Collaborative Research and Development Initiative for US Manufacturers of Photovoltaic Materials

In order to advance solar energy technology, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) will conduct short-term, focused research projects to address specific needs of the solar industry. This Collaborative Research Opportunity is intended to identify appropriate projects and industrial partners within the solar value chain that will lead to increased performance and decreased cost of materials for solar energy. This opportunity will provide selected industrial partners with limited access to ORNL's experienced staff and unique capabilities in order to demonstrate proof-of-principle for specific solar-related technologies. Creation and preservation of domestic jobs is a primary goal of this program. Description UT-Battelle, LLC, acting under its Prime Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for the management and operation of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), conducts research and development (R&D) in support of the DOE Office of Industrial Technologies Program (ITP). ITP's mission is to lead the national drive to reduce energy intensity and carbon emissions by changing the way industry uses energy. ORNL is requesting from industrial partners R&D proposals to enter Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs) that promote and enhance the objectives of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, P.L. 111-5, especially economic recovery in an expeditious manner. Only projects that promote economic recovery, assist those impacted by the recession, or provide general economic benefit will be selected. The selected projects will be conducted under CRADAs between UT-Battelle and the industrial partners. Selected projects will focus on advanced materials and processing methods for photovoltaic applications and will be conducted over a 6-month period. The industrial partner is required to provide at least 50% cost share, which can be funds-in to ORNL or in-kind contributions (e.g., facilities, services, and staff time). ORNL will not provide any funds to the industrial partner. Note: THIS IS NOT A PROCUREMENT. Eligibility Eligibility is limited to U.S. industries that currently manufacture or process solar materials for commercial applications or that will be able to do so as a direct result of these collaborative efforts. There is no restriction based on a particular material system or generation of solar cell technology. Background The efficient conversion of sunlight to electricity represents both a grand technical challenge as well as a tremendous opportunity for clean, abundant energy. The sun delivers more energy to the earth in an hour than the population of the world uses in an entire year, but it accounts for less than 1% of the renewable energy produced in the U.S. In order for solar energy to gain widespread acceptance, it must be cost competitive with other forms of electricity currently on the market. The Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) for solar technology is currently on the order of $0.20/kWh. In order for solar energy to achieve grid parity with other forms of electricity, the LCOE must be reduced by a factor of 3-4, to roughly $0.07/kWh. The primary metrics impacting LCOE at the solar cell level are performance (efficiency) and manufacturing cost, which are generally tightly coupled together. The solar energy sector has been growing rapidly over the past several years. In the past 7 years, the solar sector has enjoyed annual growth rates in excess of 30% -- actually exceeding 50% in the past 2 years. Unfortunately, in the midst of such progress, the U. S. has lost market share internationally. Although the US led the world in manufacturing of solar systems in 1997, the US market share has fallen below 10% in recent years. However, the US currently leads the world in thin film PV production (~66% market share), which is an area that can be exploited to increase the overall market share in the future. Objective The ORNL objective is to collaborate with manufacturers to investigate, improve, and scale process methodology for the manufacture of high efficiency and low cost solar cells. Creation and preservation of domestic manufacturing jobs is a primary goal of this solicitation. Awards will be granted in one or more of the following categories. · Crystalline Silicon · Polycrystalline Silicon · Thin Film Materials (a-Si, CdTe, CIGS) · Earth Abundant, Non-Toxic Materials (eg. CZTS) · Organic or Nanostructured Materials · Transparent Conductive Oxides · Front & Backside Contacts · Anti-reflective & Barrier Coatings A total of $500,000 in matching funds is available to support ORNL services, staff time, and facilities (not including the cost share of the industrial partners). It is anticipated there will be 4-5 partners selected to support industrial-driven solar research at ORNL over the course of a 6-month period. Approximately $100,000 will be allocated for ORNL's effort to support each project. ORNL's expertise in material synthesis, characterization, and process technology will assist various industries in developing new fabrication methods and/or improving existing methods. Research areas could include, but are not limited to: · Low-Cost Fabrication Techniques · Non-vacuum Deposition Techniques · High Temperature Processing · Roll-to-Roll Manufacturing · Rapid Thermal Annealing · Joining and Scribing Techniques · Microstructure or Defect Characterization · Computational Science · In-line Quality Control Measures · Process Optimization The materials and processing technologies developed should be deployed in a new or existing manufacturing facility along with demonstration of any energy savings and economic impact. Laboratory Support ORNL will provide industrial CRADA partners with appropriate infrastructure, testing, operations, characterization, and analysis. It is anticipated that industrial collaborators will work collaboratively with laboratory staff to conduct research across the various centers of expertise at ORNL. Some of the facilities of interest include: Nanoscale Science & Technology Lab (NSTL) Capabilities to design, synthesize, and deposit various amorphous, crystalline, polycrystalline, and nanophase materials on numerous substrates. www.ornl.gov/sci/nstl Center for Advanced Thin-film Systems (CATS) User facility dedicated to the optical and electrical characterization of thin film systems and to the evaluation of device performance. In addition to standard IV curve trace and quantum efficiency measurements, capabilities include high resolution light beam