Solar Energy Innovation Network Application[1]
Thank you for your interest in the Solar Energy Innovation Network (SEIN). To apply, please fill out the application at the end of this document on or before August 1, 2017, and submit in electronic form only to .
Please direct any questions you may have to the program administrator at .
Program Overview
The Solar Energy Innovation Network (SEIN) is a three-year program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), designed to remove soft cost (non-hardware cost) barriers to wide-scale integration of solar photovoltaics (PV) within the U.S. electricity system. The program supports selected project teams that aim to address these barriers through in-person, facilitated peer-learning and targeted research and analysis over an 18-21 month period. Project teams will be grouped together based on common solar market challenges to facilitate peer exchange and address similar analytical needs. The program design encourages development and replication of innovative solutions through active sharing of lessons learned.
This program is designed to facilitate solutions to solar market barriers, recognizing that hardware price declines on their own are insufficient to achieve wide-scale integration of solar PV in the U.S. It has been developed in response to the increasing number of requests from states, counties, and local entities for data-based solutions. SEIN builds on successful elements of past and current programs at DOE and NREL, such as the SunShot Catalyst Energy Prize Program and the Solar Technical Assistance Team, which bring together diverse groups of stakeholders striving to bring novel solutions to bear in the market.
Benefits of Participation
SEIN seeks pioneering teams made up of multiple partnering stakeholders that would benefit from sustained external support to boost their ideas, goals and projects from early stages towards implementation and scale. The composition of project teams is flexible and can include entities such as state and local organizations, electric utilities, regional planning commissions, solar industry members, technology solution providers, universities, NGOs, and other stakeholders.
Teams will benefit from both direct funding and indirect assistance. Indirect assistance includes working side-by-side with program staff, peer teams, and other subject-matter experts, assistance with stakeholder mapping, coaching to address institutional and technical challenges, and focused facilitation to unearth and drive the outcomes of the initiatives.
Other assistance includes access to laboratory staff, modeling tools and analysis capabilities.Direct funds may be used in a wide variety of ways, including (but not limited to) participating in quarterly meetings, conducting other travel to benefit the team initiative, accessing short term or extended site visits by subject matter experts, hiring new staff or supporting existing staff to focus on achieving the team’s goals. The designation of direct funds will be determined jointly between program administrators and the teams, based on the specific needs of each team.
Team Commitments
Teams commit to full participation for the duration of the program, including sending team representatives to quarterly, in-person, facilitated meetings or technical workshops and more regular conference calls and webinars for peer information exchange. At the 1-2 day, in-person meetings, teams will share progress with others, learn from peers, define analyses or other assistance that will address barriers, and access technical expertise. Some cost share from teams will be requested, which can be in the form of staff time, materials, travel costs or other contributions directly related to the initiative. At the end of the program period, teams are required to develop appropriate mechanisms such as workshops, presentations, brochures and websites that convey solutions, innovations and lessons learned during the program. These products will be distributed broadly and publicly showcased as part of a Replication Conference hosted by NREL.
Sample Topic Areas
Teams applying to SEIN may be working within one of the topical areas listed below. These categories serve as guidance for understanding the types of activities that would be appropriate for this program, but should not be viewed as bounds. The specific activities ultimately undertaken will be driven by market need, as expressed through the team applications. While topic areas are flexible, in their application teams must specify an action-based goal or initiative, such as piloting a solution, developing and implementing a plan, or informing a decision-making process through research and analysis.
Program Structure
Project teams will be grouped into cohorts based on shared challenges. This grouping of teams facilitates exchange of ideas and the identification of common research and analysis needs that can be addressed through the SEIN structure. Each thematic grouping of teams will have a lead facilitator and access to subject matter experts that will be available to address both thematic analysis needs and team-specific issues, as needed. Teams should plan on significant cross-team interaction with others in their thematic group, even as they work toward their individually defined goals and objectives. The SEIN program culminates in a public conference where all thematic groups and individual teams will share lessons learned, so that innovative solutions can be replicated in other contexts.
Solar Energy Innovation Network Application
Team Name or Initiative Title
This can be a descriptive working name for the team or a title for the initiative, if it does not yet have an official name.
Team Members
The final team make-up should include all key stakeholders that will be necessary to successfully implement the initiative. At the application stage, not all team members may have fully committed.
Please discuss the following (in at least one paragraph): Which stakeholders have committed to participate in the SEIN program if the team is selected? What additional stakeholders or expertise are critical to initiative success? Which would you want to include if the project is selected? Given their roles or positioning, how will these team members contribute to the project’s success?
Which types of institutions do you anticipate being represented in your team?
(Check all that apply.)
Top of Form
Utility / Electric Cooperative
Government
Regulator / Utility Commission
Solar Industry
Other Industry
Stakeholder Group
Other ______
List the State(s) or Territories represented
City/County/Region(s) represented (if applicable)
Relevant RTO/ISO (if known)
Team Goals and Objectives
Please describe the initiative the team will undertake as part of the program (in up to one page). The initiative should be action-based, such as piloting a solution, developing and implementing a plan, or informing a decision-making process through research and analysis. As part of your response, please address the following questions: What makes the initiative innovative? What are the team’s goals and objectives related to the initiative? What challenges or barriers is the initiative designed to address? How will the initiative help accelerate solar market adoption? How or where might it be replicated?
Role of Solar Energy Innovation Network
Please clearly articulate how SEIN can contribute to the team’s initiative and to its achievement of stated goals and objectives (in at least one paragraph). What are the major barriers that could be addressed through participation in the program? What types of technical assistance or analysis could be helpful in advancing the project goals? Which program elements do you anticipate will be most helpful in reaching the goal?
Institutional Commitment and Progress to Date
Strong applicants will have made concrete steps towards the realization of the candidate initiative and should be able to demonstrate clear institutional commitment, which could be in the form of financial resources, political commitment, or coalitions of relevant stakeholders. Please describe the institutional commitment to the project and progress to date (at least one paragraph).
Contact Information
Please provide a contact name, email address and phone number for all committed team members. Indicate if a primary contact person, or “champion,” for the entire team has been selected. The project champion(s) is the point of contact that can share information with project stakeholders, and coordinate activities between stakeholders, peer groups, and technical and facilitation assistance.
Please submit completed applications to () by August 1, 2017.
Follow-up interviews may be conducted. Applicants can expect to be notified by email and/or phone of the decision on or around October 1. Program activities will commence shortly after notification of award.
[1]This version of the application extends the deadline from June 30 to August 1, 2017. The program administratorsare extendingthe recruitment process and want to give those who are only now receiving the announcement more time to submit an application. We hope that applicants who received the announcement when it was initially distributed will aim to submit an application by the original June 30 deadline. This will allow us to conduct a pre-review of the application and contact the applicant for additional information or clarification, if needed. We will continue to accept new and revised applications from anyone through August 1. The announcement of winning teams will be made on or around October 1.