Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0003060
The Department of Energy (DOE), through its Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) and administered by the DOE Golden Field Office, issued a Notice of Intent (NOI) for a forthcoming Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) titled "Fiscal Year 2023 Advancing U.S. Thin-Film Solar" (DE-FOA-0003060). The purpose of the NOI is to alert industry ahead of the full FOA release and to help potential applicants prepare by understanding the planned scope, performance expectations, and funding structure. The overall thrust is to strengthen U.S. leadership in thin-film photovoltaic (PV) technologies and to accelerate domestic manufacturing of thin-film PV modules, aligning with broader federal goals around energy innovation, supply chain resilience, and U.S.-based commercialization.
The planned FOA is expected to make up to $36 million available for research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) efforts focused on two major thin-film PV technology families: metal halide perovskite PV and cadmium telluride (CdTe) PV. DOE frames the opportunity as part of SETO's response to Congressional direction in FY 2023 that instructed DOE to spend no less than $25 million on advancing perovskite PV and no less than $25 million on advancing CdTe PV (described as $50 million total across both areas). While the NOI describes a specific FOA budget of up to $36 million, it clearly signals that the work is intended to contribute to meeting those larger FY 2023 congressional spending objectives for these technologies.
A key structural feature is that the FOA is expected to be restricted to for-profit entities as lead applicants (specifically, "for profit organizations other than small businesses" are listed as eligible applicants in the source data). This signals a strong commercialization orientation: DOE is aiming to support projects that are close enough to market that private-sector leadership, manufacturing know-how, and scale-up capability are central. The NOI also notes that SETO anticipates making three or more awards, using cooperative agreements as the financial assistance instrument. Cooperative agreements typically involve substantial DOE engagement during project execution, which suggests active technical and programmatic oversight, milestone management, and coordination toward defined outcomes.
The FOA is organized around two main funding areas, with distinct budget allocations and goals. Up to $20 million is planned for industrial perovskite PV RD&D. The emphasis here is not just scientific advancement, but bridging the gap to bankable commercialization by driving progress on several tightly linked performance dimensions: device/module efficiency, long-term reliability and durability, manufacturability at scale, and overall economic viability. The NOI highlights that it includes quantitative guidelines describing what a competitive application is expected to include at different funding levels. In practical terms, DOE is signaling that proposals will likely need to present credible, measurable targets and a coherent plan for achieving them, along with evidence that the team has the equipment, expertise, quality systems, and manufacturing pathway needed to translate lab results into repeatable production outcomes. The NOI is intentionally issued early so applicants can use the lead time to identify capability gaps, recruit partners, validate assumptions, and strengthen manufacturing and validation plans before the FOA is formally posted.
The second main funding area allocates up to $16 million to advance CdTe PV research, development, demonstration, and commercialization. The CdTe topic is described in broader supply-chain terms, spanning materials, equipment, installation, and performance monitoring. That framing implies DOE is interested in improving the competitiveness of the domestic CdTe industry not only through cell or module improvements, but also through the enabling ecosystem that determines cost, yield, throughput, field performance, and operational confidence. Projects under this area may therefore be positioned anywhere along the pathway from materials and processing improvements to manufacturing tooling and metrology, to installation practices and real-world performance validation and monitoring strategies, so long as they strengthen the U.S. CdTe PV technology base and market position.
Across the full FOA, DOE indicates that individual awards are expected to run for roughly 18 to 36 months, with a federal share per project ranging from about $3 million up to $20 million. Applicants should also plan for a significant cost share, listed as 20% to 50% depending on the specific project structure and topic area. This requirement reinforces DOE's intent to fund efforts with strong industry buy-in and credible commercialization pull, since cost share typically reflects real financial commitment and increases the likelihood that successful demonstrations can transition into sustained private investment and market deployment.
From a timing standpoint, the NOI states the FOA is expected to be released in September 2023. The source record also shows an NOI-related date window (creation date June 14, 2023, with an original closing date of July 14, 2023), which is typical for notices that invite early engagement or provide pre-FOA information rather than serving as the actual application deadline for awards. The program is categorized under the energy funding activity area and references CFDA number 81.087, which is commonly associated with DOE renewable energy and efficiency assistance listings.
In plain terms, this opportunity is designed to move thin-film solar technologies closer to large-scale U.S. manufacturing and durable commercial deployment. For perovskites, the focus is on proving that the technology can meet hard commercialization thresholds, particularly around durability and manufacturability, not just peak lab efficiency. For CdTe, the focus is on strengthening and modernizing the domestic industry end-to-end, including the supporting processes and monitoring approaches that determine field success. The structure, eligibility limits, cost sharing, and cooperative agreement format all point to DOE prioritizing industry-led, milestone-driven projects that can credibly improve U.S. competitiveness and accelerate thin-film module manufacturing and deployment within a relatively short 18- to 36-month performance period.Apply for DE FOA 0003060
- The Department of Energy, Golden Field Office in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Notice of Intent to Issue Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) “Fiscal Year 2023 Advancing U.S. Thin-Film Solar”" 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 Jun 14, 2023.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 14, 2023. (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 $2.00 in funding.
- Eligible applicants include: For profit organizations other than small businesses.
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