Tennessee solar businesses get new funding source

Tennessee solar industry firms have a new source of funding, thanks to $14.5 million the Tennessee Solar Institute is making available for innovation project grants.

TSI is seeking applications for the grants, designed to encourage the state’s solar industry. The grants are available to Tennessee solar industry firms, including for-profit firms, seeking financial assistance to strengthen their solar products and improve energy efficiency in their own operations.

Applicants that see proposals approved will be eligible for up to $500,000 in funding.

The program is one piece of Gov. Phil Bredesen’s $62.5 million Volunteer State Solar Initiative, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The grants will allow Tennessee companies to take advantage of a growing solar industry, said Matt Kisber, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, in a statement.

"Providing businesses operating within the solar value chain with the resources needed to advance technologies and develop new markets will ultimately create new jobs for the state and spur additional investments," he said.

Read the full story in the Memphis Business Journal.