Funding Opportunity: SunShot Technology to Market (Incubator 10) 

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SunShot Subprogram: Technology to Market
Location: Davis, CA
Amount Awarded: $681,676
Awardee Cost Share: $1,240,925
Project Investigator: Cedric Jeanty

Though utility-scale solar has grown in past years, innovation in tools available to project developers and managers has lagged behind. We still rely mostly on humans to manage complex data for decisions ranging from project selection to construction management to operational performance. Sunpower sees opportunities to change the way that companies collect, filter and process data by using a combination of software and hardware automation.

APPROACH

SunPower will build a software platform that has two major elements, 1) a portal that will allow users to manage construction progress remotely and 2) a portal that will allow users to optimize the design layout of a potential project.

INNOVATION

The impact of automated tools could lower utility-scale PV system LCOE from balance-of-systems cost savings caused by more intelligent decisions during project design, more efficient deployments, and faster construction. These savings will bring the industry closer to achieving the DOE’s 2020 cost target of 6 cents per kWh.