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["INSTRUCTIONS"]
[1,"All questions pertaining to this funding opportunity announcement should be emailed to PVRD2@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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["ADMINISTRATIVE QUESTION AND ANSWER LOG"]
["DE-FOA-0001654 - Photovoltaics Research and Development (PVRD 2) :SIPS, SOLID, RAPID"]
["Question #","Date Submitted","Topic","Question","Answer"]
[1,"2016-11-21","Eligibility","Can an FFRDC be a prime on this FOA?","As cited in the FOA, section III.A.ii, \"DOE/NNSA Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) are eligible to apply for funding as a Subrecipient, but are not eligible to apply as a Prime Recipient.\"."]
[2,"2016-11-21","Application Content/Format","Should letters of intent be emailed or submitted through EERE?","As cited in the FOA, section IV.A, \"All submissions must conform to the following form and content requirements, including maximum page lengths (described below) and must be submitted via EERE Exchange at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov \""]
[3,"2016-11-22","Application Content/Format","I would like to seek the opinion if my proposed project aligns with the objective of SIPS program.","As cited in the FOA, section III.G, \"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.\""]
[4,"2016-11-22","Foreign Entities/Work","If a foreign entity is a team member on a proposal, but not the Prime Awardee, does the foreign entity need to have a subsidiary or affiliate incorporated in the USA to receive the funding, or can the funding go directly from DOE to the foreign entity ?","As cited in the FOA, section III.A.iii, \"If a foreign entity applies for funding as a Prime Recipient, it must designate in the Full Application a subsidiary or affiliate incorporated (or otherwise formed) under the laws of a State or territory of the United States to be the Prime Recipient.\"  This does not apply to foreign entities applying as a Subrecipient.  In all cases, funding \"flows through\" the Prime Recipient. "]
[5,"2016-11-22","Foreign Entities/Work","Alternatively, can a foreign company serve as a sub-contractor on an award ? ","As cited in the FOA, section III.A.iii, \"A foreign entity may receive funding as a Subrecipient\""]
[6,"2016-11-22","Application Content/Format","Do sub-contracts to non-team members (i.e. third part organizations) count towards the Prime Recipient's share of the project work ?","Sub-contracts to non-team members do not count towards the Prime Recipient's share of the project work."]
[7,"2016-11-27","Cost Sharing","Are the cost share requirements for topic 1 same as topic 2/3.\nAlso, does the % of work need be the majority share for the prime recipient?","As listed in the FOA, Section III.B, \"The cost share must be at least 20% of the total allowable costs for research and development projects…\".  Further; also as cited in the same section of the FOA, the percentage of work for the prime recipient is only relevent when applying for the 'Special Cost Share Waiver'."]
[8,"2016-11-29","Application Content/Format","What is the process for submitting the Letter of Intent (due Dec. 1) for this FOA? Is an e-mail sufficient? What information is needed?  ","As listed in the FOA, section, IV.A ('The Application Process'), \"All submissions must conform to the following form and content requirements, including maximum page lengths (described below) and must be submitted via EERE Exchange at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/...\"."]
[9,"2016-11-29","Eligibility","It appears that FFRDCs cannot qualify for the 10% cost share despite being listed in that section (p. 19) because they cannot be the Prime Recipient (p. 17) and the 10% cost share requires that they are a Prime Recipient (p. 19).  Is this true?  ","As listed in the FOA section, III.B the 'Special Cost Share Waiver', applies to only to prime recipients that are \"...a domestic institution of higher education; domestic nonprofit entity; FFRDC; or U.S. State, local, or tribal government entity…\".  Further as cited in section III.A, \"...DOE/NNSA Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) are eligible to apply for funding as a Subrecipient, but are not eligible to apply as a Prime Recipient.\"."]
