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An example of the progress made to date can be seen in photovoltaics. Multi-layered cell research has advanced from its initial conceptualization in 1980, to achievement of recently attained 22 percent experimental efficiency. Equally important is the fact that research at the Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI) and at industrial laboratories has significantly increased understanding of the basic photovoltaic effect. Today, scientists and engineers openly debate the most suitable concepts to reach conversion efficiencies of 35 percent, a figure not considered realistic three years ago. The program presented for your review today represents a sound and stable commitment to the continuing development of these technologies. confident that these proposals will increase understanding of the potential for virtually all of the most promising options within renewable energy and will substantially contribute to the base of technical information required for informed decision making regarding renewable energy.

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Especially important is the Department's proposal to increase its emphasis on technology transfer activities. Through these activities the Department intends to gain additional insights into industrial research priorities early in the federal planning process and improve upon an already effective technical information program in order to better provide timely knowledge to interested parties in a form responsive to their specific needs.

The FY 1985 budget request for Renewable Energy, Electric Energy Systems and Energy Storage programs is $226 million. For comparison purposes, last year's request was $129 million for these programs. (See attachment).

I would now like to address the funding requests for selected major

programs.

SOLAR BUILDING ENERGY SYSTEMS

Solar building energy technologies employ direct and indirect solar radiation to provide heating, cooling, and natural lighting for buildings. The FY 1985 budget request for Solar Building Energy Systems is $11.9 million. These funds will be used to conduct R&D activities in support of industry development of low and medium temperature solar collector concepts and construction techniques that can result in reduced energy requirements for buildings.

The Department is requesting $7.2 million for Materials and Components Research to develop and test light-weight materials for use in low-cost, durable nonmetallic collectors. Research will also be undertaken on

cost effective solar absorption and Rankine cooling technologies. Glazing materials that transmit solar energy, but resist heat losses, will also be studied. When used for windows, these materials have the potential to significantly reduce cooling loads, prevent overheating, and provide improved natural lighting to interior building spaces. Testing will be conducted on thermal storage materials that offer properties of low weight and durability, and are suitable for building materials or components.

One-of-a

In Heat Transfer Systems Analysis, the Department is requesting $3.2 million for research to better define performance of solar systems. kind components will be tested and evaluated to identify the most promising and effective design approaches. Within this area, passive solar techniques for

non-residential structures will be examined to further understand natural heat

distribution systems, to determine the impact of building space conditioning loads upon utility demands, and to assess the effectiveness of alternative cooling and lighting technologies. The capability to fully utilize available natural light will be assessed under various climate conditions in conjunction with new lighting techniques.

Finally, in Thermal Science Research, $1.3 million is requested to conduct research to identify and evaluate promising innovative concepts for solar heating and cooling. In particular, research will be conducted on cooling processes such as evaporation and ventilation to determine the limits of these concepts for effective cooling of buildings.

PHOTOVOLTAIC ENERGY SYSTEMS

Photovoltaic technology directly converts solar radiation to an electric current. The FY 1985 budget request is $47.5 million to continue the development of a technology base from which private enterprise can select and develop competitive applications for electrical energy markets.

The Department proposes $31.0 million for Materials Research to overcome the technical barriers currently limiting the efficiency and cost of photovoltaic cells. The work will focus on single-layer thin film cells, new high-efficiency techniques, silicon sheets and innovative concepts. For single

layer thin film cells, research will concentrate on increasing cell efficiency, with a goal of achieving 15 percent efficiency, as well as continuing to

Photovoltaic cells made of thin film

improve cell stability and lifetime. materials offer the potential for reducing material requirements and lowering production costs through the use of automated manufacturing processes.

Advanced high-efficiency techniques will focus on the development of multilayered photovoltaic cells. These cells offer the potential to achieve very high conversion efficiencies of up to 35 percent. Activities in this area will include the fabrication of multiple cells through the layering of different materials so that each layer converts a different portion of the solar light spectrum into electricity.

DOE proposes to fund research to address those remaining key issues which currently preclude full scale automated production of silicon.

Automated

silicon production technology may overcome the low yield and quality control problems inherent in state-of-the-art production technologies. Additionally, the Department is proposing to upgrade the capabilities of the Device and Measurement Laboratory at SERI, a worldleading research center which evaluates 500 to 1000 photovoltaic cell materials per year.

