Energy Department making $3B available for rooftop solar installations

The Department of Energy (DOE) announced on Thursday a conditional commitment to offer solar company Sunnova Energy International up to $3 billion in a partial loan guarantee to make rooftop solar installations more accessible and help enhance Americans’ access to clean energy.

The partial loan guarantee to Sunnova’s Project Hestia is aimed at making “distributed energy resources (DERs), including rooftop solar, battery storage, and virtual power plant (VPP)-ready software available to more American homeowners,” according to a DOE release from its Loan Programs Office.  

“If finalized, the partial loan guarantee would enable Sunnova, a leading Energy as a Service provider, to provide loans for clean energy systems for approximately 75,000 to 115,000 homeowners throughout the United States, including its territories,” the department said.

The project, if finalized, is expected to create more than 3,400 American jobs and avoid 7.1 million tons of carbon dioxide over the next 25 years, the DOE said, which is “equivalent to eliminating carbon emissions from 1.5 million vehicles on the nation’s roads.”

Up to 20 percent of the Project Hestia loans will be for homeowners in Puerto Rico, which has been hit with harsh weather and resulting power outages across the island.

The project is aimed at providing “disadvantaged individuals and communities with increased access to Sunnova services by indirectly and partially guaranteeing the cash flows associated with those consumers’ loans,” Sunnova said in a release. Each setup must include Sunnova’s smart phone or personal electronic device-accessible tech to be eligible.

“The DOE financing would accelerate the adoption of solar and storage, decrease greenhouse gas emissions, and expand the availability of reliable, clean, and affordable energy to those communities who benefit the most from low-cost energy,” Sunnova CEO William Berger said.

The DOE’s Loan Programs Office announcement is part of a broader Biden administration push to make solar and other renewable energy more accessible. The administration aims to make the country’s electric grid carbon-free by 2035.