The DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) is wasting no time after its recent near-death experience (the president’s proposed budget would have eliminated the agency, but cooler heads in Congress prevailed): it has announced up to $30 million in funding for a new program called Duration Addition to electricitY Storage (DAYS), which has a goal of enabling long-duration energy storage on the power grid.

The primary objective of the DAYS program is to develop storage systems that can deliver electricity at a cost of 5 cents/kWh-cycle across a range of storage durations (10 to 100 hours).

The funding opportunity (DE-FOA-0001906) is open to a range of storage technology choices, including thermal, mechanical and electrochemical. However, it does require that all proposed storage systems be charged by electricity alone and produce electricity as the sole output.

“Building the grid of tomorrow will require new tools and technologies to ensure Americans have access to affordable and secure energy,” said Secretary of Energy Rick Perry. “At DOE, we are peering over the energy horizon and identifying the key technologies we need to support the power system of the future. These new storage options will offer us the opportunity to make the grid more resilient while enabling greater integration of our domestic energy resources.”

Source: DOE via Green Car Congress