The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Grid Deployment Office (GDO) established the Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund (PR-ERF) to administer the $1 billion through a program focused on both residential and community-based energy resilience investments, including but not limited to solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery storage deployments, as well as community partnerships and other activities to grow Puerto Rico’s clean energy economy. This first Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) under the PR-ERF has three Strategic Goals:

1. Enhance energy resilience for vulnerable households through the rapid installation of rooftop solar PV and battery storage systems. Through this first funding opportunity, DOE aims to incentivize the installation of roughly 30,000-40,000 residential systems.
2. Reduce energy burden (i.e., the percentage of gross household income spent on energy costs) for program beneficiaries.
3. Support the growth of the clean energy workforce in Puerto Rico, as well as support education and protection for beneficiaries.

To accomplish these goals, this FOA has three (3) Topic Areas. The three Topic Areas are as follows:

• Topic Area 1: Third-Party Residential Rooftop Solar PV and Battery Storage Deployment
• Topic Area 2: Community-Sponsored Residential Rooftop Solar PV and Battery Storage Deployment
• Topic Area 3: Beneficiary Education, Training, and Consumer Protection

Qualified solar companies, nonprofits, and electric cooperatives will be eligible for award to deploy rooftop solar PV and battery storage systems for beneficiaries. Beneficiaries include (1) very low-income single-family households where an individual with an energy dependent disability resides; or (2) very low-income single-family households located in a Last Mile Community (see Definitions section for more information).

In a separate but related opportunity, DOE is launching the Solar Ambassadors Prize to incentivize community-based organizations, nonprofits, and certain for-profit entities to help identify qualified beneficiaries in the Topic Area 1 Third-Party Residential Rooftop Solar PV and Battery Storage Deployment Program.