Grants fuel solar energy boom

TENNESSEE - A new round of state monies aimed at nurturing the solar industry will help several East Tennessee businesses expand operations and target new customers.

The Tennessee Solar Institute announced that it had approved nearly $7.28 million in what are known as innovation grants, providing funds for Tennessee solar companies to reduce energy, train their work force and adopt technologies to better serve the solar market.

Sustainable Future, a Knoxville solar installation company, was one of 21 businesses across the state to receive some of the 37 total grants. Two grants, worth $322,310, will be used to set up and equip an additional team of workers that will install and maintain the company's growing number of solar systems and also to build 23.25 kilowatts' worth of solar systems, which will feature a variety of manufacturers, configurations and technologies, said Annette Gomberg, Sustainable Future director of community empowerment.

The grants will allow Sustainable Future to add several positions and ramp up its sales effort by giving potential customers an opportunity to experience the technology firsthand, she said. The company now has 15 employees.

"I don't think there's anything better for someone who's interested in solar to see it working," Gomberg said.

The grants are the first of what will be two rounds of awards. Solar Institute officials decided to divide the grants after determining, with the help of third-party reviewer Oak Ridge Associated Universities, that many of the applications were ineligible for funds. The institute received a total of 116 applications, 27 of which were eliminated early because the application was incomplete or the company itself didn't qualify — it had to be located in Tennessee, for example — according to Stacey Patterson, University of Tennessee director of research partnerships.

Outside the 37 approved applications, the rest were rejected "based on the merit of the projects," she said. Federal guidelines carefully stipulate what the monies, which came from Department of Energy stimulus funds, can be spent on, and many of the projects simply did not qualify, Patterson said.

"We were looking for projects that met the state energy program goals to increase energy efficiency, reduce energy consumption, promote clean energy production in the state" and contribute to work force development, she said.

The institute has released a modified request for proposal for the next round of grants, expected to total about $7.25 million, "to hopefully clarify some of the things that are allowable for this money," she said. Applications are due January 20, and previous applicants may apply, although grantees that have already been approved for funds in one category may not apply for the same category grant.

Overall, institute officials were pleased with the variety of companies and awards, which spanned the state, Patterson said. In addition, the companies awarded have indicated that they will add a total of $13 million in private investment to supplement the grant funds, she said.

Several grants will go to major solar manufacturers across the state for energy savings overhauls and tuning of their production processes.

The largest grantee was AGC Flat Glass North America, a Georgia-based corporation and subsidiary of Asahi Glass Co. in Japan, which manufactures glass for photovoltaic modules in Kingsport. Working with local solar firm Energy Efficiency of East Tennessee, which helped the company apply for the grants, AGC received awards in each of the program's six categories totaling $1.5 million. Sharp Manufacturing Company of America, a division of Sharp Electronics with a solar panel production plant in Memphis received the next largest group of grants worth $1.1 million.

Among the various AGC projects the grant will fund are an energy audit, energy efficiency improvements and a 50 kilowatt-sized solar array at its East Tennessee facility, which employs 333 people. It will also "train the workforce on new machines and new technologies in glass making so that AGC can better compete in the solar industry," said Patrick Sargent, market intelligence manager for AGC, in an e-mail. "Investment in the employees is an investment in the Solar Industry and Tennessee itself. AGC believes that investing in areas of workforce development that will go far in keeping the employees up to the task of competing in the solar market now and in the future."

On the other end of the solar food chain — and size spectrum — Friendsville-based Soltility will use it's $90,000 grant to develop a marketing study to determine how to drum up customers for products manufactured by the likes of Sharp and AGC.

"We'll get an idea of who and where we should be talking and the message we should be delivering and being able to produce qualified leads," said Soltility founder Ken Elder. "At this point in time, this is more of a sales and marketing game than it is a solar knowledge game. We need to be able to understand what the driving forces are behind the transaction, so we can effectively market that transaction to them."