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["INSTRUCTIONS"]
[1,"All questions pertaining to this funding opportunity announcement should be emailed to AMOMultitopicFOA@ee.doe.gov. "]
[2,"All questions pertaining to EERE Exchange should be emailed to EERE-ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov. Include FOA name and number in subject line."]
[3,"All questions and answers pertaining to this FOA will be posted on EERE Exchange within this spreadsheet."]
[4,"DOE will attempt to respond to a question within 3 business days, unless a similar question and answer has already been posted in this spreadsheet. "]
[5,"All questions should be submitted not later than 3 business days prior to the application due date. Questions submitted after this date will not be answered."]
[6,"Questions are assigned a number in accordance with when they are reviewed by DOE.  "]
[7,"Questions are assigned a topic area by DOE when reviewed."]
[]
["TIPS"]
[1,"Applicants may sort questions and answers in the question tabs of this spreadhseet by selecting the drop-down box arrow on the column headers and selecting any of the listed attributes."]
[2,"Applicants may search for questions and/or keywords by holding CTRL+F on the keyboard and typing in a phrase or keyword."]

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["QUESTION AND ANSWER LOG"]
["DE-FOA0001980 - FY19 Advanced Manufacturing Office Multi-Topic FOA"]
["Question #","Date Submitted","Topic","Question","Answer"]
[1,"2019-05-08","Technical Topics","The FOA mentions that the award could be up to $10M and should cover “both” areas of interests under subtopic 2.2 (R&D on electromagnetic sources, and manufacturing)  incorporating  multi-scale modeling, experiments, etc. Can an applicant propose a smaller budget (e.g. $3M) for a novel concept focused on performing experiments on using electromagnetic sources for advanced manufacturing (i.e. NO multi-scale modeling BUT actual material synthesis and fabrication)?","The $10M limit is the upper federal share amount to be awarded to any given project under this subtopic.  Applicants may propose projects with a lower federal share if they believe that amount along with cost share is sufficient to complete the proposed work scope.  Additionally, for Subtopic 2.2 Area of Interest 2, the FOA states that “applicants are expected to develop and employ multi-scale models and simulation tools to inform R&D…”.  Applicants are strongly encouraged to ensure their applications are responsive the Topic and Subtopic requirements presented in the FOA.  "]
[2,"2019-05-13","Technical Topics","I am interested in putting together a concept paper for subtopic 1.4; focusing on… {redacted technology description and application}. Please let me know if this research is a good fit to the Subtopic 1.4.","Applicants need to support how their project is responsive to the Topic Areas described in the FOA. Feedback will be provided in response to Concept Papers in the form of an \"encourage\" or \"discourage\" notification to submit a Full Application."]
[3,"2019-05-15","Technical Topics","I was hoping if you could verify any of the following as eligible projects for the DE-FOA-0002090 Grant {redacted technology description and application}.","This question is in reference to a Buildings Technology Office FOA. Please see DE-FOA-0002090 on the EERE Exchange system at https://eere-Exchange.energy.gov for more information regarding questions related to this FOA."]
[4,"2019-05-14","Application Content/Format","We have AI and experiment team in this proposal. How is the budget allocated? It seems that AI is a big portion for this topic but it requires experiments as well. We want to make sure that our budget allocation is aligned with the target of this topic.","Budget allocation is based on an applicant's best estimate of how to allocate the resources in order to achieve the goals of their proposed project. "]
[5,"2019-05-14","Application Content/Format","The Tier 2 of this subtopic 1.1 can apply up to 4 million (the upper limit) in 3 years. Is there a lower limit for an award application?","The FOA does not specify a minimum  funding limit for Subtopic 1.1 Tier 2. "]
[6,"2019-05-15","Cost Sharing","I’m writing to confirm the minimum cost share that is required for the projects proposed to this AMO FOA. I understand that the FOA states 20%, but one of our potential proposal collaborators (a national lab) indicated a level of 10%. Can you please confirm? ","As stated in Section III B. of the FOA, regardless of entity type, the cost share must be at least 20% of the total allowable costs for research and development projects (i.e., the sum of the Government share, including FFRDC costs if applicable, and the recipient share of allowable costs equals the total allowable cost of the project) and must come from non-federal sources unless otherwise allowed by law. \n\nThe cost share requirement applies to the project as a whole, including work performed by members of the project team other than the prime recipient. Each project team is free to determine how best to allocate the cost share requirement among the team members. The amount contributed by individual project team members may vary, as long as the 20% cost share requirement for the project as a whole is met. \n"]
[7,"2019-05-16","Application Content/Format","Our technical team has several questions regarding this FOA.  Is it possible to set up a call where we can discuss these? ","Upon the issuance of a FOA, EERE personnel are prohibited from communicating (in writing or otherwise) with applicants regarding the FOA except through the established question and answer process as described below. Specifically, questions regarding the content of this FOA must be submitted to: AMOMultitopicFOA@ee.doe.gov. All questions and answers related to this FOA will be posted on EERE Exchange at: https://eere-exchange.energy.gov."]
[8,"2019-05-14","Technical Topics","1. In the Topic 1.1, it mentions “This subtopic requests applications for AI and ML approaches to advancing the manufacture of new energy materials leading to improved performance and lower manufacturing costs.” In this sentence, are the AI or ML approaches used to optimizing the material compositions or the material synthesis manufacturing?","Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) approaches are to be used in both optimizing material compositions and materials synthesis"]
[9,"2019-05-17","Technical Topics","While a TPV does utilize a semiconducting material to convert photons into electricity, it is fundamentally a heat engine and not a solar photovoltaic.  See here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermophotovoltaic.  As such, its thermodynamic operating principles and design are in many aspects very different from PVs, and it can accept any kind of heat as energy input (in contrast to solar PVs which only convert sunlight to electricity).  I would expect that TPVs would not fall within the Solar Energy Technologies Office’s scope, and so be a viable technology to consider in this FOA.  Please let me know if such proposals would be considered under this FOA.","Proposed technologies related to thermal energy or thermoelectric conversion are consider responsive to the FOA.  Technologies related exclusively to sunlight conversion (solar photovoltaics) are not responsive to the scope requested in this FOA.   "]
[10,"2019-05-22","Application Content/Format","I wanted to confirm that the guidance found in the Limitation on Number of Concept Papers and Full Applications mean that [an applicant] can submit one Concept Paper to all 9 subtopics and one application to all 9 Full Applications for those same subtopics? Or does this mean only one Concept Paper and one Full Application altogether?","In accordance with Section III-F of the FOA, an applicant can submit up to one Concept Paper and one Full Application per each of the FOA's subtopic areas."]
[11,"2019-05-22","Application Content/Format","Can organizations submit more than one concept paper as Prime (Lead)?  ","In accordance with Section III-F of the FOA, an entity may only submit one Concept Paper and one Full Application for each subtopic area of this FOA. This limitation does not prohibit an applicant from collaborating on other applications (e.g., as a potential subrecipient or partner) so long as the entity is only listed as the applicant on one Concept Paper and one Full Application for each subtopic area of the FOA."]
[12,"2019-05-23","Technical Topics","Would it be possible to have a quick call in the coming weeks to learn more about how our technology fits into this FOA?","In order to ensure all potential applicants have access to the same information, DOE personnel cannot engage in phone calls or other discussions with potential applicants regarding the topic areas or any other aspect of the FOA. Potential applicants should carefully review the Topic Areas described in this FOA and determine whether or not their proposed project is responsive to one of the topics. If you have a specific question regarding a Topic Area, please submit the question to the FOA mailbox: AMOMultitopicFOA@ee.doe.gov. All questions and answers related to this FOA will be posted on EERE Exchange at: https://eere-exchange.energy.gov."]
[13,"2019-05-23","Technical Topics","Can you please confirm that sub-topic 1.3 of FOA: DE-FOA-0001980 is with regard to producing nanocrystalline metals not nanostructured metals?","Funding for this subtopic is specifically provided for manufacturing process development of nanocrystalline metal alloys.  Concept papers that do not address production of nanocrystalline metals will not be considered responsive and applicants will likely be discouraged from submitting a full application.  "]
[14,"2019-05-28","Due Dates","Must we have completed all of these registrations, including Sam.gov, FedConnect and Grants.gov, prior to submitting just the Concept Paper due June 20, or may we submit the Concept Paper at the EERE exchange and later complete all of the registration requirements prior to submitting our full application?","At a minimum one must be registered and have created an account on EERE Exchange to submit a Concept Paper. It is also recommended that a potential applicant is registered in Grants.gov as early as possible in order to receive automatic updates when Amendments to this FOA are posted. Additionally, DUNS and SAM registrations must be completed before submitting a Full Application. Ultimately, FedConnect registration must be completed before an award could be issued. Sections IV.G. and VI.B.i. in the FOA provided additional detail about registrations. "]
[15,"2019-05-30","Application Content/Format","The Q&A file posted on the EERE exchange appears to be corrupted and cannot be read.","If you are having trouble viewing the document, please try using a different web browser to visit the website and open the file. If problems persist, save the file to your computer and remove the .html file extension at the end of the file name, then open the file. If you continue experiencing issues opening the document, please email using the FOA's Q&A email address and we will investigate the issue."]
