Biden Administration on Thursday announced more than $80 million in funding to advance solar energy initiatives.
The funding is set to go to producing more solar panels in the U.S., making solar energy available to more people, and pursuing superior alternatives to using somewhat troublesome silicon in the panels’ manufacturing.
The Department of Energy announced the investments Thursday morning. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm was set to visit a solar community site in Washington DC that afternoon.
Community solar refers to a variety of set-ups where where renters and people who don’t control their rooftops can still opt to get their electricity from solar power.
On April 6, Vice President Harris announced a deal to initiate the largest community solar effort in U.S. history—enough power to fuel 140,000 homes and businesses in three states.
In remarks from the White House Thursday morning, President Biden pressed the need for alternative energy in the face of climate change.
“Today we have to do more than recognize the climate challenges we face. It seems to me we have to recommit ourselves to action while we still have the time,” Biden said. “We have to step up our ambitions. We’re going to have to stand together to meet great challenges. And we will preserve our planet in the future. That’s the question. I think we will, we think we will, but we have to We’re not there yet.”
The government is set to spend $52 million on 19 solar projects across a dozen states, including $10 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that Biden signed in 2021, as well as $30 million on technologies that will help integrate solar electricity into the grid.
The Inflation Reduction Act, which Biden signed last year, already offers incentives like renewable energy tax credits to build large solar generation projects. But according to White House national climate advisor Ali Zaidi, the latest funding focuses on meeting the nation’s climate goals in a way that benefits more communities.
“It’s lifting up our workers and our communities. And that’s, I think, what really excites us about this work,” Zaidi said. “It’s a chance not just to tackle the climate crisis, but to bring economic opportunity to every zip code of America.”
The community solar investments will help people save on their electric bills while it also makes the electricity grid more reliable, secure, and resilient amid climate change, said Becca Jones-Albertus, director of the energy department’s Solar Energy Technologies Office.
