Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0001318
Apply for DE FOA 0001318
- The Golden Field Office in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Solar Big Data and Informatics Request for Information" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.087 Renewable Energy Research and Development.
- This funding opportunity was created on Mar 16, 2015 and posted on Mar 16, 2015.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 10, 2015 This is a Request for Information (RFI) only. EERE will not pay for information provided under this RFI and no project will be supported as a result of this RFI.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.
- This RFI is not accepting applications for financial assistance or financial incentives.
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Opportunity Summary:
The Solar Big Data and Informatics Request for Information (RFI), issued by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under the SunShot Initiative and managed through the Golden Field Office, was a market-sounding effort focused on one core problem: solar projects often carry high "soft costs" tied to transactions, paperwork, customer acquisition, due diligence, financing friction, and other non-hardware expenses. DOE framed better solar data practices as a practical lever for lowering these soft costs by improving transparency, enabling more consistent pricing, and reducing the information gaps that slow deals down or raise perceived risk. The RFI explored how the federal government might best support and streamline both competitive and non-competitive efforts across the industry to collect, secure, manage, exchange, and potentially monetize solar datasets spanning the full project lifecycle, from early project origination and site assessment through grid integration, operations and maintenance, and eventual decommissioning.
A central theme of the RFI was that stronger data availability and more usable datasets can reduce informational asymmetries across the solar value chain. In plain terms, when developers, financiers, installers, utilities, insurers, and customers are all working from fragmented or inconsistent information, transactions become slower and more expensive, and capital becomes more conservative. DOE highlighted that improving access to trustworthy, standardized, and secure solar data can help accelerate the maturity of solar-related products and services, support better underwriting and risk assessment, and ultimately increase solar deployment. The RFI signaled interest not just in technical infrastructure, but also in the broader ecosystem required to make data useful at scale, including governance, standards, interoperability, privacy protections, and business models for data exchange.
DOE specifically called attention to barriers and opportunities across four dimensions: technical, economic, administrative, and legal. On the technical side, this includes issues like data quality, standard formats, system interoperability, cybersecurity, and the mechanics of collecting and integrating data from equipment, installers, utilities, and third-party platforms. On the economic side, DOE pointed to the potential for data improvements to reduce cost of capital and enable more efficient market activity, implying interest in how data can support investor confidence, pricing accuracy, and scalable financing. On the administrative side, the focus is on process friction, such as permitting workflows, customer onboarding, inspection documentation, and the broader transaction overhead that can be reduced when information is consistent and easy to verify. On the legal side, the RFI emphasized consumer protection and the need to address privacy, data ownership, consent, sharing agreements, and liability concerns that can prevent organizations from sharing data even when it would reduce market costs and risk.
Importantly, this opportunity was not a funding announcement and did not provide grant money. It was strictly an RFI intended to collect stakeholder feedback ahead of a possible future Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). DOE explicitly stated it was not accepting applications, would not pay for information submitted in response to the RFI, and would not support any project as a result of the RFI itself. The estimated total funding, award floor, and award ceiling were all listed as $0 to reinforce that this was an information-gathering step rather than a solicitation for proposals.
The RFI was open in terms of eligibility, described as "unrestricted," meaning any type of entity could submit input, subject to any clarifications in the full RFI text. Submissions were required to be emailed as an attachment to solardata@ee.doe.gov, and the deadline was 5:00 PM EDT on April 10, 2015. The notice was posted March 16, 2015, and later archived July 31, 2015. The official listing appeared on EERE Exchange under Funding Opportunity Number DE-FOA-0001318, within the energy activity category, and associated with CFDA 81.087 (Renewable Energy Research and Development).
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1) What is the Solar Big Data and Informatics Request for Information (RFI)?
It is a Request for Information issued by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under the SunShot Initiative and managed through the Golden Field Office. It was a market-sounding effort to gather stakeholder input on how improved solar data practices could help lower solar project "soft costs" and support the broader solar industry.
2) Is this a grant or funding opportunity that provides money?
No. This was not a funding announcement and it did not provide grant money. DOE listed the estimated total funding, award floor, and award ceiling as $0 to make clear it was an information-gathering step rather than a solicitation for proposals.
3) What was DOE trying to solve with this RFI?