[16,"2019-05-26","Technical Topics","Do we need to address at least one (Compact 13.8 kV power electronic assemblies) or all the objectives of Subtopic 3.1 Table? In other words, do each concept paper address all the objectives?","Applicants must clearly indicate how the proposed approach will address all objectives and criteria defined in the table listed under subtopic 3.1 of the FOA. "]
[17,"2019-05-26","Technical Topics","Is it OK to propose {redacted alternate technology} rather than SiC that is mentioned in the FOA (3.1)?","Applicants need to support how their project is responsive to the Topic Areas described in the FOA. DOE will not provide guidance on which specific technologies or approaches are necessary to meet the objectives and criteria defined in the FOA. "]
[18,"2019-05-26","Technical Topics","Is process integration with magnetics for high-frequency storage components of interest? ","Per FOA section I.C and subtopic 3.1, “…applications including research on new power semiconductor devices and their process integration, control or communications, or energy conversion technologies” are not of interest. Potential applicants should carefully review the Topic Areas described in this FOA and determine whether or not their proposed project is responsive to one of the topics."]
[19,"2019-05-26","Technical Topics","Would the demonstration of 13.8kV assembly using … {redacted technology description and application} be adequate if developed and demonstrated at a university? ","Applicants need to support how their project is responsive to the Topic Areas described in the FOA. DOE will not provide guidance on which specific technologies or approaches are necessary to meet the objectives and criteria defined in the FOA."]
[20,"2019-05-28","Technical Topics","I am specifically interested in Subtopic 1.4: Process-Informed Science, Design, and Engineering of Materials and Devices Operating in Harsh Service Conditions.  My question is, would advanced nuclear reactor applications such as molten salt reactor, or even fusion applications be considered under this Subtopic?","The FOA does not specify or limit potential end use applications for the materials to be developed under this subtopic. "]
[21,"2019-05-30","Technical Topics","1) In subtopic 1.1: Accelerate the Manufacturing Process Design and Development Cycle for Advanced Energy Conversion and Storage Materials. It seems to me that you want to find process, methods and technologies to speed up R&D and learning cycle. In later for metric, you use example for energy conversion efficiency etc. it seems to me that will be the metric for materials development itself. So for topic 1.1, which one do you really want us to focus? \nOr the metric table is just an example? \n \n2) Do you suggest that we need to have metric table in the concept paper?\n","As stated in Subtopic 1.1, “Applicants must identify and justify appropriate target metrics for their technology and application, and clearly indicate how the proposed innovation will satisfy them”.  The items in the Subtopic 1.1 table are examples and are not meant to be all inclusive.  Applicants need to decide how best to justify the target metrics and how the proposed innovation will satisfy those metrics.  "]
[22,"2019-06-01","Cost Sharing","We are planning to submit a white paper for this proposal call. I wonder if we can use the cost of {equipment} as cost share? This instrument will be used extensively for the project. Please advise.","In accordance with Section III-B of the FOA, project teams may provide cost share in the form of cash or in-kind contributions. In-kind contributions are those where a value of the contribution can be readily determined, verified and justified but where no actual cash is transacted in securing the good or service comprising the contribution. Allowable in-kind contributions include, but are not limited to: the donation of volunteer time or the donation of space or use of equipment. Appendix A to the FOA provides important additional information about cost share."]
[23,"2019-05-30","Application Content/Format","It is stated that each entity can only submit one concept paper for each subtopic.  We are a large entity and there is interest in submitting a concept paper for a Tier 1 project and another for a Tier 2 project under the same subtopic.  Is that possible, or do we have to limit ourselves to preparing one concept paper and we need to pick one of the Tiers?","An entity may only submit one Concept Paper and one Full Application for each subtopic area of this FOA. The entity will need to choose a single Tier for each subtopic. This limitation does not prohibit an applicant from collaborating on other applications (e.g., as a potential subrecipient or partner) so long as the entity is only listed as the applicant on one Concept Paper and one Full Application for each subtopic area of this FOA."]
[24,"2019-05-29","Application Content/Format","What is the funding in terms of $ for the primary(lead) versus the sub-recipients for topic 1, subtopic 1.2?","It is expected that applications to subtopic 1.2 will be Tier 2 for a total of up to $12,000,000 over 3 years. The project team is free to propose how to allocate funds between team members, subject to eligibility limitations outlined in Sections III-A and III-E of the FOA."]
[25,"2019-06-04","Application Content/Format","Is Prime required to have >50% of funding? Can the Prime flow down greater than 50% of the funding to a single partner or multiple partners?  ","The project team is free to propose how to allocate funds between team members, subject to eligibility limitations outlined in Sections III-A and III-E of the FOA."]
[26,"2019-05-31","Technical Topics","We would like to know if the proposals should be limited to the back-to-back 13.8 kV ac converter, or if it could also include the dc-port with the dc-to-dc stage.","If the Flexible Manufacturing Plant use case scenarios defined in the application involve use of DC ports to meet the plant flexibility metrics, the application may include demonstration of a DC port in addition to the required demonstration of the back-to-back 1-MVA, 3-phase bidirectional AC ports. "]
[27,"2019-06-04","Application Content/Format","For subtopic 1.2 (Innovative Manufacturing Processes for Battery Energy Storage), can the application address multiple manufacturing processes related to a given energy storage technology, or must it focus on a single manufacturing process?","The FOA does not limit an application to address a singular manufacturing process for a given energy storage technology. Applicants may choose to address one or several manufacturing processes in their application. Note, the application must address at least one of the areas of interest as stated in the FOA under Subtopic 1.2."]
[28,"2019-06-04","Application Content/Format","If it is acceptable to address multiple manufacturing processes for subtopic 1.2 (see Q1 above), must the application define target metrics for each unique manufacturing process or could the application instead define a combined target metric that encompasses all of the individual manufacturing processes?","As stated in Subtopic 1.2, “Applicants must identify and justify appropriate target metrics for their technology and application, and clearly indicate how the proposed innovation will satisfy them”.  Applicants may define a combined target metric that addresses multiple manufacturing processes related to a given energy storage technology as long as the underlying assumptions in developing the combined target metric is included."]
[29,"2019-06-04","Application Content/Format","As part of the concept paper submission in EERE, applicants are asked to provide the following related to Funds and Costs – Federal Share (DOE) (In Whole Dollars) and Non-Federal Share (In Whole Dollars). Will the applicant be held to the dollar amounts included on the Funds and Costs tab as part of their concept paper submission?","The estimated funding proposed in a concept paper may be revised in the full application. "]
[30,"2019-06-06","Cost Sharing","I have a question regarding what types of cost can be accounted toward in-kind contribution of cost share. Specifically, in our proposed approach, we need to purchase commercial databases and/or private propriety databases which are pivotal to conducting our computation-based research and development work. Can the cost for purchasing such databases qualify as in-kind contribution?","Every cost share contribution must be allowable under the applicable federal cost principles, as describe in Section IV. J. i. of the FOA. Cost share contributions must also be necessary and reasonable for proper and efficient accomplishment of the project. Purchasing of critical databases is sometimes allowable, but like all proposed cost share, must be reviewed during award negotiations, approved in advance by the Contracting Officer, and incorporated into the project budget before the expenditures are incurred. Section III.B in the FOA and Appendix A to the FOA provide important additional information about cost share. Lastly, when it comes to terminology, purchases are typically be considered cash contributions, not in-kind contributions, which are typically donation based."]
[31,"2019-06-04","Application Content/Format","Subtopic 2.2 AOI 1 says “…an opportunity exists to leverage ongoing research directed towards industrial uses via DOE Accelerator Stewardship activities. Applicants are expected to leverage the expertise and facilities of the existing U.S. accelerator R&D ecosystem…” Are only the national labs participating in the Accelerator Stewardship program considered part of the U.S. accelerator R&D ecosystem?","The U.S. accelerator R&D ecosystem includes the National Labs but is not limited to them. "]
[32,"2019-06-04","Technical Topics","Can work under Subtopic 2.2 AOI 2 include benchscale experimental work and small pilot testing? ","Applications submitted under this Subtopic can include both benchscale experimental work and small pilot testing."]
