This is an excerpt from the December 21, 2012: New CSP and RSC funding, solar forecasting workshop on January 10, and solar valuation report released edition of the SunShot newsletter.

Funding Announced to Develop CSP Hybrid Systems and Advance Rooftop Solar Challenge

This week, the Energy Department released two funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) aimed at developing innovative concentrating solar power (CSP) hybrid systems and dramatically reducing the soft costs of solar.

Through the CSP Heat Integration for Baseload Renewable Energy Development (HIBRED) FOA, a total of up to $20 million is available for projects to design, build, and test hybrid power generating systems that integrate CSP and fossil fuel at costs competitive with the intermediate power market. This funding strives to overcome near-term market and technological barriers for cost-effective CSP hybrid system implementation. CSP hybrid technology may help enable further cost reductions in stand-alone CSP projects and spur innovations across the broader CSP supply chain.
Through the Rooftop Solar Challenge II FOA, a total of up to $12 million is available for projects to eliminate barriers to solar installation and lower costs for residential and small commercial rooftop solar systems. This funding builds on the success of the Rooftop Solar Challenge announced in June 2011. Through that first round, 22 regional teams have worked to dramatically reduce the non-hardware or soft costs of solar, including standardizing installation and permitting fees across multiple jurisdictions, establishing group purchasing discounts, and expanding online permitting. This new round of funding focuses on scaling up the most effective approaches while also driving new innovations that further reduce permitting, installation, and interconnection costs and time.