BP Solar gets $7.5M from US government for research
By Joseph M. deLeon /News-Post Staff /Originally published March 15, 2007
source: Frederick News Post
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/business/display.htm?StoryID=57934
FREDERICK — BP Solar International will receive $7.5 million in funding this year from the U.S. Department of Energy. It’s the first phase of a three-year, $40 million research and development program BP Solar and its partners proposed to help make solar power cost competitive with electricity generated by other means. The money is part of an initiative to promote solar energy and reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign energy.
The goal of the Solar America Initiative, announced in 2006 by President Bush, is to reduce the cost of solar power by 2015 to make it competitive with electricity generated by means such as coal-fired plants. Solar energy uses photovoltaic-based cells to convert sunlight into electricity. It’s a clean, widely available, and renewable energy source that can be used to boost electricity generating capacity while decreasing greenhouse gas emissions.
The Frederick-based company was selected because of its low-cost approach to grid parity — making photovoltaic power equal to or cheaper than grid power. The company plans to use the money to develop technology to reduce the thickness of solar cells by 50 percent while increasing efficiency 25 percent.
Lee Edwards, president of BP Solar, said the company is working with other companies, research institutes and government agencies to achieve breakthroughs to make that happen. “BP Solar is excited to be partnering with the DOE in this effort to make solar power more cost effective,” he said. “We believe that we can make solar power cost competitive by working with suppliers to expand the availability of solar grade silicon, by improving our manufacturing processes so that less silicon is used in each solar cell, by improving the energy efficiency of the cells we make and by developing products that are less expensive to install.”
BP Solar could receive another $19 million over three years based on future progress.