induced current (LBIC), generalized ellipsometry, deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS), electro-paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and photoluminescence. http://www.ornl.gov/sci/eere/research_solar.shtml Materials Processing Group (MPG) Unique processing and modeling capabilities for the manufacture of structural and functional materials. In addition to extensive conventional processes, unique capabilities include Pulse Thermal Processing, PulseForge annealing, and laser surface modification. www.ms.ornl.gov/mpg/index.shtml Oak Ridge Science & Technology Park The Science & Technology Park is the only private research park in America located directly on the campus of a national laboratory. Using a unique development model, the park allows private companies the opportunity to lease office/lab space to work side by side with ORNL research staff to address key commercialization challenges. Intellectual Property and Proprietary Data DOE and ORNL respect the importance of industry's intellectual property and data security while balancing the need to document the benefits of public expenditures. Provisions relating to proprietary information and intellectual property are set forth in the CRADA, and the process can include putting in place non-disclosure agreements (NDAs after proposal selections, if necessary. In addition, if company proprietary information is included in the proposal, the specific information should be marked as such, and UT-Battelle will treat that information as confidential. To the extent possible, it is preferred that proprietary information NOT be included in these proposals. Proposal Preparation Selection of proposals will start at midnight (EST) on November 1, 2010. Proposals submitted thereafter will be considered as funding allows. Proposal and technical inquiries should be directed to: Oak Ridge National Laboratory Industrial Technologies Program, [email protected] Final proposals should be submitted via email to the above address. Once a proposal is received, a confirmation email will be sent within one week stating the date and time of receipt. Proposals should be no more than 5 single spaced pages using 12 point font (Times New Roman preferred), should be in pdf file format, and must include the following components under headings corresponding to the bullets below: · Title Page (not included in page limit) with proposal title, principal investigator(s), contact information (name, nationality, address, phone number, fax number, and email address of the primary contact for contract issues and for scientific issues), as well as a brief company description. · Project Abstract: Non-proprietary summary of technical objectives and potential impacts of research. (200 words) · Background: Present technical challenge to be addressed. Identify materials and processing techniques currently used and motivation for collaborative research. (1 page) · Project Plan and Objectives: Provide a brief plan of action for research and expected utilization of DOE/ORNL resources. List clear technical objectives with associated metrics. (1-2 pages) · Impact: Predict the scientific and economic impact of the described research if successful. Also describe associated energy savings and benefit to the economy. (1-2 page) · Cost Share: Estimate and justification of in-kind cost-sharing. Paragraph or tabular form is acceptable. · Single page resumes of key project participants should be included (not included in page limit). Proposal Evaluation Selection of winning proposals will be at the discretion of DOE ITP and ORNL in cooperation with the DOE Solar Technologies Program. ORNL reserves the right to select all, a portion of, or none of the submitted proposals. The primary categories and relative ranking criteria used to evaluate submissions will be: Technical · Importance of materials and/or processing problem(s) to be addressed (25%). · Potential of the collaboration to positively impact the U.S. solar industry (15%). · Overall economic benefit to U.S. economy (15%). · Potential for implementation of industrial energy savings (10%). · Technical merit (10%). Programmatic · Level of cost share to be provided by industrial partner (15%). · Importance of technology development and testing results to general market acceptance (10%). Anticipated Schedule November 1, 2010: Begin reviewing proposals. November 15, 2010: Selection of partners. February 15, 2011: CRADA must be fully negotiated (including the SOW) and ready for submission to DOE for approval, or project will be abandoned. CRADA Information Partners will be required to enter into a CRADA with UT-Battelle. Information on the CRADA process as well associated terms and conditions are summarized in attachment. General Information: CRADAs enable industry, academia, and non-profit entities to collaborate with ORNL for the purpose of joint research and development (R&D) activities. CRADAs require DOE approval. CRADAs require R&D participation by industry partners. Protection of Generated Information and Intellectual Property: Commercially valuable but non-patentable information generated under a CRADA may be protected for up to 5 years (See Article VIII of the CRADA Manual M483.1-1). Licenses to use intellectual property (IP) made or created under a CRADA are negotiated separately. The industry partner receives, in return for its collaborative participation in the CRADA research project, first right to negotiate a license for any new laboratory IP made or created under the CRADA, in a pre-negotiated field-of-use. Each party has the right to elect title to inventions made by its employees (See Article XV of the attached draft CRADA). The U.S. government retains a nonexclusive, nontransferable, irrevocable, paid-up license to practice or have practiced for or on behalf of the United States any IP created or made under the CRADA. Financial Information: Under each CRADA the laboratory and the industry partner may provide one or more of the following: personnel, equipment, services, intellectual property, and facilities. •· The laboratory cannot pay out funds to the industry partner, but the industry may provide funds to the laboratory if it desires to do so. Other Topics: Industry partners must agree to "substantial U.S. manufacture" of resulting products and services or provide a plan for providing net benefit to the U.S. economy that is approved by DOE (See Article XXII of the attached draft CRADA). DOE must approve all CRADAs. Point of Contact Proposals and technical inquiries should be directed to: Oak Ridge National Laboratory Industrial Technologies Program, [email protected] .