• Concentrating Solar Power
• Photovoltaics
  • Research & Development
  • Competitive Awards
    • Next Generation Photovoltaics
    • Foundational Program to Advance Cell Efficiency
    • SunShot Incubator Program
    • Photovoltaic Supply Chain & Cross-Cutting Technologies
    • Photovoltaic Manufacturing Initiative
    • Scaling Up Nascent PV At Home
• Reducing Grid Integration Costs & Technology Risks
• Accelerating Deployment

Bridging Research Interactions Through Collaborative Development Grants in Energy

The DOE Bridging Research Interactions through collaborative Development Grants in Energy (BRIDGE) program funds collaborative research teams to significantly lower the cost of solar energy systems. The teams can access the tools and staff expertise at existing DOE Office of Science research facilities so fundamental scientific discoveries can be rapidly transitioned to existing product lines and projects.

The BRIDGE program provides engineers and scientists developing solar technologies with the tools and expertise of the Department's Office of Science research facilities, including major facilities for x-ray and neutron scattering, nanoscale science, advanced microcharacterization, environmental molecular sciences, and advanced scientific computing. This collaborative approach will accelerate innovations to lower the cost of solar technologies.

Awardees

On August 29, 2012, DOE announced the following BRIDGE projects.

• Arizona State University (Phoenix, Arizona) — Funded with $854,999, ASU will focus on in-situ x-ray nanocharacterization of defect kinetics in solar cell materials, using facilities at Argonne.
• Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University (Stanford, California) — With $878,578 in DOE funds, this project will use the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL) SLAC to focus on in-situ roll-to-roll printing of highly efficient organic solar cells.
• PLANT PV (Berkeley, California) — With $450,000 from DOE, PLANT PV will use the capabilities at the Molecular Foundry at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to research three-dimensional minority carrier lifetime mapping of thin film semiconductors for solar cell applications.
• Regents of the University of Colorado (Boulder, Colorado) — DOE awarded $450,000 for this project team to use Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) facilities to research using solid particles as heat transfer fluid for use in concentrating solar power (CSP) plants.
• Sandia National Laboratories (Albuquerque, New Mexico) — With $900,000, Sandia will use the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT) facility to develop spectroscopic photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM). The project will focus on understanding nanoscale variations in the chemical and electronic structure of thin film photovoltaic materials and their limitations on photovoltaic device performance.