SunShot

Sandia’s research in solar photovoltaics (PV) and concentrating solar power (CSP) helps advance the mission of the U.S. Department of Energy’s SunShot Initiative to decrease total cost of solar energy systems by 75% by 2020 and make solar energy cost-competitive with other forms of electricity generation without subsidies.

Sandia researchers address technical and market barriers to SunShot goals of high solar energy penetration by evaluating and improving the performance, reliability, and cost effectiveness of solar systems, materials, and balance of systems (BOS). Sandia also helps enable high levels of solar penetration on the electricity grid through extensive research in distribution systems integration.

Sandia partners with industry and other solar stakeholders to ensure thorough and balanced research. To learn more about working with us, visit the lab’s Partnerships page.

Photovoltaics & Distributed Systems Integration Research

• Reducing Soft Costs of Rooftop Solar Installations Attributed to Structural Considerations
• Mitigating Industry-Wide Risks through Data Collection and Assessment
• Development of Design Templates and Standardized Suitability Criteria to Expedite Permitting for Solar Power Plants
• Increasing Prediction Accuracy and Confidence in PV System Performance
• Advancing Solar Integration on Transmission Systems
• Residential and Commercial Real Estate and PV Energy Systems: Providing Credible Estimates of Premiums to Drive Demand and Lower BOS Costs
• Accelerating Cost-Effective Deployment of Solar Generation on the Distribution Grid
• Accelerating Development of Advanced Inverters
• Advanced Solar Resource Modeling and Analysis
• Advanced Measurement and Analysis of PV Derate Factors
• Characterizing Emerging Photovoltaic Technologies
• Prognostics and Health Management

Concentrating Solar Power

• Demonstration of Key Components to Support Thermal Storage for Dish Stirling Systems
• High-Temperature Solar Selective Coating Development for Power Tower Receivers
• National Solar Thermal Test Facility Maintenance and Development

SunShot News

Sandia, Endicott Interconnect Technologies, EMCORE, International Micro Industries, NREL, Universal Instruments: Solar GlitterSandia scientists have developed glitter-sized photovoltaic (PV) cells that have the potential to achieve the cost breakthrough necessary to move solar energy into widespread, portable use. Miniaturized solar cells are produced using Sandia’s microsystems-enabled photovoltaics (MEPV) technology, which employs microdesign and microfabrication techniques common to the semiconductor, liquid-crystal display, and microsystems industries. The PV cells [...]

Sandia Report Offers Reliable Way to Evaluate Unintentional Islanding RiskA recently released Sandia National Laboratories report, “Suggested Guidelines for Assessment of DG Unintentional Islanding Risk,” outlines a procedure to help utility distribution engineers determine the risk of unintentional islanding in distributed energy generation installations. By providing a quick and reliable way to identify situations in which such risk is negligible, Sandia’s approach can help [...]

Photovoltaic (PV) Regional Test Center (RTC) Website Goes LiveECIS has developed a new external website to facilitate the functions of the five DOE RTCs—both interacting with each other to fulfill the overall DOE objectives and with partners in the U.S. PV industry. The site houses project updates, news, and events as well as controlled access for project file sharing. The DOE has commissioned [...]