[10,"2016-11-29","Application Content/Format","1.   Will there be any review or down selection with the LOI submissions?\n\n2.  Does an LOI commit an organization to a full submission?\n\n3.  Thin films are not mentioned in the FOA, is Sunshot interested in new concepts/technologies responsive to the goals outlined in the FOA but specifically targeting thin film PV?","As listed in the FOA section, IV.B.i, \"The letters will not be used for down-selection purposes, and do not commit an applicant to submit an application\".   Further, as stated in the FOA, section I.B (Topic Area 1) \"Applications of interest will propose targeted, well-defined projects that can produce significant results within the first year of performance\";  (Topic Area 2A) \"...projects that will develop new module technologies with the potential to significantly improve the performance, fielded energy output, reliability, and manufacturability of completed PV modules\";  (Topic Area 2B) \"...projects that advance the knowledge base for advanced PV modules and systems through the use of new and unique characterization, diagnostic, and modeling methods.\";  (Topic Area 3) \"...projects that will increase the speed and ease of PV system deployment, including permitting, inspection, and interconnection. Automated or mechanized installation methods, system designs that require reduced on-site assembly (i.e. partially pre-fabricated arrays), and other strategies to enhance installation speed and quality control while reducing manual on-site operations are appropriate for this Topic Area\"."]
[11,"2016-11-30","Application Content/Format","If a Letter of Intent has been submitted and it is determined that adjustments need to be made, with respect to team members, can a LOI be edited or resubmitted?","As cited in the FOA, section IV.A: \"...applicants may revise or update that submission until the expiration of the applicable deadline. If changes are made, the applicant must resubmit the Letter of Intent, SIPS Application, Concept Paper, Full Application, or Reply to Reviewer Comments before the applicable deadline.\""]
[12,"2016-12-01","Application Content/Format","I have just created a letter of intent (LoI) for the topic area 1 (SIPS) of PVRD 2.  I believe the creation of LoI is considered as its submission, but it was not clear because the first page of the FoA says “After submitting a Letter of Intent to Topic Area 1, SIPS applicants should navigate through the concept paper submission process on EERE Exchange and click “submit” on the last page (No uploaded concept paper file is required for Topic Area 1, but Applicants must still fill out the required fields and click submit)” and the FoA says it without any specific time line for this particular extra step of submission before full application.  Can this extra step to be done simply by Dec 14 without uploading the concept paper because SIPS does not require the concept paper submission?","As listed on the cover page of the FOA: \"... After submitting a Letter of Intent to Topic Area 1, SIPS applicants should navigate through the concept paper submission process on EERE Exchange and click “submit” on the last page (No uploaded concept paper file is required for Topic Area 1, but Applicants must still fill out the required fields and click submit)."]
[13,"2016-12-05","Eligibility","I missed Dec 1 deadline for submission of letter of Intent. Can I still submit my paper by Dec 14?","As stated on the cover page of the FOA: \"...All applicants must submit a Letter of Intent by 5:00pm ET on the due date listed above to be eligible to submit a Small Innovative Projects in Solar (SIPS) Application (Topic 1) or a Concept Paper (Topic 2 & 3)\"."]
[14,"2016-12-06","Application Content/Format","Would someone be able to chat on the phone for a few minutes to help us better understand which Topic Area under PVRD2 best fits our proposed R&D effort?","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."]
