DOE Announces $33M to Deploy Solar Tech

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is awarding $33 million for nine projects across seven states to advance concentrating solar-thermal (CST) systems technologies for solar fuel production and long-duration energy storage. 

CST technologies use mirrors to reflect and concentrate sunlight onto a receiver, helping to produce carbon-free clean fuels. 

“Under the Biden-Harris administration, DOE continues to invest in the next-generation solar technologies we need to tackle the climate crisis and ensure American scientific innovation remains the envy of the world,” says U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. 

“With today’s announcement, DOE is supporting projects that will harness the sun’s energy to power NASA space missions, beer and wine production, and everything in between.” 

To accelerate the development of energy storage technologies, DOE launched the Long Duration Storage Shot to slash costs within the decade. Breakthroughs in the industrial sectors are supported by DOE’s Industrial Heat Shot, Hydrogen Shot and the Clean Fuels & Products Shot.

Three selected projects will leverage heat from solar energy to make renewable fuels:  

• Exergy Labs: This project will develop a modular dish reactor for clean hydrogen and test prototype dish reactors on-site in North Carolina and Arizona. 
• National Renewable Energy Laboratory: This project will develop a novel CST-compatible reactor using carbon monoxide and water vapor to produce products such as jet fuel. 
• West Virginia University: Researchers, in partnership with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, aim to demonstrate the advantages of direct solar-thermal integration with hydrogen production via a high-temperature solid oxide electrolyzer.