University of Tulsa wins grant for solar energy project

Department of Energy issues grants to help support advances in the solar power space

The University of Tulsa in Oklahoma has announced that it is one of the recipients of 12 grants being issued by the Department of Energy. These grants aim to support the development of more efficient and effective photovoltaic technologies. The Department of Energy has been working to make solar power more cost-effective for several years, but accomplishing this goal has been a time-consuming and expensive process. The grants that the federal agency is providing are meant to help shed some light on how energy could be derived from the sun even when it is not in the sky.

University to use grant money to fund research into more efficient technologies

The University of Tulsa has received a $1.7 million grant that will help support its research into clean technologies. The funds will help researchers explore the efficiency challenges that photovoltaic technologies face. These challenges have to do with how solar panels produce electrical power from sunlight and how this energy is stored for later use or fed into an existing energy grid. Efficiency problems have been one of solar power's major drawbacks for several years, but as technology advances, efficiency is also making progress.

Federal agency aims to overcome the challenges that face solar power

The grants being offered by the Department of Energy total $30 million in funding. The funding has been split among 12 projects that seek to develop more advanced hybrid solar energy converters, storage technologies, and tackle other challenges concerning the efficiency of photovoltaic technology. Some of the recipients of the agency's grants are focusing heavily on hybrid energy generation, using solar power to produce hydrogen gas as a form of chemical energy storage.

US continues to show strong support for solar power

The U.S. has been a supporter of solar power for several years, but only recently has this support been growing more profound. Solar power is part of the country's expansive energy plan, which has the federal government and its various agencies focusing on the adoption of a multitude of energy sources. This energy plan also has the U.S. maintain its focus on fossil-fuels for the foreseeable future.