The Department proposes to compliment the previously described materials research activities with an innovative concepts and university research program that draws upon the creative genius of the nation's universities, private research laboratories, and small businesses. Funds will be provided for the best new ideas proposed by these organizations to conduct research to determine the R&D potential of new materials or innovative concepts for photovoltaic

devices.

Flat

The Department requests $10.5 million for Collector Research to improve the efficiency and durability of both flat plate and concentrator modules. plate collector research will result in increasing the efficiency of crystalline silicon cells through the development of improved coatings and lowcost electrical conductors. Concentrator collector research will be focused on

the development of cells which can potentially achieve efficiencies of 20 to 23 percent in concentrated sunlight.

The Department requests $5.0 million in Systems Research to better define remaining photovoltaic reliability and life expectancy issues.

A variety of

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PV modules will be tested under different operating and environmental

conditions.

Lessons learned, such as how to avoid electrochemical corrosion, improve voltage insulation, and prevent high voltage failure through improved

circuit designs will be transferred to industry for further development and

verification.

SOLAR THERMAL ENERGY SYSTEMS

Solar thermal technology employs concentrated sunlight to produce heat, electricity or both. The FY 1985 budget request for the Solar Thermal Energy Systems program totals $37.5 million. Innovative solar thermal concepts will be investigated to develop high performance, reliable solar energy systems that are cost competitive for electric and process heat applications.

The Department is requesting $8.9 million for Materials and Component Research. Experiments will be conducted to define the physical properties of potential heat transfer materials such as molten salts for solar thermal receivers and storage devices.

Materials which may reduce the cost and weight

of solar concentrators will be developed and evaluated. Finally, the materials used for receiver, delivery, and storage devices will be evaluated to determine their suitability for operating within a high temperature environment.

The request of $4.5 million for Concentrator Research and Development will be used to develop potentially low-cost, high performance concentrator

concepts. Scale models will be tested and system analyses will be conducted to identify tradeoffs among collector performance, spacing, and cost of the

various alternatives.

The $16.5 million requested for Central Receiver Research and Development will be used to examine concepts that show promise of attaining the substantial performance gains expected if solar thermal technology can be developed to operate at temperatures in excess of 1500°F. Advanced control concepts will be evaluated at the Central Receiver Test Facility and the power production phase of the Barstow 10 MWe Central Receiver Pilot Plant will be initiated.

In Distributed Receiver Research and Development, the Department requests $7.1 million to sponsor a one time cost-shared activity to design, build and evaluate first generation Stirling and Brayton engines. The results of this experiment should provide a sufficient technical basis for industry to determine the development potential of solar dish to electricity technology.

variety of other supporting research aimed at resolving critical distributed receiver engineering issues, including the operation of the Distributed

Receiver Test Site, will also be undertaken in FY 1985.

BIOFUELS ENERGY SYSTEMS

Biofuels technologies are potentially capable of converting various

feedstocks, such as forest wastes, animal wastes, and agricultural residues into liquid, gas, or solid fuels. The total biofuels request of $28.1 million will be evenly balanced between feedstock development and the continuing

evaluation of promising conversion technologies.

The Department is requesting $4.2 million for Short Rotation Intensive Culture research. Research has shown that productive yields may be obtainable for certain species of woody biomass such as hybrid poplar and black cottonwood through the use of advanced agricultural methods. Expecially important, the Department plans to fund a new genetics program to develop wood resources with high yields, improved resistance to pests and disease, lower nitrogen or water requirements, and improved energy characteristics such as higher Btu content or lower moisture content.

Research to better

The Feedstock Production request is $6.2 million. define the energy potential of crops that can be grown on grasslands or in water will be performed. As part of this research the Department will identify and improve herbaceous crops which have the potential of being grown on marginal lands. In addition, research will be conducted to improve oil content, increase growth rates, and to determine methods for harvesting microalgae as an energy resource.

The $7.0 million request for Thermochemical Conversion is for research to improve processes for converting biomass into liquid fuels and gas. Tests on various conversion concepts such as gasifiers and thermochemical reactors will be conducted to better understand their operation. Research and development will be conducted to improve the technology for using municipal waste as a fuel within acceptable environmental constraints. Research will also be conducted

to evaluate various techniques for converting wood to liquid fuels.

The Department is requesting $6.6 million for Biochemical Conversion. Research will include investigations of biochemical reactions which can produce

ethanol from various feedstocks. A major technical milestone will be

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