[15,"2016-12-06","Application Content/Format","We are applying for the Topic 1 (SIPS) funding through FOA 1654. Although a concept paper submission is not required, if we submit a concept paper by the Dec 14 deadline, would it be evaluated and responded to, as with the other topics? ","As listed on the cover page of the FOA: \"... After submitting a Letter of Intent to Topic Area 1, SIPS applicants should navigate through the concept paper submission process on EERE Exchange and click “submit” on the last page (No uploaded concept paper file is required for Topic Area 1, but Applicants must still fill out the required fields and click submit).  As such, concept papers submitted for topic 1 will not be reviewed.",{"$nulls":6},1]
[16,"2016-12-07","Application Content/Format","Will our submission be sufficient for the “Concept Paper Submission” for PVRD2, FOA #: DE-FOA-0001654 which is due on Dec. 14, 2016?","The content and form required for the concept paper can be in the FOA, section IV.C.i"]
[17,"2016-12-11","Eligibility","Would someone be able to chat about the proper categorization of our proposed PVRD2 project? ","As listed in the FOA, section III.G, \"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 also note section VII of the FOA which provides \"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...\""]
[18,"2016-12-12","Application Content/Format","Can letters of intent that were submitted for Topic Area 2A or 2B be used instead for Topic Area 1 (SIPS)?","As listed in the FOA, Section IV.A, letters of intent are required for all topic areas, but not necessarily binding to that topic.  Please note the differences in the application process for the topic area cited in section I.B. "]
[19,"2016-12-13","Application Content/Format","For the topic 1 concept paper, we just have to provide the information in the various tabs, right?  Is this information binding?  ","The information provided in the application process is not binding.  "]
[20,"2016-12-15","Eligibility","Could you kindly inform us whether the funding opportunity is open to international collaboration (foreign firms) with SAM registration please?","As cited in the FOA, section III.A.iii \"Foreign entities, whether for-profit or otherwise, are eligible to apply for funding under this FOA. Other than as provided in the “Individuals” or “Domestic Entities” sections above, all Prime Recipients receiving funding under this FOA must be incorporated (or otherwise formed) under the laws of a State or territory of the United States. If a foreign entity applies for funding as a Prime Recipient, it must designate in the Full Application a subsidiary or affiliate incorporated (or otherwise formed) under the laws of a State or territory of the United States to be the Prime Recipient. The Full Application must state the nature of the corporate relationship between the foreign entity and domestic subsidiary or affiliate\"."]
[21,"2016-12-15","Due Dates","We noticed that your concept paper deadline has passed on the 14th of December, just recently. Is this a mandatory step and is it possible if we could submit the concept paper upon request immediately since the full application period is still open?","As listed on the cover page of the FOA: \"Applicants to Topic Areas 2 and 3 must submit a Concept Paper by 5:00pm ET the due date listed above in order to be eligible to submit a Full Application\"."]
[22,"2016-12-15","Application Content/Format","Are there any specific requirements pertaining to the call such as restrictions, limits such as revenue amounts or consortium requirements please, and whether these can be worked out. ","Funding amounts are found in section II.A.i and Consortia requirement are found in sections III.A.iv and III.A.v of the FOA"]
[23,"2016-12-15","Due Dates","When can be [sic] expect Encourage/Discourage notifications for Topic 2 concept papers?","As stated in the FOA, Section IV.E \"Applicants will have approximately 30 days from receipt of the Concept Paper Encourage/Discourage notification to prepare and submit a Full Application. Regardless of the date the applicant receives the Encourage/Discourage notification, the submission deadline for the Full Application remains the date and time stated on the FOA cover page.\""]
[24,"2025-12-28","Application Content/Format","Can you please clarify whether the SOPO is a distinct document from the WBS and if it is a required part of the full application submission?","The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a subset of and preliminary form of the SOPO which is negotiated after award selections are made."]
[25,"2017-02-08","Webinar","Is there a web link that I can refer to for my SIPS submission? ","Slides from the SIPS and Full application webinar of 07 FEB 17 are uploaded to the Exchange page of the FOA."]
[26,"2017-02-08","Application Content/Format","What does DOE expect for the March submission, what is the required formatting etc.","Please fefer to the FOA sections IV.D and E for the content and form of the SIPS and Full applications."]
[27,"2017-02-08","Eligibility","Can I include an additional Co-PI in the SIPS application, who I did not indicate in the letter of intent? ","As long as the entity by which the letter of Intent remains the same."]
[28,"2017-02-08","Application Content/Format","Can I slightly adjust the total budget in my SIPS application compared to the number I indicated in the letter of intent?","Budgets for SIPS and Full applications may be adjusted within the parameters set in the FOA, section  II.A.1."]
[29,"2017-02-13","Application Content/Format","The EERE 335 form requires SOPO Task numbers to be aligned with the various expenses of the proposal. Can you please provide guidance on how to complete the EERE 335 when we are not submitting a SOPO at this point.","Alignment of the budget with the SOPO is not required at this time and will be finalized during negotiations.  You may tenatively tie the budget to documents in the technical volume as appropriate."]
