The Solar for All program has faced a series of challenges and setbacks for nearly two years. The $7 billion federal program was designed to expand access to residential rooftop solar, community solar, and battery storage for low-income and disadvantaged communities. In 2024, the EPA made awards to 60 state and local agencies as well as multi-state nonprofits to fund the installation of solar and storage projects. The projects were supposed to save residents $400 per year on their electricity bills. Beginning in early 2025, Solar for All became entangled in funding freezes, cancellations, and legal disputes that cast uncertainty over the program’s future. This month, however, the program reached a major turning point when a federal judge ruled that the grant cancellations were unlawful and ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to restore the program. This decision represents a significant legal victory for recipients and communities counting on these investments, but questions remain about when recipients will regain access to funding and whether EPA will appeal. In this digest, we look back at Solar for All’s timeline from award announcements to courtroom battles and discuss what comes next.
Established in August 2022 under the Inflation Reduction Act, Solar for All is one of three programs within the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, the largest federal investment in clean energy, aside from the tax credits. In April 2024, the EPA awarded $7 billion in Solar for All grants to 60 state, Tribal, municipal, and nonprofit recipients. By September 2024, all program funding was fully obligated and awardees could begin planning and designing their programs.
By 2025, the future of Solar for All became increasingly uncertain. On January 29, the Trump administration froze the program’s funding as part of a broader sweep of federal funding freezes. EPA later unfroze the program on February 26, allowing recipients to once again access the payment system to submit reimbursements from their grants. That certainty proved short-lived. On August 7, 2025, EPA announced it was canceling the program. According to USASpending, all $7 billion had been obligated. The cancellation prompted a number of lawsuits from states, local governments, and nonprofit groups arguing that the funds had already been awarded and obligated and therefore, EPA lacked authority to terminate them. Meanwhile, EPA argued that it no longer had authority to administer Solar for All, claiming that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed in July 2025 allowed the agency to cancel the program. These groups have been in a legal battle ever since.
On September 18, 2026, a federal judge in the Rhode Island District Court ruled that the EPA unlawfully canceled the Solar for All program, finding that Congress intended the program to continue and that the agency lacked the authority to terminate grants that had already been obligated. Four days later, a federal judge in the District of Columbia District Court also ruled that the cancellation was unlawful, finding that the EPA exceeded its authority. In this case, the judge wrote that while the OBBBA rescinded unobligated administrative funds, Congress explicitly chose to leave obligated grant funds undisturbed. EPA has said it is considering appealing both decisions.
Although the two court rulings do not yet allow recipients to access their grant funding, and EPA is considering an appeal, they represent a major step toward getting Solar for All up and running again. Buildings Hub will continue to track the progress of Solar for All and provide updates if this program is indeed revived.
