The Tennessee Solar Institute (TSI) recently announced that it was funding 37 projects throughout Tennessee with a total of $7.25 million in Solar Innovation Grants. The funds will support the efforts of 21 Tennessee businesses and are intended to spur growth in the state’s solar industry.

“The Solar Innovation Grants were made available to companies in the solar industry or those looking to get into the solar industry,” said TSI spokesperson Chris Davis. The grants support a wide variety of businesses, he said, ranging from solar installers, to workforce development and facilities improvements. The grants have been very popular and some applicants have been turned down, he said.

Awardees ranged from large, multinational companies like Sharp Electronics, national companies like AGC Glass Company North America, Inc., to small start-ups like Appalachian Renewable Resources, LLC. For instance, Sharp won a total of four grants and will receive $1.2 million in funds from the program. AGC Glass won a total of six grants and will receive $1.4 million in funds. While Appalachian won a grant of $4,355, to support the managing partner’s education about the industry.

While the grants are intended to support the solar industry and jobs it can create in the state, Davis said he could not offer estimates of many jobs the grants would create. “It’s hard to pinpoint a number. The success of this program is that we’re able to reach out to these businesses,” he said.

Now that the winners of the first round of grants were announced, they are being sent agreement packages. “The completed grant packages and agreements have to be back to our office by January 6, 2011,” according to Davis. “TSI will review the individual packages and ensure that everything in each agreement package is in order. At that point, assuming everything is okay, we will issue a notice to proceed to the grant award winner. A business can then move forward with its project.”

The grant funding was made possible through $23.5 million of State Energy Policy funding through the Volunteer State Solar Initiative, which was established with $62.5 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding received by the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development.

Of the $23.5 million, $9 million was set aside for the Solar Installation Grant Program, which supports the installation of photovoltaics at businesses, Davis explained. The remaining $14.5 million is funding the Solar Innovation Grant Program.

Davis said the institute is offering $7.25 million in a second round of funding to Tennessee’s solar businesses or businesses that want to enter into the solar industry. “Applications will have to be in by January 20, 2011, for that round of funding.”

Image courtesy of Tennessee Solar Institute