Google has awarded grants to Appalachian voicesa regional nonprofit, will build solar microgrids that can act as community resiliency hubs in Duffield and Dungannon, Virginia.
The Sharing the Power Foundation grant will partially fund a 30.5 kW solar project paired with 115 kWh of energy storage at Dungannon City Hall and Historic Depot, as well as a 75.6 W solar project paired with 246 kWh of energy storage at Appalachian Sustainable Development’s Appalachian Harvest building in Duffield. The projects will be built by Charlottesville-based Tiger Solar.
Appalachian harvest in Duffield, Virginia. Appalachian voices
“We are thrilled to have this opportunity to use Google’s generous funding to implement key elements of the resiliency plans we’ve been developing with our friends and neighbors in Southwest Virginia over the past few years,” said Adam Wells, regional director of community and economic development at Appalachian Voices. “This investment in solar energy and battery storage technology will not only serve as a public resource in times of need, but will also reduce energy bills for our community partners year-round.”
Resilience hubs are public facilities that provide critical support to communities during widespread power outages and local disasters, including access to power. Appalachian Voices stated that these junctions are of increased importance to southwestern Virginia after the region experienced more severe weather in recent years.
“We’re proud to partner with Appalachian Voices to help bring more low-cost, reliable power to Southwest Virginia,” said Kaitlin Savage, Google’s energy market development officer. “Resilience hubs are an essential resource for communities facing increasing weather-related challenges, and this partnership further reflects our commitment to advancing affordable energy solutions and community preparedness in vulnerable regions.”
Invest Appalachia and the Appalachian Solar Finance Fund are providing additional support for the solar and storage projects. Construction and commissioning of the solar microgrids are expected to begin in 2026.
Google’s grant support for these PV projects comes as part of the company’s commitment to expand the proliferation of data centers worldwide. Recently the parent company of the search engine giant bought a data center energy specialist in a multi-billion dollar deal to help purchase energy for the high power needs of data centers.