[30,"2017-02-13","Cost Sharing","FOA Section, III.B the “Special Cost Share Waiver for Domestic Institutions of High Education, Domestic Nonprofit Entities, FFRDCs or US State, Local or Tribal Government Entity” Specifically, recipient cost share requirement for R&D activities is reduced to 10%.  Will indirect costs from subrecipients agreements count toward the Recipient’s percentage of performing more than 50% of the project work?","Any costs associated with sub recipient's costs should not be included in calculating the Prime's level of effort.   Indirect Costs incurred as a result of managing the sub is a cost associated with effort of the prime and should be counted toward the 50%."]
[31,"2017-02-14","Eligibility","Does it matter to me(is there any advantage to me) to choose one topic area over the other?  How do I determine if my project is a SIPS, needs me to submit a SIPS application, or just a regular application?  ","As cited in the FOA, section III.G. \"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.\""]
[32,"2017-02-14","Application Content/Format","Is there a way in the EERE Exchange System to change the PI from the concept paper to the full application?","The Applicant can update the Concept Paper Point of Contact and subcontractor (team Member) information in the Full Application phase of the submission process."]
[33,"2017-02-14","Application Content/Format","Is it okay to change the period of performance between the concept paper and the full submission?","The period of performance may be adjusted with the final submission.  This however may change the government's level of intrest expressed as response to the concept paper."]
[34,"2017-02-14","Application Content/Format","I noticed in the top corner of the SF424 that the form has an expiration date in 2016 (see below). Is it possible to get an updated form?","The SF-424 which expired 8/31/2016 is still accepted for use.  Current forms can be found at: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/forms.html"]
[35,"2017-02-21","Webinar","I downloaded[PVRD2_Webinar2_Slides_01262017.pptx] twice. Both times getting this error .  Slides 16 – 21 & 27 – 30 are blank? Please advise?","We are unable to recreate this error.  This issue was forwarded to EERE exchange help.  It was tested with Google Chrome, Internet Explorer and Firefox without issue.  The suggestion is made to save the file locally before opening the file or saving it to an earlier version of powerpoint in the case where your version of powerpoint is not able to open a .pptx filetype."]
[36,"2017-02-21","Application Content/Format","I wanted to check if it's ok to change a title of the DOE-SIPS from the abstract that was originally submitted in November. ","Applications are tracked by Control Number and not title."]
[37,"2017-02-21","Due Dates","We do not expect to successfully complete the full application by the deadline of March 3rd. Is there any possibility that this deadline may be extended?","As ststed on the cover page of the FOA, the \"Submission Deadline for Full Application or SIPS Application (Required for All Topic Areas)\" is March 3, 2017 at 5:00pm ET."]
[38,"2017-02-15","Technical Topics","The Silicon example in the LCOE impact analysis background spreadsheet is set to p-PERC modules. Can the benchmark technology in the LCOE impact calculation table be changed to Al-BSF or a different module technology?","Any appropriate PV benchmark technology can be used in the LCOE impact table in the technical volume as long as it is commonly used by the industry and its performance and costs are well understood."]
[39,"2017-02-16","Eligibility","I submitted an unsuccessful Concept Paper to Topic Area 2.  Is it possible for me to spin off a portion of that concept into a smaller, Topic Area 1 submission for the March 3 submission deadline?","As per the FOA, section III.C.i, Concept papers are deemed complaint or non-compliant.  Topics 2 and 3 require compliant concept papers.  Further in section III.D desribes the reponsivness criteria required for applications.  Topic 1 requires that a compliant Letter of Intent be submitted and that the application be compliant and responsive, per the same sections of the FOA."]
[40,"2017-02-17","Due Dates","We are working on our budget for proposal submission to DE-FOA-0001654.  No where can we find the project start date.  We see that award negotiations  should occur in July and August, so should the start date be September (being optimistic that the negotiations are complete) or October (government fiscal year)?","Final dates of performance will be determined during negotiations of successful applications."]
[41,"2017-02-18","Application Content/Format","Can I add a subrecipient to this proposal, even though the LoI doesn't have?","Final budgets will be determined during negotiations of successful applications. "]
[42,"2017-02-22","Application Content/Format","It states on page 34 of the FOA that the SIPS application should be in PDF unless stated otherwise. For the SIPS technical volume and EERE 335 templates, should they be converted to PDF as well?","As cited in the FOA, section IV.D.i  all components of the application should be 'PDF' unless a different format is indicated"]
[43,"2017-02-23","Application Content/Format","I’m not aware of an applicant identifier, federal entity identifier, and federal award identifier.","These data fields are not required at this time."]