[33,"2019-06-07","Technical Topics","We are considering building a team and white paper around topic 1.4 with a focus on … {redacted technology description and application}. Can you comment as to whether this field of application would be considered relevant to Topic 1.4?","Applicants need to support how their project is responsive to the Topic Areas described in the FOA. DOE will not provide guidance on which specific technologies or approaches are necessary to meet the objectives and criteria defined in the FOA. Feedback will be provided in response to Concept Papers in the form of an \"encourage\" or \"discourage\" notification to submit a Full Application."]
[34,"2019-06-07","Intellectual Property","Can you please clarify for me what happens to the property rights of a process developed under the grant? Does EERE reserve the right to take ownership or transfer the IP to others? ","Domestic small businesses, universities and nonprofits may elect to retain title to their subject inventions pursuant to the Bayh-Act.  Domestic large businesses will have a similar right to retain title to their subject inventions pursuant to a DOE patent waiver.  Even when an awardee retains title to a subject invention, the Government maintains certain rights in the inventions as well (e.g., a government purpose license, march-in rights). Please see Article VIII (K)-(N) of the FOA for more information regarding intellectual property under DOE awards."]
[35,"2019-06-03","Application Content/Format","We would like to know what the different expectations for Tier 1 or Tier 2 submissions. In my understanding, we should identify starting and ending TRL in the applications. Should we identify what Tier we target for in the concept paper? How would you determine the funding level in the concept paper? Or is this more relevant for the proposal submission and it doesn’t impact the concept paper phase?","Please refer to section 1.A.ii and II.A.i  of the FOA for tier definitions and estimated funding levels for each FOA subtopic. Estimated funding needs to be consistent with the tiers and subtopics, and needs to be entered in the EERE Exchange system as part of the concept paper submission process.  Proposed tier level for the project may also be including in the Concept Paper.  Determining the funding level for the project the responsibility of the applicant and depends on the scope of work to be performed.  Note that funding levels may be adjusted in the full application phase.  Applicants are to include the starting and ending TRL for their project as required in FOA section 1.A.ii.  "]
[36,"2019-06-10","Technical Topics","On the FY19 Advanced Manufacturing Office Multi-Topic FOA,  Subtopic 1.2 the text and examples read like they are directed to lithium ion batteries.  Would advanced lead batteries manufacture in a completely different method than any commercial batteries, which meets all the stated criteria in the FOA be considered as well?","Subtopic 1.2 is not limited to Li-ion battery technology.  "]
[37,"2019-06-10","Technical Topics","On FY19 Advanced Manufacturing Office Multi-Topic FOA,  Subtopic 1.2 the increase energy density of the storage component and the increased lifetime have both minimum and stretch targets but no baseline mentioned.  Is it acceptable to baseline from best advertised commercial performance?  Should this also be based on 2015 data?  ","Applicants need to define their baseline specific to the technology focus of the project, the basis for the baseline, and support how the proposed innovation will satisfy the proposed targets.  Per the FOA in Section I.B, Subtopic 1.2 discussion, “Metrics should be specific to the proposed technology and must define appropriate benchmarks or baselines, minimum targets, and stretch targets”."]
[38,"2019-06-10","Technical Topics","Subtopic 3.2: This description presupposes a conventional heat engine with a mechanical output and a heat energy recovery mechanism. Are you willing to consider alternative technologies to convert a fuel to electricity at >75% overall thermal efficiency?  Can we propose a (technology description redacted).","Applicants need to support how their project is responsive to the Topic Areas described in the FOA. DOE will not provide guidance on which specific technologies or approaches are necessary to meet the objectives and criteria defined in the FOA."]
[39,"2019-06-10","Application Content/Format","When I search this grant in DOE website, it indicates “industrial” in the bracket after the program name. Does it mean it’s required to have industrial partners in the proposed team?","Applicants have the latitude to select  members of their project teams.  It is highly recommended that proposed team members have the combined qualifications, expertise and experience that would allow the proposed team to address all aspects of the proposed work with a high probability of success. Please see sections IV C-i and IV D-ii of the FOA for additional information on technical qualification and resources requirements. Section V. of the FOA should also be reviewed, as it contains the evaluation criteria. "]
[40,"2019-06-10","Application Content/Format","We are still in discussion with potential team member organizations for this project. Do we need to finalize who the team member organizations are at the time of concept paper submission? If not, how do you recommend we describe this part of the project in the concept paper?","In order to be compliant with the concept paper content requirements, applicants are required to submit information regarding their proposed technical and business points of contact, names of all team member organizations, and to describe succinctly the qualifications, experience, and capabilities of the proposed project team (please see sections IV C-i of the FOA). Applicants are allowed to  review and revise their proposed team members as necessary at the time of the full application.  Section V. of the FOA should also be reviewed, as it contains the evaluation criteria."]
[41,"2019-06-14","Application Content/Format","Where are the specific details for the formatting requirements for the 1) Concept Papers; 2) Full Proposals submitted in response to DE-FOA-0001980 (e.g., font, spacing and margins)?","Concept Paper/Full Application preparation and formatting guidance can be found in the “FY19 Advanced Manufacturing Office Multi-Topic FOA” Funding Opportunity Document which is posted in the “Documents” section of the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) on the EERE Funding Opportunity Exchange website http://EERE-Exchange.energy.gov.  See FOA Section IV.C.i. for specific content requirements for Concept Papers and IV.D.i. for Full Applications.    \n\nAlso, templates are provided in the “Required Application Documents” section of the FOA and Section IV.A. in the FOA includes general information on margins, font sizes, etc.\n"]
[42,"2019-06-11","Application Content/Format","Is cost detailed required to be included in the Concept Paper?  ","No, detailed cost information is not required in the Concept Paper, though proposed Federal and Cost Share funding for the project is required in the Exchange system as part of the submission process. See Section IV.C.i in the FOA for the content required for Concept Paper submittals. Additionally, Section V.A.i in the FOA describes the technical review criteria for Concept Papers."]
[43,"2019-06-12","Application Content/Format","We are interested in submitting a concept paper for DE-FOE-0001980 (subtopic 1.4) and were hoping to contact the PM for this project with a few questions prior to submitting our concept paper. Is the contact information for the program manager available?","No. As explained in Section VII of the FOA, Upon the issuance of a FOA, EERE personnel are prohibited from communicating (in writing or otherwise) with applicants regarding the FOA except through the established question and answer process. This is to ensure all potential applicants have access to the same information. Specifically, questions regarding the content of this FOA must be submitted to: AMOMultitopicFOA@ee.doe.gov. Please note, feedback on individual concepts will not be provided through Q&A. All questions and answers related to this FOA will be posted on EERE Exchange at: https://eere-exchange.energy.gov."]
