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U.S. Department of Energy

About SunShot

The DOE SunShot Initiative aims to dramatically decrease the total costs of solar energy systems by 75% before the end of the decade. Reaching this goal will make solar energy cost-competitive with conventional forms of electricity without subsidies and enable widespread deployment across the United States.

Cost-Competitive Solar Energy

The SunShot Initiative sets forth a plan to aggressively drive innovation and make large-scale solar energy systems cost-competitive with other forms of unsubsidized energy. To accomplish this, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is supporting efforts by private companies, academia, and national laboratories to drive down the cost of solar electricity to about $0.06 per kilowatt-hour. This in turn will enable solar-generated power to account for 15–18% of America's electricity generation by 2030.

Under the SunShot Initiative, the U.S. Department of Energy will fund selective research and loan guarantees for high risk, high payoff concepts—technologies that promise genuine transformation in the ways we generate, store, and utilize solar energy projects.

Inspired by President Kennedy's "moon shot" program that put the first man on the moon, the SunShot Initiative requires a national effort to use "the best of our energies and skills" to accomplish its goals.

Benefits

The United States is the world's second largest consumer of electricity and, at the same time, has the largest solar resource of any industrialized country. The SunShot Initiative will re-establish American technological leadership, strengthen U.S. economic competitiveness in the global clean energy race, and lead to America's secure energy future.

Through the SunShot Initiative, these advancements will ultimately benefit every American through:

  • A clean, low-cost, large-scale energy source for home owners, communities, businesses, and government
  • Technology leadership through advanced solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies and smart grid innovation
  • U.S. jobs created through domestic solar manufacturing and distribution
  • Reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and a cleaner environment in which to live
  • Increased global market share driven by domestic innovation and manufacturing.