U.S. Department of Energy Invests Money in Solar Energy Grid Integration

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is investing up to $11.8 million toward the development of solar energy grid integration systems (SEGIS).

These projects will help ensure that energy collected using solar technology can be connected to and used by the U.S. electrical grid. The SEGIS technology will help improve the nation's electrical grid reliability and will encourage solar energy's competitiveness with traditional energy sources.

"Solar energy will be a critical factor in achieving the President's goal of creating new jobs as part of a clean energy economy," said Secretary of Energy Steven Chu. "By integrating renewable energy onto the grid now, we can deliver power more reliably and effectively, lower utility bills for American families, and help rebuild our economy along the way."

Established in 2008, SEGIS is a partnership that includes the DOE, Sandia National Laboratories, industry, utilities, and universities. The new funding will go toward five projects that focus on the most promising technological advances and include development of intelligent system controls. These projects are designed to improve solar power quality and reliability. They will increase integration of solar technologies into the electrical grid and help consumers save money.

The projects which will receive the funding include:

PVPowered of Bend, Oregon: PVPowered and its partners will reinforce the fundamental objectives of the SEGIS program to encourage the integration of various systems across the full range of emerging photovoltaic (PV) technologies.

Petra Solar of South Plainfield, New Jersey: Petra Solar will work with the University of Central Florida and fifteen electric utilities. This project encourages the widespread adoption of solar technology by improving solar power reliability and resiliency.

Princeton Power of Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton Power and its partners will focus on lowering manufacturing costs through developing integrated controls for energy storage and new inverter designs.

Apollo Solar of Bethel, Connecticut: Apollo Solar and its partners will create innovative inverters using energy storage and two-way communications between solar electrical systems and utilities.

Florida Solar Energy Center: Florida Solar Energy Center and its partners will focus on solving technical challenges that must be overcome to include larger amounts of PV energy in larger electrical systems.