Four Michigan-based organizations have been awarded more than $16.5 million in grants for solar energy projects that accelerate research and development to increase efficiency, lower costs and advance technologies.

Funded under the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy SunShot Initiative, the grants went to projects that improve materials, manufacturing processes, and supply chains for a wide range of photovoltaic (PV) solar cells and other components of solar energy systems.

These grants, and the fact that Michigan came in third of all the states in terms of the total amount awarded, are further proof that Michigan’s companies and universities are leaders in advanced energy technology. This funding will help spur the growth of innovative energy technology in our state, creating jobs and reducing our reliance on fossil fuels.

The four organizations to receive awards are:

Cascade Engineering, Grand Rapids, $602,623: Racking system for commercial rooftops using polymers.

Raymond Tinnerman Manufacturing, Rochester Hills, $1.67 million: Bracket system for commercial rooftop installations.

Dow Chemical Company, Midland, $12.8 million: Building-integrated PV application that includes high power density with an efficiency target as high as 30 percent, integrated schemes for heat management and recovery and integrated power electronics.

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, $1.5 million: Next generation of organic PV technology using small-molecule systems incorporated into a tandem architecture.

The SunShot Initiative seeks to make solar energy systems more cost-competitive, without long-term subsidies, by reducing the cost of these systems about 75 percent by the end of the decade. The achievement of the SunShot Initiative goals will encourage rapid, widespread adoption of solar energy systems across the United States.

DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy invests in clean energy technologies that strengthen the economy, protect the environment, and reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil.

Michigan is known the world over for being the state that put the world on wheels.  This might soon change, reports the Chicago-based Environmental Law & Policy Center, as Michigan is becoming a leader in North American renewable-energy jobs and green technology.

Nationwide, Michigan ranks fourth in the number of jobs tied to solar energy and first in clean-energy patents. Old line manufacturing companies are diversifying and re-tooling to make renewable energy equipment for growing markets. Michigan is home to nearly 200 solar and wind supply chain companies with more than 4,000 jobs tied to the wind industry and 6,300 to the solar industry. Clean tech is our fastest growing sector, with $10 billion in announced clean energy development investments in the pipeline.

What does this mean? Real jobs and real economic opportunity for Michigan.

To read the report in its entirety, click here.

Trade & Industry Development magazine recently announced its 2011 awards for corporate investment, and once again Michigan companies earned top accolades. This year’s group of Corporate Investment winners includes a couple of “firsts.” Dow Chemical, of Midland, is investing $343 million to establish its first full-scale production facility for what it is touted as a “game-changing” solar shingle product. And fortu PowerCell, an advanced battery manufacturer, is locating in America for the first time with the construction of a $623 million plant in Muskegon. Both projects are estimated to create hundreds of jobs.

The magazine also honored companies for community impact. Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy in Flint snagged a top honor in this category for transforming a huge, twice-abandoned auto manufacturing complex in Flint into a fast-growing pharmaceutical company that vows to create more than 1,000 jobs in five years — and as many as 4,000 jobs by 2028.

High-tech company growth. Thousands of new jobs. That’s Pure Michigan.

Tuesday, Symmetry Medical announced it would invest approximately $14.8 million to expand in Lansing to meet growing demand for their high-precision machining, creating up to 159 jobs. Symmetry could have chosen to expand at its facility in Malaysia, but it chose Michigan because of our highly skilled workers and competitive business climate.

That was only one of many success stories highlighted Tuesday, when Gov. Granholm announced that our efforts have resulted in 13 job-creating projects, generating 4,278 new jobs and attracting more than $103 million in investment to communities across the state. Jobs were added in traditional manufacturing sectors, as well as cutting-edge areas of growth such as alternative energy and high-tech medical devices.

Symmetry Medical was founded in 1985 as Jet Engineering to produce automotive and aerospace components. The focus of the company shifted in the late 1980s, when it began manufacturing implants for the orthopedic industry. Since 1985, the company has grown in size from 10 employees to nearly 400.

Projects such as the one announced by Symmetry Medical highlight that Michigan companies are adapting and growing to accommodate a changing global marketplace – and they’re choosing to stay right here as they grow.

The other day as I was pumping gas I heard a gentleman behind me cursing the three-dollars-a-gallon he was going to have to shell out. Although I completely empathize, I also know that Michigan is fast becoming a leader in the development of alternative energy sources. Companies excelling in the solar, advanced battery, biofuel and wind industries are choosing to locate and grow here. United Solar Ovonic, the world’s largest producer of photovoltaic, thin-film solar panels, recently built a new $132 million-solar panel plant in Greenville and plans for its fourth Michigan manufacturing facility to begin operations there next year. Adaptive Materials, the recognized world leader in the design and development of portable fuel cell technology, is growing its R&D operations in Pittsfield Township. Massachusetts-based Mascoma Corporation is planning to build in Michigan what may me the nation’s first commercial-scale biorefinery using wood as a feedstock. Thunder Bay Development LLC recently announced plans to purchase and upgrade an idled manufacturing facility in Alpena to produce iron castings for wind turbines. All of these projects point to Michigan as a leader in the development of alternative energy technology and fuels that will one day bring our nation’s dependence on foreign oil to an end.