Department of Energy to Invest $50 Million to Advance Domestic Solar Manufacturing Market, Achieve …

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://energy.gov/news/10451.htm

August 2, 2011

Department of Energy to Invest $50 Million to Advance Domestic Solar Manufacturing Market, Achieve SunShot Goal

SUNPATH Program Will Boost American Competitiveness, Lower Cost of Solar Energy

Washington D.C. - U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced a $50 million investment over two years for the SUNPATH program, aimed to help the nation reclaim its competitive edge in solar manufacturing. SUNPATH, which stands for Scaling Up Nascent PV At Home, represents the second solar Photovoltaic Manufacturing Initiative (PVMI) supporting the Department of Energy's http://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/sunshot/">SunShot Initiative.

"This investment provides a necessary boost to domestic solar manufacturing businesses, encouraging them to keep jobs here and establish America's leadership in the world's growing clean energy economy," said Secretary Chu. "In addition to invigorating clean energy manufacturing, this program will help achieve the SunShot goal of making unsubsidized utility-scale solar cost-competitive with other forms of energy by the end of the decade."

As recently as 1995, the United States maintained a dominant global solar market share, manufacturing 43 percent of the world's PV panels. In steady decline, U.S. market share shrank to 27 percent by 2000 and to 7 percent by 2010. SUNPATH will help return the United States to the forefront, driving innovation and assuring continued leadership in the 21st century clean energy economy.

PVMI Part II: SUNPATH seeks to increase domestic manufacturing through investments that have sustainable, competitive cost and performance advantages. SUNPATH will help companies with pilot-scale commercial production scale up their manufacturing capabilities, enabling them to overcome a funding gap that often curtails domestic business at a critical stage. By bridging this gap, SUNPATH will help ensure that innovative, low-cost solar technologies are manufactured in the United States.

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[Poll_Blind]

1. This is what a joke our country is- we spent TWICE as much on the first day of the Libyan war.

At least twice- that's just the raw price of the cruise missiles launched.

PB

[txlibdem]

2. This is a slap in the face - $50 Billion I would believe, $50 mil? Just a joke.

A drop in the bucket. :-(