14 DAY TRIAL // When he was elected president, Barack Obama said that he would do his best to fight climate change and global warming and, by the looks of it, he intends to stick to his promise. Thus, it was just yesterday when the US Department of Energy announced that it was to invest $13 million (€9.44 million) in solar manufacturing.
On its website, the US Department of Energy details that the money will be split between five different companies based in five of the country's states, i.e. California, Colorado, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Oregon.
With the help of these funds, the companies are expected to help promote the use of green energy sources across the country by making photovoltaic installations more affordable.
What's more, the companies are expected to pin down ways to make the process of manufacturing such installations faster and more efficient.
“The Department today announced over $13 million for five projects to strengthen domestic solar manufacturing and speed commercialization of efficient, affordable photovoltaic and concentrating solar power technologies,” the energy department says.
Furthermore, “As part of the Department’s SunShot Initiative, these awards will help lower the cost of solar electricity, support a growing U.S. solar workforce and increase U.S. competitiveness in the global clean energy market.”
News of these investments comes shortly after a report issued by the GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association pointed out that, in the third quarter of 2013, the US installed an impressive 930 megawatts of new solar capacity.
The same report argued that, by the end of this year, the country had high chances to surpass Germany in terms of solar capacity installation.
What's more, the Obama administration hopes that, by the year 2020, the US' overall green energy capacity will be double its levels at the end of President Obama's first term.
“The strong, continued growth in the U.S. solar industry over the past few years is giving more and more Americans access to affordable clean energy,” says Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz.
“We have a tremendous opportunity for American manufacturing to lead the global clean energy market and help pave the way to a cleaner, more sustainable energy future,” he adds.