The U.S. Department of Energy will invest $82 million in projects and technologies that will increase domestic solar manufacturing and recycling plus strengthen the clean energy grid in the U.S.
Nineteen projects were selected for $52 million for strengthening the domestic solar supply chain, including $10 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Funding of $30 million is reserved “for technologies that will help integrate solar energy into the grid,” a news release said.
“President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is fueling a clean energy revolution right here at home with game-changing incentives for manufacturing and deployment,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said in the release. “DOE is seizing that momentum by making some of our largest ever investments in research to strengthen our domestic solar supply chain — creating good-paying jobs and boosting economic opportunities in communities across America in the process.”
The projects will enhance domestic solar manufacturing, support solar panels recycling, develop solar technologies by promoting “cheaper, more efficient solar cells and advance cadmium telluride (CdTe) and perovskite solar manufacturing” and address challenges faced by grid planning operators and engineers, the release said.
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Americans deserve access to cost-saving solutions that help combat climate change, according to the release.
“By building the solar energy supply chain here at home, we can create jobs, reduce our dependence on foreign critical minerals and fossil fuels, lower the cost of installing solar panels on homes and businesses and protect our environment for generations to come,” Durbin said in the release. “The important work of mapping the solar energy supply chain is happening in Illinois.”
Investments in renewable energy create “good-paying American jobs and cleaner air for our children and grandchildren,” U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said in the release. The funding will help in the return of solar manufacturing to the U.S. for building clean-energy and fighting climate change.
“With tremendous New York companies like Mission Drive leading the charge the future is sunny and bright for American-made solar technologies,” Schumer added, according to the release.
America is in the midst of a renewable energy boom “that is creating jobs and driving innovation and opportunity for communities in Ohio,” thanks to the funding investments, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said in the release.
“With these investments, we are continuing to position Ohio as leader in solar energy innovation and manufacturing – creating domestic energy supply chains and increasing American energy independence,” Brown said, the release reported.
Southwestern Pennsylvania “built much of the rest of America,” for several decades, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Penn., said, according to the release.
“Now with the help of the Biden administration and Democrats in Congress, the region is leading the way into our clean energy future,” Casey said in the release. “With this funding, Vitro Flat Glass will improve the power output of solar panels, innovating solar manufacturing right here in southwestern Pennsylvania.”
