Summary
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is deploying unprecedented levels of clean energy funding in 2026, driven by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), and the CHIPS and Science Act. DOE's clean energy grant ecosystem spans applied research through the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), transformative R&D through ARPA-E, grid infrastructure through the Grid Deployment Office (GDO), manufacturing through the Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC), and basic science through the Office of Science. Organizations ranging from university research groups and national laboratories to clean energy startups, utilities, and state energy offices can access DOE funding — but each program has distinct eligibility requirements, application systems, and competitive standards that applicants must navigate carefully.
EERE Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) Funding
The Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) within EERE manages DOE's solar research and development portfolio, which in 2026 continues to prioritize cost reduction, reliability, and domestic manufacturing of photovoltaic (PV) systems, concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP), and solar-plus-storage. SETO issues Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) through the EERE Exchange portal (eere-exchange.energy.gov), the official submission system for all EERE competitive awards. SETO FOAs typically fund multi-year projects at $500,000 to $5 million per award, with larger awards for systems integration and demonstration projects. Cost-share requirements apply to most EERE grants — typically 20% for research and development projects and 50% for demonstration and deployment projects.
In 2026, SETO's priority research areas include perovskite and tandem solar cell technologies, solar hardware cybersecurity, agrivoltaic systems that combine solar generation with agricultural land use, building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), and concentrated solar power with thermal storage. SETO also manages the Solar Energy Innovation Network (SEIN), which funds regional teams working on solar market challenges such as permitting, interconnection, and siting. Universities, national laboratories, private companies, utilities, and state/local governments are all eligible for SETO FOAs, though specific eligibility varies by announcement. Companies interested in SETO funding should create an EERE Exchange account, subscribe to SETO email alerts, and monitor the Grants.gov SETO channel for new FOAs.
Wind Energy and Offshore Wind Grants
DOE's Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO) funds research on land-based, offshore, and distributed wind technologies. In 2026, WETO priorities include next-generation offshore wind turbine designs, floating offshore wind systems, wind plant optimization through digital twin technology, blade recycling and circular economy solutions, and co-location of wind with other uses (offshore fishing, aquaculture, shipping lanes). WETO FOAs are issued on EERE Exchange with award sizes ranging from $500,000 for smaller research studies to $20+ million for large-scale demonstration projects. The Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium (OWRDC) is a public-private partnership through which DOE channels collaborative offshore wind R&D funding.
The Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), working in parallel with DOE, manages the offshore lease program that creates the market conditions for offshore wind development. For research and development funding, WETO is the primary entry point. State energy offices in coastal states (particularly Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, California, and Oregon) also administer state-level offshore wind research grants that complement federal WETO awards. Companies developing offshore wind components, installation vessels, port infrastructure, and workforce training programs should monitor both WETO FOAs and state offshore wind procurement programs simultaneously.
ARPA-E: Transformative Clean Energy R&D
The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) funds high-risk, high-reward energy technology research that is too early-stage or too unconventional for private sector investment but has the potential to transform the U.S. energy system. ARPA-E operates two types of funding opportunities: focused programs targeting specific technical challenges (such as long-duration energy storage, direct air capture, or nuclear fusion) and the OPEN program, which accepts applications on any energy topic. ARPA-E OPEN solicitations, issued every two to three years, typically fund 50–100 projects from thousands of applications, with average awards of $1–3 million over two to three years.
ARPA-E is notable for its program manager model — each focused program is designed by a single program manager who defines the technical targets, metrics, and evaluation criteria. Applicants to ARPA-E focused programs must demonstrate a technical approach that plausibly achieves the program's quantitative targets; incremental improvements on existing technologies rarely succeed. ARPA-E has funded transformative work in areas including solid-state batteries, direct air capture, advanced nuclear, grid-scale thermal storage, and super-efficient power electronics. In 2026, active ARPA-E programs include OPEN 2024 follow-ons, a program on agricultural methane mitigation, and programs on advanced geothermal systems. ARPA-E applications are submitted through ARPA-E's proprietary online portal (arpa-e-foa.energy.gov).
Grid Deployment Office: Transmission and Grid Modernization
DOE's Grid Deployment Office (GDO), established with Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding, manages the largest grid infrastructure investment programs in U.S. history. The BIL appropriated $5 billion for the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) program, which funds transmission buildout, grid resilience projects, and smart grid technologies. GRIP awards range from $10 million to over $1 billion for major transmission projects, and applicants include utilities, transmission developers, states, tribes, and public power entities. GDO also manages the Transmission Facilitation Program (TFP), which provides capacity contracts and loans (not grants) to de-risk large transmission projects.
