Washington State Department of Commerce - Solar Grant Opportunity

Solar Grant Program

Energy Retrofits for Public Buildings

Solar Grants provide competitive funding to install solar at public buildings and facilities, such as schools, hospitals, civic buildings, and wastewater treatment plants. Solar Grants cut energy costs, reduce pollution, and showcase solar in communities across the state.

Request for Applications Now Available

Commerce is now accepting applications for the 2021 Solar Grants with up to $3,465,810 available. Applications are due by 4 p.m. on Aug. 19, 2021.

Application Documents:

SOLAR2021 Request for Applications (Detailed Program Guidelines)
Q&A (will be posted here periodically)

Pre-application Virtual Meetings

Join an optional information session to learn more about program guidelines and ask questions. Meetings will be recorded and posted online, and any questions posed during sessions will be included in the following updated written Q&A.

Eligible Applicants

Applicants must be public entities in the state of Washington, such as:

Local agencies, including any city, town, county, special district, municipal corporation, agency, port district or authority, or political subdivision of any type, or any other entity or authority of local government in corporate form or otherwise.
Public higher education institutions
K-12 public school districts
State agencies
Now eligible: Federally-recognized Tribal governments

Eligible Projects

Grants will fund new solar photovoltaic systems net-metered with existing publicly-owned buildings or facilities in Washington. Projects must be between 20 kW AC and 100 kW AC and must provide 50% of the total project cost from other, non-state sources. Total project cost for this purpose excludes any contingency funds.

Projects located in Small Cities and Towns (population under 5,000) and projects for Tribal Governments have different requirements: the minimum project size is 10kW AC, and the minimum match requirement is 33% of the total project cost, excluding any contingency funds.

Preferred Projects

Projects which meet these criteria will receive higher scores, but a project is still eligible to apply to this grant if it does not meet some or all of these criteria:

Projects with shorter simple payback period
Projects that provide more funding from other sources, above the minimum requirements
Applicant has not received funding for solar from this program previously
Projects that use modules and inverters manufactured in Washington
Projects with lower cost per watt

Key Dates

June 23 – July 30: Questions accepted by email and Q&A posted online biweekly
July 1: First virtual pre-application meeting (optional)
July 14: Second virtual pre-application meeting (optional)
Aug. 19: Applications Due by 4 p.m.
Nov. 2021: Awards Announced