The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) Solar Energy Evolution and Diffusion Studies 4 (SEEDS 4) funding program provides $9.5 million for social science research that generates actionable insights to improve large-scale solar siting processes and outcomes for host communities—particularly those that are disadvantaged—as well as the solar industry and other stakeholders.
DOE announced the funding opportunity on December 14, 2023, and announced the four selected projects on June 4, 2024.
Approach
Siting large-scale solar projects is a complex process that requires stakeholders to consider many factors including zoning and land use, economic opportunities, potential environmental impacts, and other benefits or burdens to host communities. Understanding the social dynamics of large-scale solar siting and permitting processes is critical to develop innovative practices that speed deployment while producing meaningful benefits for host communities.
Research supported by this funding program studies community acceptance and opposition to large-scale solar projects, permitting and land use planning for large-scale solar deployment, and best practices for engaging with communities during the siting process.
Objectives
The actionable insights generated through these projects will help to develop strategies that speed large-scale solar deployment to achieve a carbon-free electricity sector by 2035.
Selectees
– Award and cost share amounts are rounded and subject to change pending negotiations –
Michigan State University
Project Name: Fast and (or?) Fair: Are Rapid and Equitable Processes for Large-scale Solar Development Mutually Exclusive?
Location: East Lansing, MI
DOE Award Amount: $2.5 million
Awardee Cost Share: $620,000
Principal Investigator: Douglas Bessette
Project Description: This projectevaluates the potential to speed up large-scale solar siting and permitting processes while also reducing community burdens and improving procedural justice and energy equity. The research team is using complementary qualitative and quantitative approaches to test how residents’ perceptions and support of large-scale projects are affected by underlying land-use, policy, demographic characteristics, types of permitting and siting processes, and other factors. The project will study ten large-scale projects in four different regions of the country at different stages in the development lifecycle.
Princeton University
Project Name: Building an Infrastructure for Trust: Creating Shared Value in Large-Scale Solar through Community Benefit Agreements
Location: Princeton, NJ
DOE Award Amount: $2 million
Awardee Cost Share: $500,000
Principal Investigator: Elke Weber
Project Description: This project investigates how Community Benefits Agreements (CBAs) between local stakeholders and large-scale solar developers affect community support, procedural justice, and the equitable distribution of a project’s benefits and burdens. It also examines how CBAs, and the process by which they are created and implemented, could be re-envisioned to deliver tangible benefits to communities, build credibility in large-scale solar projects, and strengthen relationships and trust across stakeholder groups. The team’s approach includes document analysis, surveys, stakeholder workshops, and qualitative case studies.
Solar & Storage Industries Institute
Project Name: Testing Approaches to Improve Outcomes of Large-Scale Solar Siting
Location: Washington, DC
DOE Award Amount: $2.5 million
Awardee Cost Share: $625,000
Principal Investigator: David Gahl
Project Description: This project is developing innovative community engagement practices for siting and permitting large-scale solar facilities, deploying these practices in communities consideringsolar projects, and evaluating the impact of those interventions on community attitudes toward the proposed installation. The project leverages the Solar Uncommon Dialogue collaboration, which includes participants from solar industry, conservation, agricultural, environmental justice, academic, and Tribal organizations to develop innovative community engagement practices. The team will then deploy those practices in partnership with stakeholders and evaluate their impact onprocesses and outcomes for host communities and the solar industry at proposed large-scale solar facilities.
University of Pennsylvania
Project Name: A Comparative Analysis of Community Support for U.S. Large-Scale Solar Development
Location: Philadelphia, PA
DOE Award Amount: $2.5 million
Awardee Cost Share: $640,000
Principal Investigator: Sanya Carley
Project Description: This project compares large-scale solar siting processes and outcomes across regions and communities. The project team is conducting a series of surveys with communities as they move through siting and permitting processes for large-scale solar projects. The community surveys will be complemented by an analysis of media narratives, stakeholder interviews, and a national survey. Together, these analyses will demonstrate how different siting practices shape community engagement and support for large-scale solar projects and how those dynamics differ across different types of communities.
Additional Information
- Explore SETO’s research in solar soft costs.
- Learn more about large-scale solar siting and siting of other renewable energy facilities.
- Read the selections announcement.
- Check out SETO’s other funding programs.
- Apply for SETO’s open funding opportunities.
- Browse other DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) funding opportunities.
- Sign up for the SETO newsletter.
