Diversity in Science and Technology Advances National Clean Energy in Solar (DISTANCE-Solar)

I. The purpose of Amendment 001 is to: 1. Revise the Eligible Applicants section in the Executive Summary; 2. Revise the first paragraph of Section III.A.1, Eligibility Information; 3. Extend the Submission Deadline for Full Applications to April 1, 2013 at 12:00pm Eastern Standard Time (EST); and 4. Extend the Deadline for Questions to March 27, 2013 at 12:00pm EST. II. All other parts of the Funding Opportunity Announcement remain unchanged. III. All edits are highlighted in green to clearly call attention to the revisions that have been made. The Diversity in Science and Technology Advances National Clean Energy in Solar program (DISTANCE-Solar) contributes to a successful U.S. solar industry with SunShot (and beyond SunShot) science and technology research advances paired with the development of a diverse and innovative workforce. The long term desired outcomes of this program are to increase innovation in solar, with a greater diversity of innovative ideas being driven by greater representation from members of currently underrepresented groups in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), spur new job creation in the U.S., and integrate more solar into the U.S. energy supply. The near term goal of the program regarding workforce and underrepresented groups is to create a more diverse professional solar workforce, through students? direct research participation and the exposure of more students to solar-related content in courses. The near term goal of the program regarding solar technology research is t o contribute scientifically to technologies that can help achieve (or exceed) the SunShot Program objective to make solar energy cost-competitive with other forms of electricity by the end of the decade. At the intersection of the goals for diverse workforce and solar technology is the near term goal to build Minority Serving Institution (MSI) solar research capabilities. Individual or teams of primary investigators from MSIs can apply to this FOA with proposals that include 3 year projects describing an Education and Workforce Development Plan paired with a Solar Research Technical Plan. EERE anticipates providing, under DISTANCE-Solar, $1,500,000 -$3,000,000 total DOE funding over three years subject to the availability of annual appropriations. The total number of projects expected to be awarded under this FOA will be 2-4 projects. Cost share is encouraged, but not required for this program. Eligibility for award is restricted to accredited, domestic colleges and universities defined as Minority Servicing Institutions (Section ? 365(3) the Higher Education Act (HEA) (20 U.S.C. 1067(k)(3)). The list of accredited colleges and universities defined as Minority Serving Institutions can be found at: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/edlite-minorityinst-list-tab.html The full Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is posted on the EERE eXCHANGE website at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov. Applications must be submitted through the EERE eXCHANGE website to be considered for award. Applicants must first register and create an account on the EERE eXCHANGE website. A User Guide for the EERE eXCHANGE can be found on the EERE website http://eere.energy.gov/financing/exchangeExchange/Manuals.aspx after logging in to the system. Information on where to submit questions regarding the content of the announcement and where to submit questions regarding submission of applications is found in the full FOA posted on the EERE Exchange website.