WASHINGTON – The Energy Department released the "On the Path to SunShot" reports today, comprising eight research papers that examine the U.S. solar energy industry's status and progress toward the SunShot Initiative’s goal of making solar energy cost-competitive with other electricity forms by 2020. Currently, the industry is approximately 70 percent towards achieving these goals, having grown significantly since the beginning of the Obama Administration.
The reports investigate lessons learned in the first five years of the ten-year Initiative and identify key research, development, and market opportunities to ensure solar energy technologies become widely affordable and available to power more American homes and businesses.
“Solar energy is an integral part of our nation’s ongoing energy revolution,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Dr. Ernest Moniz. “The U.S. has over 10 times more solar installed today compared to 2011 when the SunShot Initiative was first launched, and the overall costs of solar have dropped by 65 percent. The Administration’s continued efforts through the SunShot Initiative will help to further reduce costs to make solar energy more accessible and affordable for American families and businesses.”
Launched in 2011, the SunShot Initiative aims to reduce solar energy technology costs by 75 percent within a decade across residential, commercial, and utility-scale sectors. Since then, there have been significant changes in solar technologies, markets, and industry dynamics. The "On the Path to SunShot" series follows up on the 2012 SunShot Vision Study which analyzed economic and environmental benefits resulting from achieving SunShot's ambitious goals for 2020.
A recurring theme in this new study series is that sustained innovation across all industry levels—from cell efficiency improvements to faster and cheaper installation methods—will be crucial for achieving these goals.
The "On the Path to SunShot" series was developed in collaboration with leading researchers from several national laboratories including National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, and Argonne National Laboratory.
