US EPA launches $7 billion Solar for All low-income program

The US EPA launched a $7 billion Solar for All grant competition awarding up to 60 grants to expand low-income residential solar access. The program illustrates a large-scale model for financing equitable clean-energy access relevant to India's distributed solar and energy-access ambitions.

The US Environmental Protection Agency launched a $7 billion grant competition, Solar for All, to bring affordable clean solar energy to millions of low-income households as part of the Inflation Reduction Act and President Biden's Investing in America agenda. The competition will award up to 60 grants to states, territories, Tribal governments, municipalities and eligible nonprofits to develop and expand low-income solar programs, providing financing, technical assistance and workforce development to enable low-income and disadvantaged communities to access residential rooftop and community solar power.

The program affects states, territories, Tribal governments, municipalities and nonprofits running low-income solar programs, alongside the low-income and disadvantaged households and workers who benefit. It aligns with the Justice40 Initiative, aiming to direct 40% of benefits from certain federal investments to disadvantaged communities disproportionately affected by pollution. The program funds workforce development to train workers from low-income communities for clean-energy careers, supporting the President's goals of a carbon-pollution-free power sector by 2035 and a net-zero emissions economy by 2050.

Eligible applicants should prepare to compete for the up-to-60 grants funding financing, technical assistance and workforce development for residential and community solar in disadvantaged communities. Indian policymakers, distribution utilities and clean-energy programme designers should monitor Solar for All as a model for financing equitable rooftop and community solar access, given India's distributed-solar and energy-access objectives, examining how blended public funding, workforce development and the Justice40 equity framing translate to expanding clean-energy access for underserved populations.

Key figure — Program funding: $7 billion, up to 60 grants