[44,"2019-06-10","Technical Topics","I understand this demonstration is supposed to be able to take 13.8kV and convert bi-directionally, coupling two asynchronous AC grids.  But does it need to handle 4160VAC at the same time, or is this an option?  How about DC output, at the same time or as an option? ","As stated in Subtopic 3.1 for the demonstration “the grid-side must be 13.8 kV AC and load-side must be either 13.8 kV AC or 4160 V AC, and must be capable of multiple asynchronous AC or DC power ports scalable to 10 MVA.”  If the Flexible Manufacturing Plant use case scenarios defined in the application involve use of DC ports to meet the plant flexibility metrics, then the application may include demonstration of a DC port in addition to the required demonstration of the back-to-back 1-MVA, 3-phase bidirectional AC ports. "]
[45,"2019-06-10","Technical Topics","What is the actual system, so I can design in the context of that overall requirement?  Do I have to handle all options, or can we just choose one for the demonstration? ","Applicants need to support how their project is responsive to the Topic Areas described in the FOA. The technology demonstration should be representative of the application defined by Flexible Manufacturing Plant use case scenarios to demonstrate viability of the approach. "]
[46,"2019-06-10","Technical Topics","Is Isolation between input and output power ports required in the demonstration?  Between simultaneous output ports? Does the demonstration need to provide a {redacted technical approach to provide isolation and voltage level shift? ","If the Flexible Manufacturing Plant use case scenarios provided in the application require isolation or voltage-level-shift to meet the plant flexibility metrics, then the demonstration should include this in addition to the required back-to-back inverters. "]
[47,"2019-06-13","Application Content/Format","I will have some proprietary data and information in the Concept Paper.  How do I identity that which is proprietary?  Usually, there are agreed upon wording that is put into the footer of each page of the Concept Paper.  However, there was no instructions that I could find for that.","See FOA Section VIII.D, Treatment of Application Information, for instructions on how to mark confidential or proprietary information.  These instructions apply to both Concept Papers and Full Applications. "]
[48,"2019-06-11","Technical Topics","I am interested in Subtopic 1.2.  The example metrics on page 11 reference a 2015 baseline.  Is there a report that you can point me to that provides 2015 government baseline data?","For Subtopic 1.2, please see the Advanced Manufacturing Office Multi-Year Program Plan (MYPP) cited in footnote 22 for available baseline data.  This baseline data provided on the table and in the MYPP is for example only.  As noted in the section for Subtopic 1.2, applicants must define appropriate benchmarks or baselines, minimum targets, and stretch targets for their proposed technology.   "]
[49,"2019-06-17","Application Content/Format","We are preparing to submit the concept paper towards the topic 1.3. Will the concept paper be judged also on the “metrics” information as provided in the FOA as a table?","Concept Papers will be evaluated based on the criteria set forth in Section V.A.i of the FOA.  Metrics included in Concept Papers and Full Applications should be specific to the proposed technology and must define appropriate benchmarks and baseline comparison of conventional materials, minimum targets, and stretch targets.  The metrics provided for each subtopic are for example only and may not apply to the technology proposed.  "]
[50,"2019-06-13","Eligibility","Can different legal entities with separate DUNS numbers within a large company be considered as different organizations with one submission per topic area?  ","It will depend on how the company is legally structured. Having a separate DUNS number does not in itself establish the entities are separate legal entities.  An entity may only submit one Concept Paper and one Full Application for each subtopic area of this FOA. If a large organization submits multiple submissions, each submission must be submitted by a separate legal entity.  If two submissions appear to be from the same entity and it is not clear that the two applicants are separate legal entities, DOE may ask for further clarification. "]
[51,"2019-06-12","Application Content/Format","If there are subcontractors and consultants working at my direction on the project, are their efforts subtracted from the 100% figure? For example, if my consultants cost $20,000 and the overall budget was $100,000, would my lead organization’s effort be considered 80%? Additionally, would the cost of subcontractor services, such as heat-treating and computer modeling, be subtracted from the total effort figure? Are such consultants and/or subcontractors considered “team members” for the purposes of the application? In my past experience with government contracts, subcontractors and consultants working at my direction were simply considered part of my company’s offering. Can a proposal be submitted in this manner? And if so, would my company’s (the lead organization’s) effort figure be 100%?","Work performed by subcontractors (subrecipients, vendors, or FFRDCs) falls under contractual on a budget. While the contractual amount is considered part of the total effort, when calculating the lead organizations percentage of effort it would be subtracted. Subrecipients and FFRDCs are typically considered “team members” because of their involvement in the outcome of a project. Vendors supplying commercial supplies or services to support a project are not typically considered “team members”. "]
[52,"2019-06-13","Application Content/Format","We were wondering where we should include the letter of support from our industry partner? Do we need to include that in the concept paper description?","Letters of support are not required as part of the concept paper submission. Instead, they should be included in the Technical Qualification and Resources section of the Technical Volume when submitting a Full Application. Additional information about the content required for the Concept Paper and Full Application can be found in Sections IV.C and IV.D respectively."]
[53,"2019-06-17","Application Content/Format","The link at FOA 1980 Q&A downloads as a file but it is in html and can’t be read. Please upload a pdf document so that it can be read.","Please see the response to Question #15 in the Q&A document that is posted on EERE Exchange."]
[54,"2019-06-17","Application Content/Format","My question is should I include those graphs, charts, or other data into Technical Description and Impacts parts and make them 3 pages long? Or can I submit them separately as a supplement material without including them into the concept paper?","Per Section IV-C of the FOA, the Concept Paper should be no longer than five pages, including a Cover Page (one page maximum), a Technology Description (three pages maximum), and an Addendum (one page maximum). Applicants may provide  graphs, charts, or other data to supplement the Technology Description, but their inclusion counts towards the five page limit established for the entire Concept Paper submittal. "]
[55,"2019-06-18","Application Content/Format","Please respond to the following question: We are preparing to submit the concept paper towards the topic 1.3. Will the concept paper be judged also on the “metrics” information as provided in the FOA as a table?","Please see the response to Question #49 in the Q&A document that is posted on EERE Exchange."]
[56,"2019-06-14","Application Content/Format","A company is conducting research activities in the United States to achieve “fuel to electricity conversion efficiency” related to their product/equipment.  The company plans to construct a pilot/prototype model as part of its testing and development process and would like to apply for funding as part of the FOA0001980, Subtopic 3.2.  However, it wants to understand any restrictions after a prototype is created, tested, and approved. Specifically, if once the research is completed and the prototype approved, the prototype unit may ultimately be sold to a customer at some point down the road.  Please let me know whether the receipt of DOE funding would restrict (temporarily or otherwise) the company’s ability to sell the prototype in the future.","As stated in part IV.J. vi of the FOA, \"property disposition will be required at the end of a project if the current fair market value of property exceeds $5,000. The rules for property disposition are set forth in 2 CFR 200.310 – 200.316 as amended by 2 CFR 910.360\"."]
[57,"2019-06-19","Application Content/Format","In the FOA, the Technical Description and Impacts section is limited to 3 pages, however in the attached template I received, the length of this section is set at 2 pages. Please let me know which is the correct length.","Please see the response to Question #54 in the Q&A document that is posted on EERE Exchange."]
[58,"2019-06-19","Application Content/Format","In the FOA it does not state the requirement at the Concept Paper stage for funding but on EERE there is a Funds and Cost Section. Since the budget is not being evaluated at the concept paper stage can we just enter a value to equal the required 20% cost match(Ex. Federal share $1, Non-Federal share $0.25) and then enter our firm budget submittal at the full application stage?","See the response to Question #42 in the Q&A document that is posted on EERE Exchange for details."]
[59,"2019-06-27","Application Content/Format","Our electronic submission form contains errors: topic error in the electronic submission form (topic and subtopic were incorrectly entered in Exchange, but are correct in the submitted Concept Paper).  The Concept Paper itself contains a single character typo. Otherwise, the Concept Paper itself contains all the correct information.","The applicant can change the Topic/Subtopic in the Full Application phase of the submission process. No changes to the content of the concept paper are allowed at this time."]
[60,"2019-06-30","Application Content/Format","We will not undertake lobbying activities, but I don’t see any way to indicate this on the Required form (SF_LLL_-_Disclosure_of_Lobbying_Activities.docx) nor can I find any instructions related to this form other than those for lobbyists who need to register their activities.","As stated in Section IV D.-xi of the FOA, prime recipients and subrecipients are required to complete and submit SF-LLL, “Disclosure of Lobbying Activities”. When submitting an application, please leave section 10 a&b of the SF-LLL form blank if your organization does not use lobbying services or engage in lobbying activities."]
[61,"2019-07-01","Application Content/Format","Is there a template available to help guide our preparation of this required upload?  ","There is no additional template presently available to assist with preparation of an application in response to the FOA. Please refer to Section IV of the FOA for guidance. "]
[62,"2019-07-01","Application Content/Format","I have submitted a Concept Paper for DE-FOA-0001980: FY19 ADVANCED MANUFACTURING OFFICE MULTI-TOPIC FOA. For the full application, am I allowed to add a subcontractor that was not included in the concept paper?","The applicant can change and/or update subcontractor information in the Full Application phase of the submission process."]
[63,"2019-07-03","Application Content/Format","Could you tell me if the award going to be equally split between several projects, and how many projects will be awarded? Is it one per topic, or per subtopic? ","Section II.A.i of the FOA addresses these items. "]
[64,"2019-07-03","Eligibility","On what criteria will you make the award?","Section V.A. of the FOA outlines the technical review criteria. "]
[65,"2019-07-03","Application Content/Format","The topic we would be most interested in is Topic 1, with its subtopic 'Innovative manufacturing processes for battery energy storage'. What specifically would you be looking for to award a grant in that subtopic, please?","Section I.B. describes each of the topic areas. "]
[66,"2019-07-03","Application Content/Format","Have you had any entries so far, and when will the award be given?","Yes. The expected timeframe for award negotiations is from award selection (expected around January 2020) through March 2020. Please note that per Section IV.A. of the FOA, “Only applicants who have submitted an eligible Concept Paper will be eligible to submit a Full Application.” The deadline for submitting a concept paper has already passed- as stated on the cover of the FOA, it was June 20, 2019."]
[67,"2019-07-08","Due Dates","Are applications for this FOA closed?","The Concept Paper submission deadline of 6/20/19 has passed and DOE is no longer accepting Concept Papers for this FOA. Submission Deadline for Full Applications is 8/29/2019; 5:00pm ET. Please note that per Section IV.A. of the FOA, “Only applicants who have submitted an eligible Concept Paper will be eligible to submit a Full Application.”"]
