Officials said the research involving 27 projects at 23 universities and national laboratories will help increase the amount of solar power in the nation's energy supply.

"These projects are part of our aggressive basic research in the physical sciences -- what I call 'transformational science' -- aimed at achieving a new generation of breakthrough technologies that will push the cost-effectiveness of renewable energy sources to levels comparable to petroleum and natural gas sources," said U.S. Energy Undersecretary for Science Raymond Orbach.

The research will address two priority technical areas: the conversion of solar energy to electricity (14 projects, $9.9 million over three years) and conversion of solar energy to chemical fuels (13 projects, $12.8 million over three years).