The DOE announced up to $7 million to reduce the non-hardware costs of residential and commercial solar energy installations. Made available through the SunShot Incubator Program, this funding will support the development of tools and approaches that reduce non-hardware, or “soft” costs, such as installation, permitting, interconnection, and inspection. These expenses can amount to up to half of the cost of residential systems. The Incubator will make the process of buying, installing, and maintaining solar energy systems faster, easier, and less expensive.
Since 2007, DOE has invested $60 million in the Incubator program for photovoltaics, accelerating the development of technologies that have attracted more than $1.3 billion in private investment. Traditionally, the Incubator primarily focused on solving hardware challenges.