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DOE STTR DE-FOA-0001256
NOTE: The Solicitations and topics listed on this site are copies from the various SBIR agency solicitations and are not necessarily the latest and most up-to-date. For this reason, you should use the agency link listed below which will take you directly to the appropriate agency server where you can read the official version of this solicitation and download the appropriate forms and rules.
The official link for this solicitation is: https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/
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The MOSAIC (Micro-scale Optimized Solar-cell Arrays with Integrated Concentration) Program will fund potentially disruptive technologies and related system concepts to achieve new performance and cost benchmarks for solar-electric generation from photovoltaics (PV). Specifically, MOSAIC will develop novel concepts that integrate arrays of high-performance micro-scale concentrated PV (micro-CPV) elements into modules that are similar in profile and cost to traditional non-concentrated “flat-plate” (FP) PV, but achieve the performance level associated with conventional Concentrated Photovoltaics (CPV). Realization of the aggressive targets of MOSAIC will require the formation of R&D teams from several communities, including material scientists, electrical and packaging engineers, optical engineers, micro-scale manufacturing specialists, and researchers in polymers and opto-electronics.
The MOSAIC Program’s overall technical target is solar-to-electrical power conversion efficiency (as measured against total annual incident solar radiation) of > 30% across a wide range of geographic locations with varying amounts of direct and diffuse insolation. This would represent an approximately 50% improvement over conventional “1-sun” FP PV module performance. Such an advance will significantly reduce the area and number of modules needed to provide a given power output – and thereby reduce those Balance of System (BOS) costs associated with installation and maintenance that are proportional to installed system area. If micro-CPV-based panels achieve production costs comparable to those of 1-sun conventional panels (now roughly $100/m2), then the benefit from reduced BOS costs will lead to system costs as low as $0.75/W and $1.25/W for utility and residential market applications, respectively, resulting in a decrease in the PV-generated Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) across a wide geographic domain. Further, the significant reduction in the footprint needed for a given power output may also expand the adoption of PV solar in the constrained-space rooftop market, where many roofs are currently too small, too shaded, or sub-optimally oriented for installation of today’s PV panel technology to be economical.