[68,"2019-07-10","Application Content/Format","When preparing the required FWP, I need to identify the DOE HQ point of contact for this call.  Would you please provide the name, address and phone number for this person?","DOE cannot provide the name of the responsible manager at this time.  You can enter “Advanced Manufacturing Office Director” if you need to enter something in that field.  If the project is selected for award, the name of the responsible DOE point of contact will be provided at that time. "]
[69,"2019-07-12","Cost Sharing","Can you please point me to a document that outlines the accounting requirements for recording and providing verification of cost sharing for DE-FOA-001980?  ","Please refer to Sections III.B, IV. J. i., and Appendix A in the FOA for information regarding cost share requirements.  Also, 2 CFR 200.306 – Cost Sharing or Matching, describes the requirement for project costs to be counted towards cost share. Additional cost share details may be requested by the Contracting Officer during award negotiations, should the application be selected. "]
[70,"2019-07-15","Cost Sharing","We would like to propose a cooperative agreement in response, where we plan to utilize our IR&D funding to pay for the cost to execute a portion of the proposed project scope.  We plan to offer this as a “cash” cost-sharing contribution for the proposed proposal.  Is this acceptable?","Every cost share contribution must be allowable under the applicable federal cost principles, as describe in Section IV. J. i. of the FOA. Cost share contributions must also be necessary and reasonable for proper and efficient accomplishment of the project. All proposed cost share will be reviewed during award negotiations, approved in advance by the Contracting Officer, and incorporated into the project budget before the expenditures are incurred. Per Section III.B.iii, \"Cash contributions include, but are not limited to: personnel costs, fringe costs, supply and equipment costs, indirect costs and other direct costs.\" Section III.B in the FOA and Appendix A to the FOA provide important additional information about cost share. "]
[71,"2019-07-18","Due Dates","We have not received any feedback about our Concept Paper Merit Review process and notification schedule or evaluation of the concept paper and since the proposal is due on August 29 , we will appreciate, if available, to know the feedback of our concept paper.","Feedback in the form of an Encourage or Discourage determination is planned to be provided by July 26, 2019.  "]
[72,"2019-07-23","Cost Sharing","The FOA on page 34 indicates that vendors and contracts may not submit cost-share. Can you elaborate on this? Does this mean that non-project participants (non-project team members- they have not signed on to the project agreement) may not submit cost-share?","Cost share may be provided by the prime recipient, subrecipients, or third parties (entities that do not have a role in performing the scope of work). Vendors/contractors may not provide cost share.  One example where a non-project team member may contribute cost share is when that entity provides cash to support the project.  There may be other situations where this is allowable, though more specific information is needed. This is typically addressed in award negotiations for selected projects.  Please refer to 2 CFR 200.330 – Subrecipient and Contractor Determinations, which describes the differences between subrecipients and vendors, as well as 2 CFR 200.306 – Cost Sharing or Matching, for details."]
[73,"2019-07-24","Cost Sharing","Based upon the cost-share section of the FOA, is it allowable for the following scenario to occur: for every $3 of cost that a company incurs, the prime contractor pays the company $1 and the company provides $2 of cost share. For example, Company A’s budget is $280k, of which they will provide $187k as cost share and prime will pay them $93k from the federal funding award. Is this permissible under the current cost-share provisions of the FOA. In the alternative, is the proposed scenario considered a “partial donation” of goods or services and therefore a discount, which is typically not considered cost-share.","Please refer to Sections III.B, IV. J. i., and Appendix A in the FOA for information regarding cost share requirements.  Also, 2 CFR 200.306 – Cost Sharing or Matching, describes the requirement for project costs to be counted towards cost share. Please note that the prime recipient is solely responsible for managing cost share contributions by the project team and enforcing cost share obligation assumed by project team members in subawards or related agreements. Additional cost share details may be requested by the Contracting Officer during award negotiations, should the application be selected."]
[74,"2019-07-24","Application Content/Format","Who should the Contracting Officer Letter from an FFRDC be addressed to?  ","Please address the letter \"to whom it may concern.\""]
[75,"2019-07-29","Due Dates","I was wondering whether the program would consider granting a 1-week extension to the deadline for a full application? The concept paper review took about 36 days instead of the anticipated 30 days, so applicants that decided to wait for notification of encourage/discourage from their concept paper are about a week behind schedule.","The review of the Concept Papers took longer than expected due to the large response received.  However, the due date for Full Applications will remain unchanged.  Full Applications will are due by 5PM ET, August 29, 2019.  "]
[76,"2019-07-29","Application Reviews","We were discouraged from submitting a full application.  I was wondering if there was any more specific feedback available?","Specific feedback on individual concept papers will not be provided. EERE evaluated concept papers based on the criteria stated in section V.A.i of the FOA.  From the Exchange system for “discourage” determinations:  “While you are not prohibited from submitting a full application, based on the Concept Paper review, EERE is conveying its lack of programmatic interest in the proposed project in an effort to save the applicant the time and expense of preparing an application that is unlikely to be selected for award negotiations.”  "]
[77,"2019-08-05","Due Dates","I was wondering whether the program would consider granting a 1-week extension to the deadline for a full application? ","A modification to the FOA was posted on 08/05/2019, extending the submission deadline for full applications to 09/05/2019, 5 PM ET. See Modification 0001 of the FOA for additional changes. "]
[78,"2019-08-01","Application Content/Format","If responding to Subtopic Area 1.4, if an FFRDC applies as the lead for a proposal, and other FFRDC’s will be included as subrecipients for this project, and this project were to be awarded, would the subrecipient FFRDC’s receive their funding directly from headquarters or would their funding go to the lead FFRDC, and then the lead FFRDC get the funds out to the subrecipient FFRDC?","In the situation where a FFRDC submits an application to Subtopic 1.4 and has another FFRDC as a partner on the project, funding will be provided separately to each FFRDC.  "]
[79,"2019-08-04","Cost Sharing","We would like to clarify the funding level in Subtopic 1.2: Innovative Manufacturing Processes for Battery Energy Storage. Are all applications for subtopic 1.2 only for targeting for Tier 2 projects as it states on Page 8 “Note: It is expected that applications to this subtopic will be Tier 2 for a total of up to $12,000,000 over 3 years”?  As the amount of funding and number of grants is quite different between Tier 1 and 2. On page 4 of the FOA, it states “Tier 2 projects can include can include activities in Tier 1, but must also include scope to bring the technology to later stage TRLs.” Would the TRL level starting at 3 to 6 be suitable to Tier 2 or Tier 1? In terms of funding budget, should we limit what Tier level we propose? Or can we propose for Tier 2 but only go for the relatively lower level of TRL?","As noted in the question and also Section II.A.i of the FOA, for Subtopic 1.2 only Tier 2 applications are requested.  Tier 2 applications can include Tier 1 activities (TRL 2-3) and also later stage TRL activities.  It is up to the applicant to decide what TRL activities and budgets to propose.  "]
[80,"2019-08-04","Cost Sharing","What is the minimum share of our company if we collaborate with a group in a national lab as a subcontractor?","The cost share provided for the overall project must be at least 20% of the total project cost (See FOA Section III.B).  Cost share from individual project partners may vary as long as the overall cost share for the total project cost meets the 20% minimum requirement.  Total project cost includes any federal share provided to National Laboratory partners.  "]
[81,"2019-07-31","Foreign Entities/Work","Our pre-proposal has been selected for full proposal, but the lead company on our proposal will change its structure next month and the lead PI will become the majority shareholder (>51%) of their company. Their company is still a U.S. based corporation but the PI is still green card pending. Are we still eligible to submit and do we need to submit a foreign waiver request?","If the applicant is incorporated (or otherwise formed) under the laws of a particular State or territory of the United States and has a physical location for business operations in the United States, the applicant would not need to submit a Foreign Entity Participation waiver request.  "]
[82,"2019-07-31","Application Content/Format","Can you comment on the application of federal funds to equipment development and/or purchase?","The budget proposal should include any equipment necessary to achieve the goals of the project. Should the application be selected, additional cost justification details may be requested during award negotiations. Please see sections IV.J.vi. and VI.B.xv. for additional information concerning equipment."]
[83,"2019-08-02","Application Content/Format","Is it possible to include a budget item to purchase a one-time license of this process should validation prove successful during the course of the project? In other words, can the license for a process be procured using federal funds, and would there be any disposition considerations?","Should the application be selected, proposed licensing will be reviewed during award negotiations."]
[84,"2019-08-05","Cost Sharing","Is it possible to count participant cost sharing if not all participants or partners have been determined before the final submission?","Applicants are required to provide written assurance of their proposed cost share contributions in their Full Applications. Please see section III.B.v of the FOA for details.  If cost share commitments cannot be obtained from planned partners, the applicant must provide this assurance in their proposed budget for the project.  "]
[85,"2019-08-05","Eligibility","Can we bid the project as Cost Plus Fixed Fee?","No. DOE intends to use Cooperative Agreements and recipient cost share will be required. Please see sections II.B.i and III.B in the FOA for additional details."]
