This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is being issued by DOE to invest in innovative social science research that generates actionable insights to improve large-scale solar (LSS) siting processes and outcomes for host communities—particularly those that are disadvantaged—and the solar industry.

This topic will fund research programs that study the social dimensions of large-scale solar siting. This includes the dynamics of community acceptance of proposed projects, the role of public attitudes and other factors in the permitting process and impacts of large-scale solar projects on communities. The goal of the award is to identify community engagement strategies, process changes, and other interventions that improve siting processes so that they are procedurally fair, create equitable benefits for communities, and balance the national need to site large-scale solar generation.

Outcomes of interest include:

• Community acceptance or opposition
• Permitting and land use decisions, predictability, and timeliness
• Community impacts (including meaningful benefits, burdens, and equity and procedural and distributional justice)