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Knoxville to receive DOE solar energy grant
Submitted by R. Neal on Fri, 2008/03/28 - 1:46pm.
The DOE has selected Knoxville as one of twelve cities to receive solar energy grants:
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Samuel W. Bodman today announced that DOE will make available up to $2.4 million to 12 cities across the country selected as Solar America Cities, chosen for their commitment and comprehensive approach to the deployment of solar technologies and the development of sustainable solar infrastructures.
[..]
Cities designated as Solar America Cities, which will each receive $200,000 from DOE to integrate a variety of solar energy technologies throughout the city, include: Denver, CO; Houston, TX; Knoxville, TN; Milwaukee, WI; Minneapolis & St. Paul, MN; Orlando, FL; Philadelphia, PA; Sacramento, CA; San Antonio, TX; San Jose, CA; Santa Rosa, CA; and Seattle, WA.
According to the DOE press release, the selected cities will also receive hands-on technical assistance with integrating solar technology into energy planning, zoning, local regulations, best practices, solar financing options, and incentive programs. The grants are part of the DOE Solar American Cities program.
$200K ($2.4 million overall) is a rounding error in terms of federal funding for alternative energy technology research and programs, but we should be happy they are doing anything at all and take what we can get.
(Here's a previous report on Florida's solar incentive program and some others around the South along with a discussion of some of the issues involved. Some interesting comments, too.)
UPDATE: Here's the City of Knoxville's Solar Cities grant application, courtesy of Bill Lyons. There are some interesting ideas, such as integrating solar technology into the new transit center, solar powered affordable housing development projects (as mentioned yesterday), education/outreach programs at the Ijams nature center, and lots more.
Submitted by Davidj (not verified) on Mon, 2008/03/31 - 4:04pm.
That's terrific news.
Google Answers put together an excellent resource for anyone looking for funding for solar energy projects, or for biofuels, wind power, or other forms of alternative energy:
Submitted by Brian A. on Tue, 2008/04/01 - 10:39am.
It's good the community is making an initiative on this front.
Unfortunately, in addition to the barriers listed in the application, East Tennessee isn't a prime location for solar power because it doesn't get as much sunlight as the sunbelt region.
Submitted by ~ART~ (not verified) on Tue, 2008/04/01 - 1:20pm.
Just because ET is not a "prime" location for solar doesn't mean we shouldn't use it. We average ~200 sunshine days/year which makes us a "good enough" location for solar.
Part of the beauty of Solar energy is its usefulness as an ancillary power source: Installations can be small and adaptable; very little start-up/shut-down power drain; low maintenance; etc.
ET may not be a "prime" location for a solar power plant (though, dreary Germany is currently a leader in solar power plants) but business/institutional & individual solar power generation can certainly be useful in taking some pressure off of the grid.
That's terrific news.
Google Answers put together an excellent resource for anyone looking for funding for solar energy projects, or for biofuels, wind power, or other forms of alternative energy:
Sources of funding for Solar Energy Projects
Worth a look!
It's good the community is making an initiative on this front.
Unfortunately, in addition to the barriers listed in the application, East Tennessee isn't a prime location for solar power because it doesn't get as much sunlight as the sunbelt region.
Brian A.
I'd rather be cycling.
Just because ET is not a "prime" location for solar doesn't mean we shouldn't use it. We average ~200 sunshine days/year which makes us a "good enough" location for solar.
Part of the beauty of Solar energy is its usefulness as an ancillary power source: Installations can be small and adaptable; very little start-up/shut-down power drain; low maintenance; etc.
ET may not be a "prime" location for a solar power plant (though, dreary Germany is currently a leader in solar power plants) but business/institutional & individual solar power generation can certainly be useful in taking some pressure off of the grid.
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