Under this Notice of Opportunity for Technical Assistance (NOTA), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will provide technical assistance to the photovoltaic (PV) industry and other stakeholders in the form of validation testing and systems monitoring through DOE Regional Test Centers (RTCs). While the primary mission of the RTCs is to develop standards and establish the technical basis for bankability, the RTCs will also function as test beds for large-scale systems and provide independent validation of PV performance and reliability. Recipients of technical assistance will install PV modules and/or systems at all three RTC sites, if appropriate. Technologies may include photovoltaic (PV) and concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) applications. The DOE/RTCs would provide the land, the grid tie, and the testing / data monitoring required to support an assessment of product/system performance, consistency of PV module quality, degradation rates, and/or PV system reliability issues.
Through this effort, the RTCs will develop standards and guidelines for validating the performance and operation of PV modules and systems. Recipients will benefit by acquiring third-party validation of the module or system performance which they may then compare with their prediction of performance. Recipients may also propose to ask the RTCs to develop models for predicting module or system performance instead of asking for verification of their own predictions.
Technical assistance will not be provided for research, development, or early-stage testing and evaluation. The focus of the RTCs is to accelerate adoption of renewable energy generation sources by helping U.S. PV manufacturers validate new commercially ready technologies.
DOE will not purchase hardware or otherwise provide direct funding to organizations selected from this Notice. Agreements are comprised of Technical Assistance only.
Applicants are requested to submit a Letter of Intent via email to RTC@go.doe.gov 30 days before the submission due date (See Section III.C of the NOTA). Letters of Intent and accompanying abstracts will be used by DOE to organize and expedite the merit review process. Failure to submit such letters will not negatively affect a responsive application submitted in a timely fashion.
Full applications must be submitted through the EERE Exchange website to be considered for award. The applicant must first register and create an account on the EERE Exchange website. The Users' guide for applying to Department of Energy (DOE), Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s (EERE) Announcements through the Exchange website can be found at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/Manuals.aspx.