[86,"2019-08-05","Application Content/Format","Will DOE provide a summary slide template to download via EERE exchange for DE-FOA-0001980?","EERE will not be providing a summary slide template available to applicants through the EERE Exchange system.  For information regarding the Summary Slide content requirements, please reference Section IV.D.vii of the FOA. "]
[87,"2019-07-31","Cost Sharing","A cost share of at least 20 percent of the cost of the activity is required for research and development and a cost share of at least 50 percent of the cost of a demonstration or commercial application activity is required.\nWe are targeting a TRL 9 as the final goal of our proposed project with most of our work being done on our pilot scale mixing and coating equipment.  This fits the definition of demonstration.  Does that mean that our cost share for all work at pilot scale and larger requires 50% cost share?\n","Per section B. in the FOA the cost share must be at least 20% of the total allowable costs for research and development projects, however, per 2 CFR 910.130, a cost share of at least 50 percent is required for a demonstration or commercial application activity project. For a blended cost share project, see Appendix B of the FOA. Should the application be selected, cost share requirements and contributions will reviewed during award negotiations.  Note that per Section I.A.ii, “With this FOA, the AMO intends to fund high‐impact, early to mid‐stage research” and therefore any project proposing scope inconsistent with this will not be considered responsive to the objectives of this FOA.  "]
[88,"2019-08-07","Application Content/Format","My question is can we shift from Tier 1 to Tier 2 in the full proposal phase if appropriate for our topic/technology? Our proposed tier level in the concept paper was Tier 1, but we believe we now fall under the definitions for Tier 2, is it possible to make that shift at this point?","Applicants may change their project from a Tier 1 to a Tier 2 as long as the scope and budget for the proposed project is consistent with the Tier definitions in the FOA.  Please note that the Tier level of the project is now required to be indicated on the Cover Sheet of the Full Application.  "]
[89,"2019-08-07","Eligibility","Is there any rules on the % of funds required to be received by the Prime recipient and sub-recipients?  For example, does the Prime Recipient need to receive 51% or more of the funds for the project?  Or can a Sub-recipient actually receive a higher % than the Prime?  Is the rule the same when there is only one Sub and multiple subs?","If the subrecipient is an FFRDC, then the scope of work to be performed by the FFRDC may not be more significant than the scope of work to be performed by the applicant (per section III Ei-6 of the FOA). Other than that, there are no restrictions and the project team is free to determine how best to allocate the funds among the team members in order to achieve the goals of the project."]
[90,"2019-08-07","Application Content/Format","If a subrecipient is a FFRDC, do they have to also fill out the Budget Justification Excel file or is the DOE Work Proposal (WP) sufficient?","FFRDCs are not asked to fill out our Budget Justification form. As part of the application, the applicant must submit a DOE Work Proposal (WP,) as well as an FFRDC Authorization. See FOA Sections IV.D.ix and IV.D.x.  "]
[91,"2019-08-09","Cost Sharing","We are submitting a full application to DE-FOA-0001980 as a Tier 1.  Pages 4 and 28 and of the FOA say the max Tier 1 award is $500k.  I'd just like to confirm $500k is the federal share and means with our 20% cost share match, we can have total maximum project budget of $625k?","The amounts listed in Section II.A.i. of the FOA are the estimated federal funding levels for each area. Recipient cost share would be in addition and must be at a level that is at least 20% of the total allowable costs for research and development projects. Section III.B. as well as Appendices A and B to this FOA provide further information on cost sharing requirements."]
[92,"2019-08-12","Application Content/Format","Is it possible to charge a fee on labor hours for non R&D tasks? And can subrecipients charge a fee on non-R&D labor hours?","Fee or profit, including foregone fee or profit, are not allowable as project costs (including cost share) under awards resulting from this FOA. Neither the prime or its subrecipients may charge a profit to the award."]
[93,"2019-08-12","Application Content/Format","It would help to clarify what AMO would like to see with the form \"SF-424.pdf\". Does AMO prefer for just the prime contractor to fill out this form to cover the entire project? Or does AMO prefer for each subcontractor to also fill out this form as well?  If it is the later, does AMO prefer for the subcontractors's filled-out forms to be attached to the prime's filled-out form, all in one pdf file, and then submitted?  ","The applicant is the party that should be completing the SF-424 and it should cover the entire project. "]
[94,"2019-08-12","Due Dates","We are discussing budget with all the team members in the project and we are wondering, based on the information given on the FOA, when is the estimated project start date is? We see negotiation to be carried out in March 2020. When after that DOE expect the project to start?","Selected applicants may expect to begin their project work in or about March 2020.  However exact timing depends on the actual date of selection notification and the length of the award negotiation period.  Please see section VI.A.iv. and also Section IV.J.ii. for guidance on pre-award costs.  "]
[95,"2019-08-12","Application Content/Format","Can the roles of partners change compared to the roles outlined in the concept paper (prime recipient, subrecipient)? (i.e. Can an expected subrecipient become the prime recipient and the prime recipient become the subrecipient?)\nAnd if this restructuring made it so that one entity was the prime recipient on two applications, is that acceptable?\n","The prime Applicant cannot change at this point in the process.  The organization that registers in the EERE Exchange system under a specific control number and submits the Concept Paper is considered the prime Applicant moving into the Full Application phase. Subrecipients and other partners can change between the Concept Paper and Full Application."]
[96,"2019-08-15","Application Content/Format","What is the B&R code for this project/call?  What is the program manager’s name and phone number? What is the DOE Org Code?\n","Due to the nature of this FOA, DOE cannot provide this information at this time and this information is not needed as part of your application.  You can enter “Advanced Manufacturing Office Director” if you need to enter something into the program manager field for your institution’s paperwork.  If the project is selected for award, the name of the responsible DOE point of contact and needed award funding information will be provided at that time. "]
[97,"2019-08-12","Application Content/Format","It would help to clarify what AMO would like to see with the letters of commitment (LOC).  On our project, a company is serving as the Prime contractor.  Some R&D work will be subcontracted to a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory.  In other words, the DOE national laboratory will effectively be a 'sub-recipient' (although it is likely that funding will flow directly from DOE headquarters to the national laboratory and not through the Prime contractor). In this case, does AMO prefer for DOE national laboratories to also provide a letter of commitment?  ","As noted, the FOA requests letters of commitment for that are providing cost share as well as from partners and end users.  FFRDCs are considered subrecipients for the purposes of the application and it is at the discretion of the applicant whether to provide a letter of commitment from them.  See Section IV.D for Full Application content requirements, including that for FFRDCs.  "]
[98,"2019-08-13","Application Content/Format","Is an entity eligible to apply if it is a [US] corporation that has a small number of shareholders, one of which are foreign owned company and another is a venture capital fund with partners from various foreign countries.  ","See sections III A and G of the FOA for eligibility information. Please note that Per section III G of the FOA, \"EERE will not make eligibility determinations for potential applicants prior to the date on which applications to this FOA must be submitted. The decision whether to submit an application in response to this FOA lies solely with the applicant\"."]
[99,"2019-08-14","Cost Sharing","Are cost share requirements removed for  institutions of higher education?","No. For purposes of this FOA, all applicants, including institutions of higher education, have to meet the minimum cost share requirement of 20%. Please refer to Section III.B and Appendix A in the FOA for details regarding cost share requirements."]
[100,"2019-08-12","Eligibility","While preparing the full proposal, we have noticed that there is a line about eligibility for individuals stating that “U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents are eligible to apply for funding as a prime recipient or subrecipient”. I am currently holding a H1B visa, and applying for green card. My co-PI is US citizen. We would like to kindly ask if you could please clarify: Does that “individual” eligibility request apply to our case, or we fall under Domestic entities, since we are [a US-based educational institution]?","Section III.A. of the FOA outlines information on eligible applicants. If an individual submits an application for funding, DOE will apply Section III.A.i \"Individuals\". If a domestic university submits the application for funding, DOE will apply Section III.A.ii \"Domestic Entities\". If a domestic university submits the application and, if selected for award, would ultimately receive the funding, the eligibility criteria under III.A.ii would be applicable, not III.A.i. \n\nAs noted in Section III.G. of the FOA “EERE will not make eligibility determinations for potential applicants prior to the date on which applications to this FOA must be submitted. The decision whether to submit an application in response to this FOA lies solely with the applicant.” Please note that the Applicant cannot be changed between the Concept Paper and Full App phase of the FOA.\n"]
[101,"2019-08-19","Application Content/Format","The solicitation states, “Each project must have at least one project-wide Go/NoGo decision point for each budget period (12 to 18-month period) of the project;” however is the last budget period (e.g., year) exempt?","Each project should include an “End of Project Goal” for the last budget period of the project that summarizes the end of project goal(s) in lieu of a final Go/No-Go decision point. As per the FOA section IV.D.ii under the Technical Volume contents for the application Workplan, each project must have at least one SMART end of project goal summary that is consistent with the SOPO. For more information, please see the Statement of Project Objectives (SOPO) template link included in the FOA under section IV.D.iii."]
