DOE Initiatives to Advance Clean Energy Technologies
Funding provided for distributed energy and high-performance solar projects
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that its Loan Programs Office (LPO) will make up to $1 billion in loan guarantees available to support commercial-scale distributed energy projects, such as rooftop solar with energy storage and smart grid technology. In addition, through the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), DOE is awarding $24 million in funding for 11 high-performance solar power projects that could lower the cost and improve the performance of solar photovoltaic (PV) power systems.
Distributed energy technologies, such as rooftop solar, energy storage, smart grid technology, and methane capture for oil and gas wells, solve key energy challenges, create economic opportunity, strengthen energy security, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, these distributed technologies can be limited by market barriers since commercial lenders are often unwilling or unable to take on the risk of a new or innovative technology until it has a solid history of credit performance and commercial operation. The LPO announcement will help overcome market barriers and accelerate deployment of distributed energy technologies by making $1 billion of loan guarantee authority available through the existing Title XVII program and providing guidance on the types of financial structures it can support for distributed energy projects.