The following domestic entities are eligible to apply for this announcement:

1. Institutions of higher education;
2. Nonprofit and for-profit entities;
3. State and local governments; and
4. Consortia of entities (1) through (3).

All types of domestic entities are eligible to apply, except other federal agencies, Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) Contractors, and nonprofit organizations described in section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that engaged in lobbying activities after December 31, 1995. Foreign entities are not allowed to apply as prime applicants. However, foreign entities may be a team member or participant on a domestic entity's application, provided that the federal funding for the work to be performed by foreign entities does not exceed 50% of the total federal funding requested for the project. Applicants with foreign team members must explain how U.S. interest will be maintained. It is recommended that U.S. interests be maintained by the use of U.S.-produced goods and services to the fullest extent practicable and by dissemination of the results and lessons learned of the project to domestic stakeholders in the MHK industry.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is being issued by DOE to solicit applications for improving accuracy of solar forecasting in the short-term (0-6 hours) and day-ahead timeframes. This FOA is part of the DOE "SunShot Initiative" and addresses the EERE performance metric of increasing the viability and deployment of renewable energy technologies.

Launched in 2011, the SunShot Initiative aims to reduce the cost of solar energy systems by about 75% between 2010 and 2020. Achieving this target could result in solar meeting roughly 14% of U.S. electricity needs by 2030 and 27% by 2050. Advancements in generation (conventional as well as solar) and transmission technology, improved accuracy in solar resource forecasting, the evolution of operational practices, and the adoption of consistent codes, standards, and regulatory procedures will collectively enable the successful integration of high levels of solar penetration on the grid. Specifically, there is a significant need for strong leadership and a clear way forward in:

• establishing a standard set of metrics for solar forecast accuracy assessment,
• development of new methods/algorithms/processes for solar forecasting, and
• a rigorous estimation of the various value streams (including economic and reliability aspects) due to improved accuracy solar forecasting.

To further address these issues and encourage stakeholders to participate in improving the accuracy of solar forecasting, and to establish American leadership in cutting-edge solar resource forecasting techniques, the DOE, through this announcement, is planning to fund specific activities in foundational and applied research to improve the accuracy of solar forecasting, and demonstrating the application of more accuracy solar forecasts in power system operations. These activities are expected to enable significant, sustainable, and measurable progress in achieving accurate solar forecasting that is developed through foundational research, meet accuracy targets on a set of metrics developed by stakeholder consensus, validate the improved forecasts through data from existing and new instrumentation, and result in benefits shown through incorporating the forecasts into real-time power system operations and assessing the resulting impacts. With the integration of high penetrations of variable renewable energy sources quickly becoming a reality for many utilities, and increases in roof-top and distribution solar energy systems the SunShot Initiative is examining how to improve the accuracy of solar forecasting models.

Accurate solar forecasts are essential for the power system operator to ensure grid reliability, and also important for solar power plant owners to minimize deviations from bids made in the power market and reduce operating costs. In addition, the SunShot Initiative is looking to establish by consensus, uniform and comprehensive metrics to measure the accuracy of solar forecasting. Respondents are asked to comment on the questions in the RFI. Respondents are also encouraged to comment on the importance of accurate forecasting and universal metrics, as well as your organization's anticipated interest in participating in a possible FOA opportunity.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Fuel Cell Technologies Program, is issuing a Request for Information (RFI) seeking input from stakeholders on proposed technical and cost targets for fuel cells designed for backup power and material handling applications. Feedback on proposed performance, durability and cost targets, as well as on current status, for these two early market fuel cell applications is sought from developers, manufacturers, end users, and other stakeholders. The targets are intended to meet end user expectations, and are not driven by the operating parameters or constraints of specific technologies.

This is a Request for Information (RFI) only, issued solely for information and program planning purposes; this RFI does not constitute a formal solicitation for proposals or abstracts. Your response to this notice will be treated as information only. The Department of Energy (DOE) will not provide reimbursement for costs incurred in responding to this RFI. Respondents are advised that DOE is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted under this RFI. Reponses to this RFI do not bind DOE to any further actions related to this topic.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Fuel Cell Technologies Program, is issuing a Request for Information (RFI) seeking input from stakeholders on the proposed performance, durability, and cost targets for hydrogen storage subsystems designed for material handling and portable power fuel cell applications. Comments on the relevance and appropriateness of the suggested target values, including recommendations and justification for any targets that are not currently addressed are sought.

The objective of this FOA is to deploy U.S. technical expertise in the area of sustainable urban development to cities in China and India through a variety of activities such as strategic and policy planning and analysis, design and management, energy market assessment, energy modeling, financial management, improvement of governance in local bodies, workforce development, technical assessment, and analysis. Benefits to the United States can include increased partnership opportunities for U.S. clean energy technology companies so they can grow, exports of domestic clean energy technologies and services in rapidly expanding markets, as well as access to data on clean energy policy and programs success and challenges that can inform U.S. national and sub-national policy development. DOE anticipates providing $750,000 total to several awardees over a period of up to two years to accomplish the goals of this funding opportunity. This FOA directly supports the goals of the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), International Program.