Overview of NREL's Photovoltaic Advanced R&D Project

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) Photovoltaic Advanced Research and Development (PV AR&D) Project supports the U. S. Department of Energy's National Photovoltaics Program in assisting the development and commercialization of photovoltaics (PV) energy technology. The NREL program is implemented through in-house research and subcontracts, with over 50% of the annual budgetawarded through competitive solicitations to universities, large and small businesses, and other research centers. These activities include cost-shared, multiyear, government/industry partnerships and technology initiatives. The research has resulted in a better fundamental understanding of materials, devices, and processes, the achievement of record efficiencies in nearly all PV technologyareas, the identification of promising new approaches to low-cost photovoltaics, and the introduction of new PV technology products into system experiments and PV markets. This paper presents an overview of NREL's PV AR&D Project in terms of the project organization and budgets, near- and long-term project objectives, research participants, and current and future research directions. Recentprogress in the in-house and subcontracted research activities is described.