[102,"2019-08-19","Application Content/Format","The last paragraph on page 53 of the FOA states “An applicant may select one of the template Data Management Plans (DMP) listed below.”. I do not see any links to templates. Are the templates the Option 1 and Option 2 paragraphs provided on page 54 of the FOA?","There are no links to DMP templates provided in the FOA. As listed in section IV.D.xiv of the FOA, the applicant may select one of the template Data Management Plans (DMP) included on page 54 under Option 1 and Option 2,  or alternatively submit a DMP that includes at a minimum the information provided in the first paragraph of page 54. "]
[103,"2019-08-19","Application Content/Format","To add on to an earlier question as to whether a lead has to have 51% or more of the funding for a project. The answer stated that an FFRDC cannot have more significant scope than the lead and that other than that there are no restrictions.  I want to clarify if this means that a non-FFRDC is allowed to have more scope (ie funding) than the lead organization.  Please confirm if I am interpreting your answer correctly.","The limitation is specific to FFRDC effort."]
[104,"2019-08-16","Cost Sharing","We intend to submit to 3.3. , which requires a 20% cost share.  Our project involves an {redacted amount} upgrade of {redacted technology description}, including {redacted amount} for design costs.   DOE funding will support optimization of the system to capture additional features. We want to  claim {redacted amount} of those design costs for the upgrade as cost share.  Does this comply with DOE cost-share requirements?","Please refer to Section III.B, and Appendix A in the FOA for information regarding cost share requirements.  Applicants are encouraged to refer to 2CFR200.306 as amended by 2CFR910.130 for additional guidance on cost sharing. EERE will not make cost share determinations for potential applicants prior to the date on which applications to the FOA must be submitted. Proposed cost share contributions will be reviewed as part of the negotiation process, if an application is selected."]
[105,"2019-08-23","Application Content/Format","Having read through the proposal document requirements carefully, I did not see \"Market Transformation Plan or Commercialization plan\"  that was typically required in EERE proposals. Would you clarify if such a plan is not required this time or it needs to be put somewhere?","As noted, this FOA does not require a specific \"Market Transformation Plan” or “Commercialization plan\".  The FOA does require and US Manufacturing Plan be submitted with the application.  In addition,  the Technical Description, Innovation, and Impact section of the Technical Volume should describe the impact and outcomes of the project, which can include discussion on market transformation and commercialization plans for the technology.  "]
[106,"2019-08-20","Application Content/Format","Is using independent research and development (IR&D) funds allowable in the performance of a contract awarded under DE-FOA-0001980?","Yes, IR&D is allowable as an indirect cost so long as it abides by the regulatory language governing for-profit entities under FAR 31.205-18 (For-Profit entities)."]
[107,"2019-08-26","Application Content/Format","Is there a formal template for Technical Volume of the full application (besides the formatting and content guidelines) as there was for the Concept Paper or SOPO of the full application?","There is no formal template for the Technical Volume.  Applicants need to conform to the content requirements requested in Section IV.D.ii of the FOA. "]
[108,"2019-08-27","Application Content/Format","Is there a page limit for the cost share letter of commitment?","Commitment letters from partners/end users are limited to 1 page.  The FOA does not set a page limit for cost share commitment letters from subrecipients/cost share providers."]
[109,"2019-08-27","Application Content/Format","I have read this FOA and did not see any language forbidding the inclusion of tuition charges as part of a Graduate RA's fringe benefits. I just wanted to confirm that this is allowable.","All expenditures must be allowable, allocable, and reasonable in accordance with the applicable federal cost principles. Please refer to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 31 for For-Profit entities and 2 CFR Part 200 Subpart E - Cost Principles for all other non-federal entities, for more information."]
[110,"2019-08-29","Application Content/Format","I have another question regarding a Manufacturing Commitment letter per point xiii, page 52 of the AMO document. Who does the letter need to be address to (names)?","This form is not required to be addressed to a specific individual, however, please note that the top of the form should include the applicant name, project title, and control number for the submission. Please also note the file naming convention for this form listed on page 53 of the FOA under section IV.D.xiii."]
[111,"2019-09-03","Due Dates","As you may already know, Hurricane Dorian is currently a Category 4 Hurricane and is scheduled to hit the East Coast of the United States this coming week.  Would DOE AMO consider delaying the proposal deadline <...> to allow teams time to recover from upcoming, expected power outages and losses of communication?   ","The FOA has been modified in order to extend the submission deadline for Full Applications to 9/12/2019 at 5PM ET, and to extend the expected submission deadline for Replies to Reviewer Comments to 10/23/2019 at 5PM ET."]
[112,"2019-08-29","Cost Sharing","Does the cost share contributions have to be equal throughout the duration of the project? Let’s say the project lasts 3 years and the share contribution is for a total of 1.5 M$, does it mean we have to contribute 0.5M$ for each budget year? ","EERE requires prime recipients to contribute the cost share amount incrementally over the life of the award. Please see Section IIIB-vi, Cost Share Payment, for details."]
[113,"2019-08-29","Application Content/Format","If our company needs to build a special building to put some equipment for a completion of a project and I put the construction of the building under the construction tab of eere335, once the project is over, who owes the building our company or the Federal Government?","See Section 200.311 of 2CFR200 for information regarding disposition of real property. Please note that Recipients of the FOA funds are required to obtain written authorization from the Contracting Officer before incurring any major construction costs per Section IV.J.iv of the FOA."]
[114,"2019-08-29","Application Content/Format","Once the project is over who owes the equipment our company or the federal Government?","Property disposition will be required at the end of a project if the current fair market value of property exceeds $5,000. The rules for property disposition are set forth in 2 CFR 200.310 – 200.316 as amended by 2 CFR 910.360."]
[115,"2019-08-29","Application Content/Format","If for the realization of the project we need to design and pay an outside vendor for the building of a special type of equipment, what would be the tab to put this equipment under, equipment or contractual tab?","Applicable vendor costs should be reflected on the contractual tab (f) of the Budget Justification (EERE 335) form."]
[116,"2019-08-29","Labs/FFRDCs","If our company is working with a FFRDC  on this project and their budget costs go over 250,000$, does the FFRDC have to submit its own eere335 or do we need (my company) to enter the FFRDC costs on the eere 335 I’ll be submitting?","FFRDCs are not asked to fill out our Budget Justification form. As part of the application, the applicant must submit a DOE Work Proposal (WP,) as well as an FFRDC Authorization. See FOA Sections IV.D.ix and IV.D.x. Additionally, the prime applicant should list the FFRDC amount on the contractual tab of their Budget Justification (EERE 335) form. "]
[117,"2019-09-03","Application Content/Format","I am preparing a proposal submission for DE-FOA-0001980 and note that Form SF-LLL: Disclosure of Lobbying Activities is labeled as ‘Required’. The form itself seems to indicate that any information provided relate directly to lobbying, however [our organization] does not engage in lobbying activities is it sufficient to put N/A (or Not Applicable) on the form?","Please mark N/A (Not Applicable) on the SF-LLL form."]
[118,"2019-08-20","Application Content/Format","How do we document the in-kind value? [A third party] does not yet have quotes - it'll be a large call for proposals and that RFP is not yet published. They are willing to provide what they can for what we need, but what can they provide to meet the sponsor needs?","Per Section III B-v of the FOA, \"Applicants are required to provide written assurance of their proposed cost share contributions in their Full Applications. Upon selection for award negotiations, applicants are required to provide additional information and documentation regarding their cost share contributions\". For additional details please see section III B as well as Appendix A, Cost Share Information."]
[119,"2019-08-22","Application Content/Format","We have a subcontractor that is a small company, and I am giving them instructions on how to use the budget template. Do they use the same template that we use?","Applicants must provide a separate budget justification for each subrecipient that is expected to perform work estimated to be more than $250,000 or 25 percent of the total work effort (whichever is less). Prime applicants and their subrecipients are required to use the same budget justification workbook templates."]
