Clarification questions and responses (22 September 2022)
Updated 14 June 2023
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/space-based-solar-power-innovation-competition/clarification-questions-and-responses-26-august-2022
Could the competition deadline for applications be extended to take account of the extra bank holiday arising due to the funeral of the late Queen Elizabeth? (Added 22 September 2022)
The competition deadline for applications has been extended from 2pm on 23 September until 2pm on 27 September.
Is it possible to get an extension to the deadline for applications? (Added 6 September 2022)
We regret that we are unable to permit extensions to the application deadline stated in the SBSP competition guidance document.
Is the purpose of Lot 4 to do a Phase A study on a space-based solar power system concept, or on a specific demonstrator mission? (Added 26 August 2022)
Lot 4 is to do a Phase A study on a specific demonstrator mission, so please include the enabling systems segments (as depicted in Figure 1 of the SBSP competition guidance document).
Can an organisation lead on more than one lot? (Added 26 August 2022)
An applicant can only lead one application in any given lot, but can lead more than one project if the projects are in different lots. The applicant can be a partner in multiple applications, in the same or different lots.
Can the SBSP grant be used to fund post-doctoral research staff and equipment? Is there any limit on equipment costs? (Added 26 August 2022)
Post-docs are the usual way that Universities resource innovation and we would be happy they are used to develop solutions here. As indicated in the Guidance document (Section 4.5), the SBSP grant can be used to fund proposals involving research organisations including universities. University costs may include post-doctoral research staff and equipment, but as with other government bodies funding higher education institutions, we will not pay more than 80% of the Full Economic Costs (FEC) calculated using the Transparent Approach to Costing (TRAC). Equipment costs are limited by the limits placed on the maximum grant available per project of £1 million for Lots 1 and 2 or £0.5 million for Lots 3 and 4 Part 1.
Would the development of a novel power conversion device that sits behind a solar concentrator/cell be in scope for any of the technology area lots if it offered efficiency gains? (Added 26 August 2022)
Development of an innovative power conversion device that offers efficiency gains could be in scope if you can quantify the benefits in an SBSP system. The SBSP technology lots are Lot 1 (wireless power transmission) and Lot 2 (high concentration solar PV) and which it would best fit into would depend on the type of power conversion and the scale of benefits for that technology.