This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is being issued by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO). Building a clean and equitable energy economy and addressing the climate crisis is a top priority of the Biden Administration. This FOA will advance the Biden Administration’s goals to achieve carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035 and to “deliver an equitable, clean energy future, and put the United States on a path to achieve net-zero emissions economy-wide by no later than 2050” to the benefit of all Americans. DOE is committed to pushing the frontiers of science and engineering, catalyzing clean energy jobs through research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D), and ensuring environmental justice and inclusion of underserved communities.

The research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) activities to be funded under this FOA will support the government-wide approach to the climate crisis by driving innovation that can lead to the deployment of clean energy technologies, which are critical for climate protection. Specifically, SETO’s Rapid Integration and Validation for Energy Systems (STRIVES) FOA will fund RD&D projects to improve power systems simulation software tools and demonstrate new business models for distribution systems operations to integrate and optimize the value of inverter-based resources (IBRs) and distributed energy resources (DERs), including solar, wind, energy storage, and other technologies such as buildings and electric vehicles (EVs).

Estimated Total Program Funding: $31,000,000
Expected Number of Awards: 15
Award Ceiling: $3,000,000
Award Floor: $1,000,000

Application Deadline: July 25, 2024 (Concept paper); October 17, 2024 (Application)