DOE Solar Energy Technologies Office

Invests DOE Solar Energy Technologies Office in United States, delivering updates and pathways through energy.gov.

The DOE Solar Energy Technologies Office funds work that makes solar power more affordable, reliable, and secure for homes and businesses. Founded in 2000 and named SETO in 2012, the office covers photovoltaics, concentrating solar-thermal power, systems integration, soft costs, manufacturing and competitiveness, and workforce development. It now sits under DOE's CMEI structure after the 2025 reorganization.

SETO uses FOAs, lab calls, and prizes to move work from research to deployment. Recent and recurring programs include MORE PV, the SETO Lab Call FY2025-27, thin-film solar photovoltaics, the silicon solar manufacturing and dual-use incubator, OPTIMA, R-STEP, solar-thermal fuels and thermal energy storage, the American-Made Solar Prize, SolarAPP+, and the Solar Manufacturing Incubator. The recent funding range runs from individual awards in the $16 million to $217 million band, with prize rounds such as the American-Made Solar Prize reaching $4.2 million and the silicon-carbide packaging prize reaching $2.25 million.

The office fits applicants that can match a specific solar research area with the right mechanism and show a path to installation, manufacturing, or grid use. Teams that connect technical performance with permitting, interconnection, supply-chain, or manufacturing gains tend to align best with SETO's mix of research and deployment work.