US Senator Alex Padilla, a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, has announced USD 7 million in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for five solar projects in California. The projects aim to strengthen the domestic solar supply chain by improving solar manufacturing, supporting the recycling of solar panels, and developing new US-made solar technologies.

The funding for the following California projects is expected to help reduce the cost and increase the efficiency of panel recycling processes: 

• USD 1.5 million for Solarcycle : To recover key materials from end-of-life solar panels with high purity

• USD 1.5 million for the University of California Berkeley: To develop materials to selectively remove a variety of metals from solar photovoltaic panels

• USD 1 million University of California, San Diego: To develop new materials to layer between the solar cell itself and the packaging layers of the solar module

The Solar Manufacturing Incubator program will fund innovative product ideas to enhance the US solar supply chain, promote cheaper and more efficient solar cells, and advance the manufacturing of cadmium telluride (CdTe) and perovskite solar technologies. The projects include:

• USD 1.6 million for LITESPEED Energy: To improve floating PV systems, making them more resilient to wind and waves

• USD 1.4 million for Mirai Solar: To develop and commercialize a foldable PV solar screen with variable shading and output power