This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is for the $7 billion Solar for All competition. This competition will award up to 60 grants to states, territories, Tribal governments, municipalities, and eligible nonprofit recipients to expand the number of low-income and disadvantaged communities primed for distributed solar investment—enabling millions of lowincome households to access affordable, resilient, and clean solar energy. Grantees will use funds to expand existing low-income solar programs or design and deploy new Solar for All programs nationwide. EPA will not fund individual projects under this competition.
Solar for All will advance the three overarching GGRF program objectives:
Program Objective 1: Reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants. GGRF program grantees will support projects, activities, and technologies that reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants that harm communities and contribute to climate change. As part of the GGRF program, the Solar for All program grantees will deploy and enable deployment of residential-serving solar, storage, and enabling upgrades across the country, directly supporting the climate goal of the United States to achieve a carbon pollution-free electricity sector by 2035.
Program Objective 2: Deliver benefits of greenhouse gas- and air pollution-reducing projects to American communities, particularly low-income and disadvantaged communities. GGRF program grantees will invest in projects that directly benefit American communities. All Solar for All funds will enable low-income and disadvantaged communities to deploy and benefit from distributed solar. EPA expects Solar for All grantees will deliver meaningful benefits, such as household savings, quality jobs, and community ownership to American communities and households. EPA expects Solar for All grantees to maximize the breadth and diversity of households served in the program, including rural, urban, and suburban communities; energy communities; and persistent poverty counties, while prioritizing investing in the most disadvantaged and low-income households in the communities the program is designed to serve.
Program Objective 3: Mobilize financing and private capital to stimulate additional deployment of greenhouse gas- and air pollution-reducing projects. GGRF program grantees will facilitate market transformation by addressing the barriers to mobilizing private capital into clean technology projects in undercapitalized markets. Grantees will catalyze additional investment in underinvested project types critical to achieving our climate goals and in underinvested communities that have long faced barriers to accessing capital. Solar for All grantees will stimulate additional deployment of solar by strengthening the overall market for residential-serving solar by not only providing access to low-cost capital but also providing project-deployment services, such as community outreach and workforce development. Solar for All will catalyze the deployment of residential distributed solar by developing favorable market environments for low-income and disadvantaged communities to deploy and benefit from solar across the country.
Deadlines:
- Required Notice of Intent: Aug. 14, 2023 for eligible nonprofit recipients
- Applications: Sep. 26, 2023