[120,"2019-08-22","Application Content/Format","We have to charge overhead on the first $25K of funds that go to any subcontractor. Does the sub need to write their budget so it includes that overhead amount, or should their budget total be net of the applicant’s overhead?","Please reflect the indirect rate charges in accordance with your organization's accounting policy.  Subrecipients should include in their budget their own indirect rate charges and this is independent of the prime applicant’s indirect rate charges.  "]
[121,"2019-08-26","Labs/FFRDCs","If a sub-recipient is a DOE/NNSA FFRDC or a non-DOE/NNSA FFRDC, do they have to fill out an EERE_335 budget justification form?     ","FFRDCs are not asked to fill out our Budget Justification form. As part of the application, the applicant must submit a DOE Work Proposal (WP,) as well as an FFRDC Authorization. See FOA Sections IV.D.ix and IV.D.x.  "]
[122,"2019-08-26","Application Content/Format","Do the applicants and subrecipient’s need to have an integrated travel schedule in the EERE_335 budget justification form?","Please follow instructions provided in EERE 335 Budjet Justification form, tab C. Travel.  Travel should be included on separate EERE-335 forms for the applicant and those subrecipients required to complete a EERE-335 form.  "]
[123,"2019-08-26","Application Content/Format","Can additional cost sharing subrecipients (who will receive funding) be brought into the program after it has been awarded and work started?","Post-award changes to the contractual section of an approved award's budget as well as changes to its cost share will require the Contracting Officer's review and approval before they can be implemented."]
[124,"2019-08-23","Application Content/Format","Is DE-FOA-0001980 covered by EO 12372?","DE-FOA-0001980 is not covered by Executive Order 12372. An SF424 Application for Federal Assistance form submitted as part of a full application under this FOA should reflect option “C”, “Program is not covered by E.O. 12372” in Box 19 of the form."]
[125,"2019-09-03","Application Content/Format","If our SAM entity registration is in “submitted” status, does that affect our ability to submit our proposal through the EERE Exchange?","\"Submitted\" SAM registration status does not impact an applicant's ability to apply in EERE Exchange. However, DOE may not make a federal award to an applicant until the applicant has complied with all applicable DUNS and SAM requirements."]
[126,"2019-09-05","Cost Sharing","For a Tier 1 proposal is $500k the maximum government share of proposal costs (w/ 125k in cost share giving a total project budget of $625)? Or is $400k the maximum government share (w/ 100k in cost share giving a total project budget of $500)?","The dollar amounts listed in Section II.A.i  of the FOA are the estimated Federal amounts available for awards. Cost share would be in addition to these amounts. Please refer to Section III.B, and Appendix A in the FOA for information regarding cost share requirements."]
[127,"2019-09-05","Application Content/Format","We are a bit confused as to the correct page labelling protocol based on the SOPO template and instructions. The top of this page seems to indicate that the Mod number should be included in the header, but that is not clear as the page references the Award Number rather than the Control Number. It is not clear to me if we should list a Mod number as part of the control number or if the Mod Number would be included only on revisions made during the negotiation process should a decision be made to make an award. Should the top of the SOPO read \"Control Number 1980[0002]-1629”  as there have been two modifications to the FOA? Or should it simply read \"Control Number 1980-1629\" at this stage of the process?","The Award Number and Mod Number will be provided if the application is selected for award.  You can either leave this blank or enter the Exchange number for the application (1980-XXXX).  "]
[128,"2019-09-04","Application Content/Format","We are submitting a full proposal for FY19 Advanced Manufacturing Office Multi-Topic FOA, subtopic 1.2 , Area of interest 1- Battery Energy Storage and the question below came from one of our lawyers: “Would you please try to find out from your contact at the DOE whether the “Special Data Statute (e.g., EPACT)” will apply, and whether the type of award will be “Cooperative Agreement”, “Grant”, or “Grant and Cooperative Agreement”? ","Information on data rights can be found in Section VIII.M., Rights in Technical Data.   Cooperative Agreements are planned for non-FFRDC selected applicants (see Section II.B).  "]
[129,"2019-09-04","Application Content/Format","I'm working on a full proposal for DE-FOA-0001980 (FY19 Advanced Manufacturing Office Multi-Topic FOA) and it didn't appear that there was a specific powerpoint file template associated with this FOA. Please let me know if there is a file that I am missing or if I am free to use a powerpoint file template from another FOA.","The requested content of the Summary Slide is described in Section IV.D.vii. of the FOA.  There is no specified format or template.  "]
[130,"2019-09-04","Application Content/Format","How does the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) interact with the DOE Manufacturing USA institutes listed below? I would expect this FOA to be issues under an existing institute of the program and one of the exiting institutes DOE already funds. Can you explain the reason being this FOA being outside of the Manufacturing USA program? \n\n1. IACMI (The Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation)\n2. RAPID (Rapid Advancement in Process Intensification Deployment Institute)\n3. REMADE (Reducing EMbodied-energy And Decreasing Emissions)\n4. CESMII (Clean Energy Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute)\n5. Power America\n How does the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) interact with the DOE Manufacturing USA institutes listed below? I would expect this FOA to be issues under an existing institute of the program and one of the exiting institutes DOE already funds. Can you explain the reason being this FOA being outside of the Manufacturing USA program? ","The Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) funds the existing DOE Manufacturing USA Institutes.  This FOA is for new R&D and has been issued separately from Institute funding, and any work awarded will be conducted separately from any Institute efforts that may be related.  AMO does encourage applicants to work closely with the DOE Institutes and other government funded entities such as FFRDCs as appropriate to further their research efforts proposed."]
[131,"2019-09-05","Labs/FFRDCs","Consider a situation where FFRDC is a prime for subtopic 1.4, with a university and a company as sub-recipients. In this case, can the sub-recipients receive their funding directly from AMO? Or would their funding HAVE to go to FFRDC first, and then FFRDC would have to issue a subcontract to sub-recipients?","FFRDCs are funded independently of the remainder of the Project Team. Their subrecipients are not funded separately from FRRDCs, the funds flow through FFRDCs to their subrecipients. "]
[132,"2019-09-05","Cost Sharing","If a company is only providing Cost Share, but is over the $250K minimum requiring an EERE 335 form, does the Cost Share provider need to complete the  EERE 335 form?  Or is this form only for those providing Federal funds?","Applicants are only required to provide separate budget justification for each subrecipient that is expected to perform work, whether using federal or cost share funds, estimated to be more than $250,000 or 25 percent of the total work effort (whichever is less).  "]
[133,"2019-09-07","Cost Sharing","We are informed that the public universities have cost-share exemption till 09/30/2020. Are there other options for the cost-share exemption?","For purposes of this FOA, all applicants, including institutions of higher education, have to meet the minimum cost share requirement of 20%. Please refer to Section III.B and Appendix A in the FOA for details regarding cost share requirements."]
[134,"2019-09-09","Application Content/Format","Can a Sub submit a budget justification directly to the Contracting Officer? The sub would like to avoid sharing certain budget details with the Prime.","Prime applicants are responsible for submitting full application packages via EERE Exchange at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/. In order to be considered, all Submissions must conform to the form and content requirements listed in Section IV of the FOA, however if the subrecipient is concerned about sharing sensitive details with the Prime, they may submit their Budget Justification directly to the DOE. "]
[135,"2019-09-10","Application Content/Format","We have a subcontractor who is reluctant to share their rate structure with us as the prime in the FOA subrecipient workbook format. Is it possible for the subrecipient to provide their rate details directly to the DOE without the prime?     ","An application package must conform the form and content requirements listed in Section IV of the FOA. If selected, a prime's subrecipient can submit their applicable rate agreements directly to the DOE."]
[136,"2019-09-09","Application Content/Format","A subrecipient on our project has provided a quote in response to the DOE’s subject RFP as part of our application. Our quote fell below the threshold to provide cost & pricing data per the FAR, so the subrecipient doesn’t feel it is necessary to provide the level of detail requested in the EERE excel file.  The subrecipient considers this to be competition sensitive data and unless required by the FAR should not be included in our submission for this effort. Please review and let me know if this is acceptable to the DOE.","Per Section IV.D.viii. of the FOA, all subrecipients with budgets estimated to be greater than $250,000 or greater than 25% of the total work effort must submit a budget justification with the same level of detail that the prime applicant provides (Section IV.D.v.).  All information submitted with the application, including budget justifications, are reviewed as part of the selection process.  If the information is not provided with the application and the application is selected for award negotiations, the information must be provided at that time.  "]
[137,"2019-10-23","Application Reviews","When will the reviewer comments be made available and a reply due? ","Reviewer comments are expected to be available in the EERE Exchange System on Tuesday, 10/29/19, at 12:00PM ET with a reply to the comments due by Friday, 11/1/19, at 5:00PM ET. Applicants will receive notice once the comments are available and a reply can be uploaded. "]
[138]

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["Pick List"]
[]
["Registration Requirements"]
["Webinar"]
["Eligibility"]
["Labs/FFRDCs"]
["Foreign Entities/Work"]
["Cost Sharing"]
["Due Dates"]
["Application Content/Format"]
["Intellectual Property"]
["Data Management"]
["U.S. Manufacturing Plan"]
["Application Reviews"]
["Technical Topics"]