Washington (Platts)--16Dec2010/524 pm EST/2224 GMT
The US Department of Energy on Thursday said it would provide $50 million for projects that demonstrate new concentrating solar technologies on a dedicated DOE solar-testing site in Nevada. "This funding will allow the Department to further test advanced and innovative solar energy technologies in real-world conditions, providing critical data for companies and communities looking to invest in large-scale solar projects," Secretary of Energy Steven Chu said in a statement. The funding will be aimed at projects using concentrating solar power systems and concentrating solar photovoltaic systems, and that intend to provide enough data to prove they can be scaled up for potential use by utilities. The purpose of the projects is to help bridge the gap between concentrating solar research and development and full-scale commercialization. DOE expects to release a formal funding opportunity announcement early next year. DOE, along with the Department of the Interior earlier this year established a 25-square-mile "Solar Demonstration Zone" on DOE's Nevada Nuclear Security Site, formerly the Nevada Test Site, about 60 miles northwest of Las Vegas. --Derek Sands, derek_sands@platts.comSimilar stories appear in Inside Energy. See more information at http://bit.ly/InsideEnergy