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The US Department of Energy is to provide US$1.5 million to state and local agencies to install PV systems. The goal of the 'Million Solar Roofs Initiative' is to install both PV and solar thermal systems on one million buildings across the US by 2010. The funding is designed to assist DOE's partners at the state and municipal level in developing and implementing programs to further the use of solar energy on buildings.
The grants will be up to $50 000 per project, and DOE anticipates funding 30-40 grants in the range of $10 000-50 000 each, over a term of no more than three years. Cost-sharing is not a consideration under the solicitation, although it is one of the criteria considered in the awards.
The objective of the solicitation is to assist 67 state and local partners to bring business, government and community organizations together, with a commitment to install at least 500 solar energy systems by the end of the decade.
Grants are available both for new partnerships and for meeting existing commitments, but funds cannot be used to purchase solar energy systems hardware. Each project will at least involve the 'development and implementation of a strategy for addressing barriers which inhibit local market penetration, and development of an implementation plan for the installation of solar energy technology in their local communities.' Some of the tasks that can be considered include development or modification of codes and covenants that affect solar installations, outreach or training for the building community, support for net metering for PV, and support for local Zero Energy Home initiatives.
Meanwhile, the Bay Area Solar Coalition (BASC) recently exceeded its goal of installing 5000 solar systems in the San Francisco Bay Area by 2010. As of 31 March BASC reported 5096 installed systems using the counting guidelines on the Million Solar Roofs website, representing 415 individual systems totalling 4.213 MW.
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