SolarBridge Technologies (SolarBridge) has been awarded a $2.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) through its SunShot Initiative, a program whose goal is to reduce the cost of solar energy systems by 75 percent by 2020.

SolarBridge will use the DOE grant to accelerate development of an ultra low-cost microinverter and universal mechanism for connecting power conversion electronics to solar modules. SolarBridge will collaborate on the SunShot Initiative with module manufacturer SunPower to develop an AC module that leverages the new attachment scheme and lower cost microinverter.

A key goal of the SunShot Initiative is to drive the cost of solar-generated electricity down to $0.06 per kilowatt-hour. The SolarBridge/SunPower collaboration will focus on developing a lower cost, higher efficiency microinverter as an integral part of a field-tested AC module that is fully certified and backed by a 25-year warranty.

"We are extremely pleased to be selected as a SunShot participant," said Ron Van Dell, president/CEO of SolarBridge.

"We look forward to working together with SunPower to develop a next-generation AC solution that addresses the long-term market imperative for substantially lower cost renewable energy."

The SolarBridge grant was among $145 million awarded for advanced solar technology projects by the DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Sixty-nine projects across 24 states were selected, with the goal to spur innovation and encourage rapid, widespread adoption of solar energy systems across the United States.

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