DE-FOA-0002582 PVRD FOA | DE FOA 0002582

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002582

DE-FOA-0002582, often referred to as the PVRD FOA, is a U.S. Department of Energy funding opportunity administered through the DOE Golden Field Office. It is a discretionary funding program that uses cooperative agreements, meaning awardees should expect active DOE involvement during the project rather than a purely hands-off grant. The overall purpose is to accelerate photovoltaic (PV) innovation in ways that lower hardware costs, cut environmental impacts across the PV lifecycle, and improve the performance of perovskite-based solar modules. These advances are positioned as enabling steps toward large-scale PV deployment consistent with the federal goal of reaching a carbon emissions-free electricity sector by 2035.

The FOA is organized into two main topic areas. Topic 1 focuses on near-to-mid-term improvements to conventional photovoltaic modules by supporting 2 to 3 year research projects, with federal funding capped at $1.5 million per project. The work sought under Topic 1 emphasizes low-cost, high-throughput module designs and manufacturing or processing methods. A central theme is reducing environmental burden and materials usage while also addressing vulnerabilities tied to metallization (the conductive contacts and interconnects that are often materials- and cost-intensive). Topic 1 also explicitly calls out end-of-life handling, signaling interest in designs and processes that make modules easier to recycle, safer to dispose of, less resource-intensive to reclaim, or otherwise more sustainable and resilient over the full product lifecycle.

Topic 2 is geared toward the major remaining barriers to perovskite solar technologies, particularly the issues that prevent perovskites from reliably translating from lab-scale results to durable, efficient, and manufacturable large-area modules. Applications under Topic 2 are expected to bring together teams spanning multiple institutions and/or companies, reflecting the complexity of perovskite challenges and the need for coordinated expertise across materials science, device physics, encapsulation, manufacturing scale-up, reliability testing, and commercialization pathways. The FOA highlights three key pain points for perovskites: durability (long-term stability and resistance to degradation), scale-up (moving to larger areas and production-like processes without losing performance), and efficiency (maintaining or improving conversion performance under real-world operating conditions). In practice, this topic supports collaborative efforts aimed at identifying root causes of degradation and performance loss, developing mitigation strategies, and demonstrating pathways that make perovskite devices more bankable and manufacturable.

From a funding and administrative standpoint, the opportunity falls under the Energy funding activity category and is associated with CFDA number 81.087. The award ceiling listed for the FOA is $15,000,000, with an expectation of roughly 12 awards, which suggests a portfolio approach funding multiple projects across the two topics. The original posting indicates a creation date of July 14, 2022, and an original closing date of October 17, 2022, which is useful for understanding the historical solicitation timeline even if the round has already closed.

Eligibility is broad and includes most common applicant types for DOE R&D opportunities. Eligible entities include state, county, and local governments; special districts; independent school districts; public and private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofits both with and without 501(c)(3) status; individuals; for-profit organizations (including small businesses); and other applicants as allowed by the FOA’s additional eligibility language. This wide eligibility range aligns with the FOA’s intent to attract proposals from universities, national-lab partners, startups, established manufacturers, and cross-sector consortia that can tackle manufacturing, sustainability, and next-generation PV performance challenges.

In short, DE-FOA-0002582 targets two complementary needs in solar: making today’s PV modules cheaper and greener through better design, materials use, metallization approaches, and end-of-life strategies (Topic 1), while also pushing perovskite solar technology closer to real-world deployment by solving durability, scale-up, and efficiency limitations through multi-organization teamwork (Topic 2).

• The Department of Energy, Golden Field Office in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "DE-FOA-0002582 PVRD FOA" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.087.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jul 14, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Oct 17, 2022. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $15,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 12 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, Individuals, For profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for DE FOA 0002582

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