DOE Solar Energy Technologies Program Welcome to the fiscal year (FY) 2007 Annual Report for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Technologies Program (Solar Program). The Solar Program is responsible for carrying out the federal role of researching, developing, demonstrating, and deploying solar energy technologies. This document presents a detailed description of the activities funded by DOE during FY 2007. FY 2007 was a year of incredible importance for the Solar Program and its partners. Announced during President Bush’s 2006 State of the Union address, the Advanced Energy Initiative includes the Solar America Initiative (SAI), a presidential initiative with the goal of achieving grid parity for solar electricity, produced by photovoltaic (PV) systems, across the nation by 2015. FY 2007 was the first official year of SAI and represented a shift in Solar Program operations, budget, activities, and partnerships. As a 9-year initiative, SAI is dependent upon wise choices made during its early years. I am pleased to report that FY 2007 represented a successful start to this critically important effort. A few of the many highlights achieved in FY 2007 and discussed in greater detail within this report include: • Launch of the Technology Pathway Partnerships (TPPs), public-private partnerships with industry designed to create fully scalable PV systems that meet the SAI cost goals. The TPPs are characterized by rigorous review and down-selection processes, as well as ambitious timetables. • Establishment of the PV Incubator activity, which funds the development of PV-system components to shorten their timeline to commercialization. • Initiation of a groundbreaking market transformation effort to help commercialize solar technologies by eliminating market barriers and promoting deployment opportunities through outreach activities. • Resurgence of the Solar Program’s concentrating solar power (CSP) activities, including the first new solicitation in several years. • Opening of the Process Design and Integration Laboratory (PDIL) at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) for use by both laboratory and private industry researchers and designed to help standardize key aspects of PV-research processes. FY 2007 was truly a banner year for the Solar Program and its partners, and we are looking forward to even greater accomplishments in FY 2008 and beyond. We remain your publicly- funded, federal solar program and strive to conduct the most relevant, highly-valued activities to our stakeholders. Your input is always welcomed. Thomas P. Kimbis Program Manager Solar Energy Technologies Program Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy U.S. Department of Energy i ii DOE Solar Program FY 2007 Annual Report Table of Contents The DOE Solar Energy Technologies Program......................................................................................... i Photovoltaic R&D Subprogram Overview ................................................................................................ 1 Fundamental Research.................................................................................................................. 3 University and Exploratory Research ........................................................................................ 4 Electronic Materials and Devices Concentrator Crystalline Cells .......................................................................................... 13 Polycrystalline Thin-Film Device Research ...................................................................... 20 Process Technology and Advanced Materials .................................................................. 25 Silicon Materials and Devices ........................................................................................... 30 Cell and Module Stability & Reliability ............................................................................... 34 Measurements and Characterization ...................................................................................... 37 Resource and Safety Research Environmental Health and Safety ..................................................................................... 58 Solar Resource Characterization ...................................................................................... 62 Advanced Materials and Devices ............................................................................................... 67 Systems Development Solar America Initiative Photovoltaic Incubator ................................................................ 69 Solar America Initiative Project Monitoring ....................................................................... 71 Technology Pathway Partnership ..................................................................................... 73 Component Development PV Manufacturing R&D ..................................................................................................... 83 Thin Film PV Partnership Program ................................................................................... 89 Systems Analysis PV Grid Integration ............................................................................................................ 97 Market, Value, and Policy Analysis ................................................................................. 100 Modeling .......................................................................................................................... 103 Systems Testing and Evaluation PV Inverter and Balance-of-System Testing ................................................................... 106 PV Module and Array Testing ......................................................................................... 111 PV Module Failure Analysis ............................................................................................ 115 Photovoltaic System Evaluation and Optimization ......................................................... 118 Regional Experiment Stations ......................................................................................... 121 Component Testing and Evaluation Solar Radiometry and Metrology .................................................................................... 125 PDIL Infrastructure, Engineering, and Integration ................................................................. 131 Market Transformation .............................................................................................................. 135 Codes and Standards ............................................................................................................ 137 Training and Certification ....................................................................................................... 143 Technology Acceptance ........................................................................................................ 149 Building Integration Solar Decathlon ............................................................................................................... 152 Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (Solar Building Benchmarking) ................................. 157 Finance and Insurance ................................................................................................... 160 Technical Partnerships Government Solar Installation Program .......................................................................... 162 Solar America Cities........................................................................................................ 165 Solar America Showcases .............................................................................................. 171 Technical Outreach State and Utility Outreach ............................................................................................... 174 iii Market Transformation Support Activities ....................................................................... 178 Solar Thermal R&D Subprogram Overview .......................................................................................... 181 Concentrating Solar Power ....................................................................................................... 183 CSP Applied Research .......................................................................................................... 184 CSP Laboratory Facilities ...................................................................................................... 190 CSP Technology Acceptance ................................................................................................ 191 CSP Testing and Evaluation: Systems Analysis ................................................................... 194 Dish Engine Research and Development ............................................................................. 197 Parabolic Trough Research and Development ..................................................................... 201 Solar Water Heating Systems Development ........................................................................... 209 Solar Thermal for Zero Energy Homes ................................................................................. 210 Hybrid Solar Lighting ............................................................................................................. 219 Systems Integration and Coordination ................................................................................................. 225 Communications and Outreach ..................................................................................................