Funds worth US$83 million have been made available for collaborative solar projects between Australian and US researchers.
The funding — which was announced by the Australian Solar Institute (ASI), the Australian Minister for Resources and Energy, and the US Ambassador to Australia — has been made available as part of the ASI’s United States-Australia Solar Energy Collaboration (USASEC).
Commenting on the investment, ASI’s Chief Executive Mark Twidell said: “Our funding unites the complementary strengths of both nations to fast track the commercialisation of new solar technologies by lowering costs.”
The funding includes US$68 million for two eight-year research programmes and US$15.5 million for 11 collaborative research projects. The eight-year programmes comprise the US$33 million US-Australia Institute for Advanced Photovoltaics programme which is led by the University of New South Wales, and the US$35 million Australian Solar Thermal Research Initiative led by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). Both programmes aim to deliver the next generation of solar technologies.
Furthermore, as part of a larger solar technology strategy, CISRO and the University of New South Wales will manage nodes of research across a range of institutions in Australia and the US.
To date, more than US$95 million has been invested through the USASEC.
