SOLAR FOR ALL | EPA R HQ SFA 23 01

Opportunity Information: Apply for EPA R HQ SFA 23 01

The SOLAR FOR ALL opportunity is a major federal funding competition run by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), which was created by the Inflation Reduction Act. The broader GGRF is a $27 billion effort aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution by helping mobilize financing and private capital for clean energy and pollution-reducing projects nationwide. Within that larger initiative, Solar for All specifically sets aside $7 billion to accelerate residential distributed solar deployment, with an emphasis on lowering electricity bills, improving household energy resilience, and expanding access to clean energy in low-income and disadvantaged communities that have often been left out of the solar market.

At its core, Solar for All is designed to remove both financial and practical barriers that prevent households and communities from adopting solar. On the financial side, the program expects grantees to provide subsidies and other forms of financial assistance that make rooftop solar or community solar realistically affordable for residents who cannot take on large upfront costs or cannot benefit from traditional financing. On the non-financial side, the program recognizes that adoption is often blocked by issues like complicated interconnection processes, permitting delays, lack of community awareness, limited local installer capacity, and gaps in workforce training. For that reason, the EPA envisions grantees pairing financial support with hands-on, project-deployment technical assistance such as workforce development efforts, community outreach and enrollment support, and help navigating siting, permitting, and utility interconnection.

This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is structured as a competition rather than a direct project grant program. The EPA will not fund individual solar installations through this award. Instead, it will fund entities that can build, expand, or coordinate programs that lead to large-scale deployment of residential rooftop solar and residential-serving community solar, specifically in and benefiting low-income and disadvantaged communities. The intent is to help more communities become "solar-ready" and attractive for sustained, long-term investment, ultimately enabling millions of households to gain access to affordable, clean electricity and reducing overall emissions.

Awards are expected to be made through cooperative agreements, which typically means the EPA will have an ongoing partnership role with recipients during implementation rather than simply issuing funds and stepping back. The competition is expected to make up to 60 awards, with an award ceiling listed at $400,000,000. Eligible applicants include states, U.S. territories, Tribal governments, municipalities, and certain eligible nonprofit entities (with details clarified in the full eligibility section of the NOFO). The funding opportunity is listed under the environmental funding activity category, with CFDA number 66.959, and it was posted with a creation date of June 28, 2023. The original closing date was September 26, 2023, with the NOFO directing applicants to confirm deadline details in the announcement's closing-date section.

Overall, Solar for All is meant to push the residential solar market to work for households that have historically faced structural barriers to participation. By funding programmatic approaches that blend direct consumer support with market-building assistance and workforce capacity, the EPA is aiming not only for near-term solar deployments and bill savings, but also for longer-term transformation in how distributed solar is financed, delivered, and scaled in low-income and disadvantaged communities, aligning with federal climate and environmental justice goals.

• The Environmental Protection Agency in the environment sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "SOLAR FOR ALL" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 66.959.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jun 28, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Sep 26, 2023 See Section IV of funding opportunity announcement for closing date information.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $400,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 60 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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