Rural Energy for America Program Provides Small Business Grant Funding for Renewable Energy Systems
The program -- Rural Energy for America Program – provides grant funding and guaranteed loan financing to small businesses for renewable energy systems or to make energy efficiency improvements. Agricultural small businesses can also apply for new energy-efficient equipment and new system loans for agricultural production and processing.
Combined with the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act Federal Tax Credit, up to 70% of your system cost can be paid by others. This makes Solar Power an even wiser investment. Using these programs, you may be able to reduce your payback to as little as 3 years.
Small businesses in eligible rural areas can apply for this program. All of SoL Energy’s service area are eligible areas for this program.
Applicants must qualify as a Small Business under the SBA guidelines. You can find out if your business qualifies as small by using the Size Standards Tool, or by referencing the SBA's table of small business size standards. Both the tool and the table help you find the small business classification requirements according to individual NAICS codes.
Eligible borrowers include small businesses and some agricultural producers. Individual borrowers must be citizens of the United States or reside in the U.S. after being legally admitted for permanent residence. Private-entity borrowers must demonstrate that loan funds will remain in the U.S.
The program provides loan guarantees on loans up to 75 percent of total eligible project costs as well as grants for up to 40 percent of total eligible project costs. Combined grant and loan guarantee funding are available for up to 75 percent of total eligible project costs,
The grants available under this program are treated as taxable income for the recipient. The 30% tax credit available under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act is available for the entire project. Under current guidelines, your total investment can be depreciated in the first year. (Check with your Tax Advisor.)
Find Out If You Qualify
To find out if you qualify, you will need to do the following:
We will analyze your specific requirements including projected energy consumption (including any planned expansions), and available solar power potential for your site. Based on that analysis, we will offer you a proposal for a Solar Power System that meets your specific needs and location-specific requirements. Our Proposal will also include national and local incentives, tax credits, and financing options.
Note: Businesses registered in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) must update their SAM registration in order to have their small business status updated based on the new size standards effective December 19, 2022. Until the SAM registration is updated, the SAM profiles will continue to display the small business status under the old size standards.
SoL Energy does not write grants, but we can connect you with some USDA recommended grant writers that can complete this task.
Or contact SoL Energy and ask for Joe Sadonis. Joe has helped many small businesses obtain these funds and has a thorough understanding of what businesses make the best candidates.
