New DOE Funding to Support Projects on Advancing National Grid

Funding from the Department of Energy amounting to $45 million is going toward projects aimed at integrating clean energy sources onto the U.S. electric grid.

The projects support the Biden administration’s goal of decarbonizing the country’s electricity sector by 2035.

The funding, which will create a new $25 million consortium, will help advance the development of solar energy and electric grid technologies, the DOE said Wednesday.

The consortium will be co-led by the University of Washington, the Electric Power Research Institute and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The group will conduct research on grid-forming inverters, an emerging technology that enables solar and other inverter-based energy sources to restart the grid without having to use a spinning turbine.

The University of Pittsburgh and grid management firm GridBright will also receive $6 million in funding for two projects. The collaboration will focus on the development of sensor hardware and system designs that will help utility companies understand how much renewable energy residential and commercial solar photovoltaics can generate. The project is aimed at strengthening the reliability of the electric grid. 

The DOE is also providing $14 million for nine solar hardware and manufacturing projects that seek to accelerate the commercialization of innovative technologies designed to lower the cost of solar technologies.

The projects include a new solar heat system that would dry out sewage and convert it into fertilizer. The effort is expected to help decarbonize the agricultural, wastewater and industrial sectors.

The $14 million budget will also support an effort to develop a low-cost device designed to help prevent solar system electrical fires.

In a statement, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm stressed the need for “cheap and accessible” renewable energy to tackle climate change.

“The universities, small businesses and national lab behind these projects are building the critical components of America’s future grid, making it more resilient on our way to a 100% clean power system,” Granholm said.