In a move that may help boost U.S. competitiveness in the global clean tech industry, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced on Thursday a $200 million investment in solar and water power technologies specifically designed to accelerate the creation of a domestic clean energy manufacturing base.

The investment includes $125 million over five years for university and industry research into new manufacturing processes, as well as $40 million over three years to build out the domestic PV supply chain through the accelerated implementation of innovative component and manufacturing technologies.

Notably, the proposal aims to drive cost reductions in solar technology in order to, according to the press release, "help meet the Department's goal of achieving cost-competitive solar PV systems compared with conventional forms of electricity."

This welcome development demonstrates some innovative thinking from the Department of Energy, and acknowledges that process improvements and innovations in manufacturing are critical to bringing down the price of clean energy technologies.

Research by Breakthrough Senior Fellow Greg Nemet has shown that it's not just increasing scale and market experience that drives down the cost of solar PV, as is commonly assumed. Incorporating improvements made through R&D into commercial manufacturing is also a major factor.

While more must be done to increase the scale and breadth of these types of programs, the announcement by DOE should be applauded as an important step toward developing a competitive domestic solar PV industry and making clean energy cheap.


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