Multi-State Solar Rooftop Project for Bolstering U.S. Electric Grid Getting $1.4 Billion in Fed Loan

With the finalizing of a $1.4 billion partial loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy, Project Amp is ‘green-lighted’ to go.  The solar generation project will be installed across about 750 commercial rooftops across 28 states, and the District of Columbia.

Project Amp. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Department of Energy’s loam programs office.

“The energy generated from those panels will contribute directly to the electrical grid, as opposed to powering the buildings where they are installed,” said the energy department.

Prologis – an owner, operator, and developer of industrial real estate – will provide the rooftops, and will also act as developer, construction manager and program sponsor, in addition to making an equity investment in the project.

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said this project “will help us meet the SunShot goal of achieving cost competitive solar power with other forms of energy by the end of this decade.”

The project is expected to produce an annual output of about 1 million megawatt-hours, with enough power to provide clean, renewable electrical energy for approximately 80,000 homes for a year, according to the energy department and affiliated experts.

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Solar Industry Helping Save Lives in Haiti

Solar panels being installed on a medical center in Il de la Tortue, Haiti. Photo courtesy of oaklandnorth.net.

Today marks eight months to the day that the earthquake hit in Haiti. While millions of dollars have been donated for relief efforts, the government has been slow to distribute needed help.

Partners in Health (PIH), a nonprofit medical and social services organization, says that in Haiti today, “More than a million people are still living under tents, tarps, and makeshift shelters in crowded encampments, with limited access to food, water, sanitation, schools, jobs, and social services. Many people are still in pain, hungry, and desperate.”

To help the relief efforts - at least from a medical perspective - Solar World has awarded The Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF) an in-kind grant of solar panels totaling 100 kilowatts to support the solar electrification of five health clinics for PIH in Haiti.

An in-kind grant is when a company or foundation donates goods or services, rather than giving money. The donated solar panels will be installed in the clinics located in the remote mountain highlands of Haiti that don’t have access to the electric grid.

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