As part of the Energy Department's SunShot Initiative, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced up to $5 million available this year to develop "plug-and-play" photovoltaic systems that can be purchased, installed and operational in one day.
This effort is part of the DOE 's broader strategy to spur solar power deployment by reducing non-hardware, or "soft" costs, such as installation, permitting and interconnection, which currently amount to more than half of the total cost of residential systems.
