Bay Area Photovoltaic Consortium (BAPVC)

BAPVC is a consortium led by Stanford University and University of California-Berkeley and is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy with additional support from industry and universities.

DOE is providing $25 million over five years (2011–2016) as part of the SunShot Photovoltaic Manufacturing Initiative to provide a source of research funding for all universities in the United States. 

BAPVC conducts industry‐relevant research and development that will impact high‐volume PV manufacturing, produce a highly trained workforce and speed up commercialization of cutting‐edge PV technologies. BAPVC will develop and test innovative new materials, device structures and fabrication processes necessary to produce cost‐effective PV modules in high volumes. The research will advance technologies that bring down manufacturing costs and improve device performance characteristics to facilitate the manufacturing of solar cell modules with a price less than $0.50 per watt, thereby enabling an installed system price of $1 per watt.

Industry members are the leading companies at each position in the photovoltaic value chain. Not only does this composition provide the needed input for performance of research, but also it provides the outlet for game-changing results.

BAPVC funds research with the leading university teams across the entire nation through open solicitations with evaluation by industry members.