In order to make solar energy competitive with other types of energy, it will be critical to reduce "soft cost" barriers, such as permitting, zoning and the cost to hook a solar system to a local electrical grid. To spur change, Secretary Chu announced $12 million in funding for 22 regional teams competing in the Energy Department’s "Rooftop Solar Challenge.” The map above details all 22 teams' locations, the projects each team will be undertaking, and the amount of funding they've been awarded. More info <a href="http://energy.gov/articles/rooftop-solar-challenge-cut-solars-red-tape"><strong>here.</strong></a>

In order to make solar energy competitive with other types of energy, it will be critical to reduce "soft cost" barriers, such as permitting, zoning and the cost to hook a solar system to a local electrical grid. To spur change, Secretary Chu announced $12 million in funding for 22 regional teams competing in the Energy Department’s "Rooftop Solar Challenge.” The map above details all 22 teams' locations, the projects each team will be undertaking, and the amount of funding they've been awarded. More info here.

Solar Decathlon 2013: New Teams! New Location!
Orange County Great Park in Irvine, California -- venue for the 2013 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon. | Image credit: Richard King.

In addition to welcoming 20 new collegiate teams and hundreds of new student decathletes to our 2013 competition, we are announcing a new site.

Radical Thinkers Needed to Help Get a Solar Panel on Every Roof
This solar powered residence was commissioned by Boston Edison as a demonstration of future trends in design and technology that would become commonplace in the early decades of the next millennium. Today, the Energy Department's SunShot Initiative is seeking to accelerate innovation and aggressively drive down cost through various funding opportunities. | Photo courtesy of Solar Design Associates.

We have approximately $7 million waiting to fund the next big, innovative idea through the SunShot Incubator Program for Soft Cost Reduction. But you have to hurry. The deadline for concept papers is January 16, 2012.

SunShot Incubator Spurs Solar Industry Innovation
As much as half of the price of solar energy, represented in red above graph, is made up of non-hardware costs. | Data source: Goodrich et al 2011. | Image courtesy of the Energy Department's SunShot Initiative.

Did you know that as much as half of the price of solar energy is made up of non-hardware costs – or “soft costs”? To jump start a decline in these non-hardware costs, the Energy Department's SunShot Initiative is investing approximately $7 million over 18 months in a new SunShot Incubator Program for Soft Cost Reduction.