. Topic Area 1, SIPS CSP, focuses on concentrating solar power and supports small, focused projects that examine the feasibility, applicability, and robustness of new CSP ideas. The scope is broad within CSP and includes concepts spanning entire CSP plants, particularly systems that integrate thermal energy storage. It also welcomes innovations related to solar-thermal industrial process heat (often referred to as SIPH), where solar thermal systems provide heat for industrial operations, and solar-thermal fuel systems, which generally involve using solar thermal energy in pathways that create or upgrade fuels or energy carriers. The emphasis is on compact efforts that can validate an approach, reduce technical risk, or establish proof of concept for technologies that could later scale.

Topic Area 2, SIPS PV, is aimed at photovoltaic research in new and emerging areas where a strong team can generate substantial results within the first year of performance. The structure encourages projects that move quickly from idea to evidence, and that, if they succeed, create a clear foundation for continued R&D. PV projects are expected to pursue meaningful cost reductions, with particular attention to improving power conversion efficiency, increasing real-world (fielded) energy output, enabling reuse and recycling of PV system components, extending service lifetime, and improving manufacturability. In other words, the FOA is not just about record-setting lab performance; it is also about the practical factors that determine whether PV technologies can be produced at scale, last longer in the field, and reduce lifecycle costs and materials burdens.

From an applicant standpoint, eligibility is listed as unrestricted, meaning the opportunity is open to a wide range of entity types (subject to any additional eligibility clarifications within the full FOA text). The catalog listing is under CFDA 81.087 (energy-related assistance). DOE anticipates making about 24 awards, with an award ceiling of $400,000 per project, signaling an intent to fund multiple smaller projects rather than a few large ones. The original closing date shown in the source information is June 1, 2023, and the FOA creation date is April 27, 2023, which positions this as a time-bounded annual call that supports rapid, early-stage innovation.

The notice also references Modification 000001, which is administrative in nature and was issued to correct errors in the FOA document itself. The changes include removing references to the Statement of Project Objectives (SOPO), correcting an error related to the maximum page count for the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Plan, removing repeated text, and revising the table of contents so that previously hidden sections are visible. These edits are meant to clarify requirements and formatting expectations, rather than changing the underlying technical purpose of the program, but they matter for compliance because page limits and required sections can affect whether an application is deemed complete and responsive.

• The Department of Energy, Golden Field Office in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Small Innovative Projects in Solar: Concentrating Solar Power and Photovoltaic (SIPS: CSP & PV) - Annual" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.087.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 27, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 01, 2023. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $400,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 24 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

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