The new SunShot program from the United States Department of Energy has been trying to lower solar plus storage costs to 6 cents per kilowatt hour.

Although they have not yet reached this goal, they have taken drastic steps to lowering this price and making renewable energy more affordable to many people throughout our country. On Tuesday, January 19, SunShot released its most recent program called “Sustainable and Holistic Integration of Energy Storage and Solar PV” (SHINES). This has set a new price to target of 14 cents per kilowatt hour for a new class of solar power that is fully integrated with energy and the grid at large.

To start this off, the “SHINES” program has given $18 Million in grants towards six projects across the United States.

In a Tuesday conference call, DOE David Danielson and assistant secretary of energy efficiency and renewable energy said “Without a doubt, innovation in energy storage will help drive adoption in the United States to new heights.” If successful, this could be a huge advancement in the growing solar energy storage segment of the Solar PV Industry. It will drastically and the integration of solar energy and and the movement away from dependence on the grid.