Good Morning,

I would like to take this time to announce the US Department of Energy’s SunShot Rooftop Solar Challenge grant led by Dr. Bruce Tonn, Principal Investigator. The University of Tennessee is one of 22 teams across the country which were awarded this solar grant.

“The U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative Rooftop Solar Challenge incentivizes 22 regional awardees to make it easier for Americans to go solar. By streamlining permit processes, updating planning and zoning codes, improving standards for connecting solar power to the electric grid, and increasing access to financing, teams will clear a path for rapid expansion of solar energy and serve as models for other communities across the nation. The Rooftop Solar Challenge is part of the SunShot Initiative, which strives to make solar energy cost-competitive with other forms of energy by the end of the decade.” (DOE, 2012)

We are very excited about this award and with the joint collaboration between the Tennessee Solar Institute and the Howard H. Baker Center for Public Policy. Part of the grant is to garner as much attention and insight into rooftop solar here in Tennessee and I would like to invite you to view our new Facebook page showcasing the University of Tennessee’s involvement with this wonderful project. The Facebook link is http://www.facebook.com/RooftopSolarTN Please visit, and ‘like’ and if you want ‘share’ our page with your friends. We have begun recently asking questions on the site concerning solar and would greatly appreciate your answers to these questions. This input will help to guide our research here at the University of Tennessee.

Also, for additional information on the project here is a link to the University of Tennessee’s Tennessee Today: http://www.utk.edu/tntoday/2012/04/11/rooftop-solar-challenge/

Please contact me should you have any questions.

Thank you,

Anne Guidos

Project Manager

U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative Rooftop Solar Challenge

The Howard H. Baker, Jr., Center for Public Policy

University of Tennessee - Knoxville

1640 Cumberland Avenue

Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-3340

(O) 865.974.3841

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