Solar Energy Technologies Office Fiscal Year 2020 Perovskite Funding Program | DE FOA 0002357

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002357

The Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) Fiscal Year 2020 Perovskite Funding Program is a U.S. Department of Energy funding opportunity focused on accelerating progress in perovskite solar technologies. Perovskites are a class of materials that have shown strong potential for high-efficiency, low-cost solar cells, but they still face barriers related to durability, manufacturability, and scaling to commercially relevant products. Through this program, DOE aims to support research, development, and demonstration efforts that move perovskite photovoltaics closer to reliable, bankable deployment while strengthening the U.S. solar innovation pipeline.

This opportunity was released by the Department of Energy, Golden Field Office under Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) number DE-FOA-0002357. The assistance listing (CFDA) associated with the program is 81.087, which corresponds to DOE support for renewable energy and energy efficiency-related initiatives. The activity area is categorized under Energy, and it is also tagged with Opportunity Zone Benefits, indicating the solicitation recognizes or may provide additional considerations connected to federally designated Opportunity Zones (the specific way this applies typically depends on the full FOA text and project location details). The funding instrument is a cooperative agreement, which generally means DOE expects to have substantial involvement during the project period, such as participating in technical reviews, shaping milestones, and engaging in ongoing project management beyond what is typical for a standard grant.

Eligibility is listed as unrestricted, meaning applications are open to a broad range of entities, including but not limited to universities, national laboratories, private companies (from startups to large firms), non-profits, state and local governments, and other organizations, subject to any additional eligibility conditions or clarifications in the FOA. In practice, applicants usually need to demonstrate the technical capability, project management plan, and resources required to carry out the proposed work, and may be required to form teams that combine expertise in materials science, device engineering, reliability testing, manufacturing, and techno-economic analysis depending on the topic areas described in the full announcement.

In terms of scale, the award ceiling is listed at $10,000,000 per award, which suggests DOE was prepared to support relatively substantial, multi-year efforts or larger collaborative projects when justified by scope and impact. The program anticipated making about 8 awards in total, indicating a competitive selection environment where proposals would need to clearly explain their innovation, measurable milestones, risk-reduction strategy, and pathway to meaningful performance and reliability improvements. As with many SETO programs, successful projects typically emphasize not just record lab efficiency, but also the kinds of metrics that matter for real-world deployment: operational stability, repeatability, scalable manufacturing approaches, module integration, and credible validation methods.

Key dates show the FOA was created on August 17, 2020, with an original closing date of December 1, 2020. That timeline implies DOE expected applicants to assemble full technical applications, budgets, and partnering arrangements within a few months. Because this is a cooperative agreement, selected teams would normally engage with DOE throughout the period of performance with defined go/no-go decision points or stage gates tied to technical milestones, ensuring that federal funds are aligned with measurable progress.

Overall, DE-FOA-0002357 represents DOE SETO's targeted investment in advancing perovskite solar technology from promising research results toward durable, scalable, and commercially viable photovoltaic products. The combination of a high per-award ceiling, multiple expected awards, and a cooperative agreement structure signals an intent to fund projects that can produce defensible reliability gains, manufacturing readiness improvements, and clearer routes to market adoption rather than purely exploratory research alone.

• The Department of Energy, Golden Field Office in the energy, opportunity zone benefits sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Solar Energy Technologies Office Fiscal Year 2020 Perovskite Funding Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.087.
• This funding opportunity was created on Aug 17, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Dec 01, 2020. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $10,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 8 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

Apply for DE FOA 0002357

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