DOE focused on reducing high solar project "soft costs" tied to transactions, paperwork, customer acquisition, due diligence, and financing friction. The RFI explored whether better solar data collection, management, and sharing could reduce these costs by improving transparency, consistency, and trust across the market.
4) What are "soft costs" in the context of this RFI?
In this context, soft costs refer to non-hardware expenses that can make solar projects more expensive or slower to close, such as transaction overhead, documentation burdens, customer onboarding, due diligence, and financing-related friction.
5) What kinds of data did DOE express interest in?
DOE expressed interest in solar datasets spanning the full project lifecycle, including early project origination and site assessment, grid integration, operations and maintenance, and eventual decommissioning.
6) Why did DOE emphasize solar data availability and usability?
DOE highlighted that fragmented or inconsistent information creates informational asymmetries across the solar value chain. When parties are not working from trustworthy, standardized, and secure data, transactions tend to slow down, costs rise, and perceived risk increases, which can make financing more conservative.
7) Who did DOE identify as stakeholders affected by solar data gaps?
DOE referenced a broad set of stakeholders, including developers, financiers, installers, utilities, insurers, and customers, all of whom may be impacted by fragmented or inconsistent information.
8) What types of solutions was DOE interested in (technical only, or broader)?
DOE signaled interest in more than just technical infrastructure. The RFI also emphasized the ecosystem needed to make data useful at scale, including governance, standards, interoperability, privacy protections, and potential business models for data exchange.
9) What were the four dimensions of barriers and opportunities DOE highlighted?
DOE called attention to barriers and opportunities across four dimensions: technical, economic, administrative, and legal.
10) What did DOE mean by "technical" barriers and opportunities?
The RFI pointed to technical issues such as data quality, standard formats, interoperability between systems, cybersecurity, and practical challenges in collecting and integrating data from equipment, installers, utilities, and third-party platforms.
11) What did DOE mean by "economic" barriers and opportunities?
DOE suggested that better data could reduce the cost of capital and enable more efficient market activity. The RFI implied interest in how improved data can support investor confidence, pricing accuracy, scalable financing, underwriting, and risk assessment.
12) What did DOE mean by "administrative" barriers and opportunities?
The administrative dimension focused on process friction, including permitting workflows, customer onboarding, inspection documentation, and other transaction overhead that may be reduced when information is consistent, easy to verify, and easier to exchange.
13) What did DOE mean by "legal" barriers and opportunities?
DOE emphasized consumer protection and legal considerations that can inhibit data sharing even when it might reduce costs and risk. These include privacy, data ownership, consent, sharing agreements, and liability concerns.
14) Did DOE accept project applications under this RFI?
No. DOE explicitly stated it was not accepting applications and would not support any project as a result of the RFI itself.
15) Would DOE pay respondents for information submitted to the RFI?
No. DOE stated it would not pay for information submitted in response to the RFI.
16) Who was eligible to respond?
Eligibility was described as "unrestricted," meaning any type of entity could submit input, subject to any clarifications in the full RFI text.
17) How were submissions required to be submitted?
Submissions were required to be emailed as an attachment to solardata@ee.doe.gov.
18) What was the submission deadline?
The deadline was 5:00 PM EDT on April 10, 2015.
19) When was the notice posted and when was it archived?
The notice was posted on March 16, 2015, and later archived on July 31, 2015.
20) Where was the official opportunity listing posted?
The official listing appeared on EERE Exchange under Funding Opportunity Number DE-FOA-0001318.
21) What activity category and program reference were associated with the listing?
The listing was within the energy activity category and associated with CFDA 81.087 (Renewable Energy Research and Development).
22) Does this RFI indicate a future grant or Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA)?
The RFI was described as a step to collect stakeholder feedback ahead of a possible future Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). It did not itself commit DOE to issuing a future FOA.
23) What was DOE's overarching rationale for improving solar data practices?
DOE framed improved solar data practices as a practical lever for lowering soft costs by improving transparency, enabling more consistent pricing, and reducing information gaps that slow deals or raise perceived risk, ultimately supporting increased solar deployment.
24) What aspects of solar data management did DOE explicitly mention?
DOE referenced efforts to collect, secure, manage, exchange, and potentially monetize solar datasets across the industry.
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