The GDO's Smart Grid Investment Matching Grant Program and Resilience and Sustainability Program fund grid modernization projects for electric utilities and rural cooperatives. For 2026, GDO priorities include high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission, grid-enhancing technologies (GETs) such as dynamic line ratings and topology optimization, extreme weather resilience, and offshore wind transmission interconnection. GDO applications are submitted through Grants.gov and reviewed against technical, economic, and environmental criteria. Utilities, independent system operators, regional transmission organizations, public power entities, and state energy offices are the primary eligible applicants for most GDO programs.
IRA-Funded Clean Energy Manufacturing Grants
The Inflation Reduction Act funded DOE's Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC) with $5.8 billion to build domestic clean energy manufacturing capacity. The Domestic Manufacturing Conversion Grants program funds retooling, retrofitting, and expanding existing manufacturing facilities to produce clean energy technologies — electric vehicle components, EV batteries, solar panels, wind turbine components, electrolyzers, and fuel cells. Awards range from $50 million to over $1 billion for large-scale manufacturing transformation projects. Primary applicants are established manufacturers with existing domestic facilities seeking to convert or expand production to clean energy technology manufacturing.
DOE's Loan Programs Office (LPO) manages the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) Loan Program and the Title XVII Innovative Energy Loan Guarantee Program, which provide low-cost debt financing (not grants) for large clean energy manufacturing and deployment projects. However, DOE also administers grant components within the IRA Clean Energy and Power programs — including the $250 million Orphaned Well Program and cleanups, and workforce training grants for the clean energy transition through the IRA's good jobs provisions. The IRA also created direct pay and transferability provisions that allow tax-exempt entities (municipalities, tribes, nonprofits, rural cooperatives) to receive the direct value of clean energy tax credits as cash payments, effectively functioning as a grant equivalent for project deployment.
DOE SBIR/STTR for Clean Energy Startups
DOE's SBIR and STTR programs are administered through EERE and the Office of Science, and represent a critical funding pathway for clean energy startups that are too early-stage for venture capital but need R&D funding to develop their technology. DOE SBIR Phase I awards provide up to $200,000 for six-month feasibility studies, while Phase II awards provide up to $1.1 million over two years. DOE issues two SBIR solicitation cycles per year, with topics published by each participating program office — EERE subtopics in 2026 include advanced solar manufacturing, next-generation wind materials, long-duration energy storage, electric vehicle charging, green hydrogen production, and building efficiency technologies.
DOE's SBIR awardees gain access to the National Laboratories through the DOE Lab Partnering Service, which connects companies with the technical expertise, specialized equipment, and user facilities at 17 national laboratories including Argonne, Oak Ridge, NREL, PNNL, and Lawrence Berkeley. This laboratory access is one of DOE SBIR's most distinctive advantages — startups can leverage multi-billion-dollar research infrastructure that would be inaccessible through any other mechanism. DOE SBIR also offers the Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF), which provides additional commercialization support to successful Phase II awardees. Submissions are made through Grants.gov and require registration in the Small Business Administration's company registry.
Office of Science and Basic Energy Sciences
DOE's Office of Science funds the fundamental research that underpins long-term clean energy innovation. The Basic Energy Sciences (BES) program funds research in materials science, chemistry, condensed matter physics, and geosciences — the foundational disciplines that drive breakthroughs in solar cells, batteries, catalysts, and superconductors. BES issues FOAs for Early Career Research awards ($150,000–$500,000/year for five years for principal investigators within 10 years of PhD), Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs, $3–4M/year for four-year multi-institutional centers), and regular research grants to universities and national laboratories.
The Office of Science's Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program funds bioenergy research through the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) and DOE Bioenergy Research Centers, as well as climate and Earth system modeling research relevant to clean energy deployment planning. The Fusion Energy Sciences program manages DOE's contribution to the international ITER project and domestic fusion research — a long-term clean energy technology with growing commercial interest. In 2026, Office of Science priorities align with the CHIPS and Science Act's investments in quantum information science, AI for science, and microelectronics research that enables energy-efficient computing for clean energy grid management.
Key Takeaways
- All EERE competitive grants (solar, wind, buildings, vehicles) are issued through EERE Exchange (eere-exchange.energy.gov) — create an account and set up alerts for your technology area immediately.
- ARPA-E OPEN programs accept applications on any energy topic every two to three years; focused programs target specific technical challenges with quantitative performance targets — not incremental R&D.
- DOE SBIR Phase II awards reach $1.1M over two years and include access to national laboratory facilities — one of the highest-value benefits of any federal SBIR program.
- IRA direct pay provisions allow tax-exempt entities (nonprofits, municipalities, tribes, rural cooperatives) to receive clean energy tax credit values as direct cash payments, effectively a grant equivalent for project deployment.
- GDO GRIP grants fund transmission and grid resilience projects from $10M to $1B+; primary applicants are utilities, transmission developers, and state energy offices.