ARRA "1603" Renewable Energy Grants Reach $3 billion

The ARRA created a renewable energy grant program, often referred to as "1603 grants", that is administered by the U.S. Department of Treasury.  Grants are available for renewable energy sources put in service in 2009 or 2010.  Eligible renewable energy include

• Solar - equipment that uses solar energy to generate electricity, to heat or cool (or provide hot water for use in) a structure, or to provide solar process heat.
• Fuel Cells - capped at $1,500 per 0.5 kilowatt (kW) in capacity.
• Small Wind Turbines - up to 100 kW in capacity. 
• Qualified Facilities - include wind energy facilities, closed-loop biomass facilities, open-loop biomass facilities, geothermal energy facilities, landfill gas facilities, trash facilities, qualified hydropower facilities, and marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy facilities.       
• Geothermal Heat Pumps     
• Microturbines - capped at $200 per kW of capacity up to two megawatts (MW) in capacity 
• Combined Heat and Power (CHP) - up to 50 MW in capacity

The total amount of money disbursed has reached $3 billion.  Most of the money has gone to large, utility scale wind projects.  56 wind projects have averaged $47 million each, or more than $2.6 billion in total.  385 projects are for solar electricity or solar thermal and average $400,000 each or $156 million in total.