The U.S. Department of Energy has announced the competitive selection of three projects for solid-state lighting (SSL), in response to the SSL Manufacturing R&D funding opportunity announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0000561. These two-year projects will focus on achieving significant cost reductions while maintaining quality by improving manufacturing equipment, processes, or monitoring techniques. Total DOE funding for the three projects is $7.1 million and leverages an additional $5 million in private-sector funding from the three companies.
 
This is the third round of DOE investments in solid-state lighting manufacturing projects. These efforts are part of DOE's initiative to accelerate the adoption of SSL technology through improvements that reduce costs while maintaining product quality and performance. They will play an important role in encouraging U.S.-based manufacturing of SSL technologies—creating jobs, boosting exports, and promoting America's role as a global leader in energy efficiency.

Due to funding limitations in FY12, DOE will not select or fund any projects in response to SSL Core Technology FOA DE-FOA-0000564 or SSL Product Development FOA DE-FOA-0000563. Although DOE received numerous quality proposals in response to these FOAs, SSL program funding for FY12 is impacted by Congressional direction, which specifically targeted manufacturing R&D. Congress has also directed DOE to use FY12 funds to fully fund the new multi-year projects, which further impacted the number of selections for FY12.
 
The DOE SSL program strategy and direction remain unchanged, and DOE continues to support SSL Core Technology Research and Product Development to improve the efficacy and quality of SSL. In light of these considerations, however, DOE will postpone the release of new solicitations for Core Technology Research and Product Development (which would normally be issued in summer 2012) until FY13, to gain a better idea of available funding. For more information, visit the Financial Opportunities section.