07/20/06 -  The Department of Energy (DOE), National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), on behalf of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's (EERE's) Building Technologies Program (BTP), is seeking applications for product development in the Solid-State Lighting (SSL) Program and for the production and distribution of SSL technical information to the market.
DOE has set aggressive and ambitious goals for SSL Research and Development: By 2025, to develop advanced SSL technologies that, compared to conventional lighting technologies, are much more energy efficient, longer lasting, and cost-competitive.
While the current generation of SSL products are commercially viable, they are most often used in markets that do not produce the large energy conservation objectives sought by DOE. Moreover, the technical challenges that impede penetration into mainstream general illumination markets are complex and may require the combined resources of many researchers and perhaps, the unique research tools found only at a limited number of universities, National Laboratories and research institutions. It may be difficult to overcome these critical technical challenges without a focused Government initiative. Partly, this is because the high payoffs sought may be judged too risky for industry to undertake alone. Thus, the collaborations sought under this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) will “buy down” or reduce the level of technical risk by providing significant financial resources. In addition, applications for the efficient production and distribution of SSL technical information that would be of value to the market among key target market sectors, such as electric utilities, state energy organizations, builders, retailers, and architectural firms, are being sought under this FOA.
Issue Date: 07/18/2006
Application Due Date: 09/05/2006 at 8:00:00 PM Eastern Time
Funding opportunity announcement  here