[44,"2017-02-23","Application Content/Format","Is the Technical Volume supposed to contain all the following in a single merged Word doc file: Tech description (6 pg), Workplan and Market Transformation (8 pg), Tech Qual and Resources (4 pg), LCOE Impact (2 pg) plus all bios and letters of support? Or are some of them supposed to be submitted separately? ","As listed in the FOA, in the Chart in Section IV.E.ii, the Technical Volume is a single document with the components (with page limitations) listed."]
[45,"2017-02-23","Application Content/Format","I submitted a letter of intent for PVRD2 SIPS and am preparing an application. I initially indicated a cost share of 20%; however, I see that as a university I only need to provide 10%. Can this be changed in the full proposal, or do I need to keep the original numbers from the LOI?","While budget numbers are estimations and subject to change during both the selection and negotiation processes, changes to amounts or proposed work may change the government's intrest in the project."]
[46,"2017-02-27","Eligibility","If we submitted an LOI for a Topic 1 submission but did not enter our information and click submit on the exchange for the concept paper, will we still be eligible to submit our full application? ","As listed in the FOA, section III.C.i.i, submission of a compliant LOI is required for eligibility to subit an application for topic area 1."]
[47,"2017-02-27","Application Content/Format","I have started the full SIPS application process.  Do I use the [PVRD2_ConceptPaper_Topics_2_and_3_(Optional_Format).docx ] template provided through the EERE exchange as my Topic #1, SIPS concept paper template?","As listed in the FOA, section III.C.i.i, a Concept Paper is not required for topic 1."]
[48,"2017-02-27","Application Content/Format","We are filling out the required forms for the PVRD2 solicitation, our \nproposal is four years and the EERE335 is three. Do you have an EERE with four years? \n","The EERE 335.1, which has 5 budget periods is now available through Exchange."]
[49,"2017-02-28","Application Content/Format","Could you please confirm that the EERE 335 form is NOT required for FFRDC’s?","As cited in the FOA, section IV.D.viii, only the Field Work Proposal and FFRDC authorization are required for FFRDC's"]
[50,"2017-02-28","Application Content/Format","Please advise where the FFRDC FWP’s should be uploaded in EERE Exchange Online Application. Should they be combined with the Authorization letter from Cognizant Contracting Officer or should we upload them separately under “Additional Files”?   ","Please submit the FFRDC FWP as an 'Additional' File."]
[51,"2017-03-01","Application Content/Format","What are the allored font sizes for the SIPS proposal?","As per the FOA Section IV.A, \"All pages must be formatted to fit on 8.5 x 11 inch paper with margins not less than one inch on every side. Use a black font color, and a font size of 12 point or larger (except in figures or tables, which may be 10 point font). A symbol font may be used to insert Greek letters or special characters, but the font size requirement still applies. References must be included as footnotes or endnotes in a font size of 10 or larger. Endnotes are counted toward the maximum page requirement.\""]
[52,"2017-02-22","Application Reviews","Regarding our Topic-1 Concept paper LOI, Control #1654-1678 (DE-FOA-0001654) which shows its status as “Review Complete”, I would like to know details of the review comments which we never received.","The SIPS LOIs were only reviewed for compliance, and all LOIs that were compliant were given an Encourage designation in Exchange. No other review or feedback was delivered to applicants. "]
[53,"2017-03-02","Application Content/Format","Can you provide the updated link for the TRL tab / TRL Definitions. The link seems to be outdated and I would like to verify current and estimate states.","The link on the TRL tab has been updated to Admin Change 1 at: https://www.directives.doe.gov/directives-documents/400-series/0413.3-EGuide-04-admchg1/@@images/file"]

{"sheet":"Admin Pick List","index":2,"n_rows":15,"n_cols":1,"rows_kept":15,"cut":false,"hidden":true,"merged":[]}
["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"]