What are REAP grants?

To help increase American energy independence, the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), administered by the USDA, provides guaranteed loan financing and grant funding for renewable energy systems and energy efficiency improvements. There are three types of funding available: Loan guarantees on loans up to 75 percent of total eligible project costs Grants for up to 50 percent of total eligible project costs Combined grant and loan guarantee funding up to 75% of total eligible project costs Renewable energy system grants can be anywhere from $2,500 to $1 million, and energy efficiency grants can range from $1,500 to $500,000. It is important to note that only non-residential costs are eligible to be reimbursed . For example, the electrical service for a farm property serves the agricultural side of things and the residence. Even though the costs are in one utility bill, you can only report the costs from your agricultural and business operations.

Who is eligible for REAP grants?

Agricultural producers with at least 50% of their gross income coming from agricultural operations and rural small businesses can apply for the program. If you are not sure if you qualify as a small business, you can search by your NACIS code . Once you have verified you are a small business, you can check whether or not you are in a rural area . Projects must be in rural areas with populations of 50,000 or less.

When do I apply for REAP grants?

APPLY BEFORE YOU BUY You should apply for REAP funding after you determine project design and cost but before you have spent money on equipment or contracts . Any costs prior to your application are not eligible for REAP reimbursement. Before applying, you should do the following: Gather financial information for the last three years Work with your preferred solar installer to complete your design Get quotes for work that needs to be performed Gather spec sheets of all major equipment Research your required permits Contact your utility if you need an interconnection agreement or Power Purchase Agreement . USDA accepts applications year-round. The application windows for 2024 are March 31, June 30 and September 30. To apply for REAP, you must have a Dun & Bradstreet (D-U-N-S) number, pre-register with the System for Award Management (SAM) , and have a Unique Entity ID. Registration costs nothing, but it can take a month or more, so take care of it as soon as possible. If you are already registered with SAM and have a Unique Entity ID, just make sure your registration is active.

How do I apply for REAP grants?

There are three application forms, and which one you use depends on the project size (not the grant size requested). To find these forms, visit the REAP website , choose your state and click the tab that says “To Apply.” You will find instructions for completing each application and the applications themselves. These are the application forms you should use depending on your total project cost: Under $80K: 4280-3A $80K to $200K : 4280-3B Over $200K: 4280-3C Many people utilize consultants and grant writers to complete the necessary paperwork. Under the “To Apply” tab, you will find a list of energy auditors, consultants and grant writers in the state you selected.

Who should I apply for REAP?

Would you like to reduce the capital expenditure you have to make? If your project is a renewable energy system that produces zero greenhouse gas emissions ( solar PV is zero emissions! ), you are eligible for a 50% grant. It’s not just solar. Energy efficiency improvements also qualify for a 50% grant. For example, one of our customers is an agricultural operation that uses the ingredients they grow to make and package different sauces from their farm. Because it is an energy efficiency expense for their business, they were able to finance part of their kitchen and packaging operation with REAP grant money.

Plex asset performance management 101: how to monitor plant health to optimize productivity

September 3, 2024
Best Practices
Automation

Tips for Plex APM by Rockwell Automation

Is poor machine health holding you back? What if you could identify and prevent potential failures before they happen? In today’s competitive landscape, you can’t afford to wait for something to go wrong. Learn how you can use Plex Asset Performance Management (APM) to proactively manage asset health while unlocking insights that help you optimize plant floor efficiencies in real-time.

TIP #1

UNLOCK AGILITY, FLEXIBILITY AND RESILIENCE ON YOUR PLANT FLOOR

With growing SKU portfolios, shorter product lifecycles and increased pressure to work faster, how do you keep up with ever changing consumer demand? To achieve manufacturing success, you have to remain flexible, agile and resilient, even in the face of rapid change and without sacrificing the quality or yield your customers expect.

Easier said than done? Not necessarily. In fact, the key to your success is already on your plant floor. Your production lines have massive amounts of data that can provide clear insight into your asset health and drive more informed decision making. With the right technology, you can leverage that data to gain clarity across every step of your operations and maximize flexibility to adapt when things don’t go as planned.

TIP #2

AUTOMATE YOUR DATA ANALYTICS

You don’t even have to hire a data scientist to get the most value from your asset data. Plex APM does the work for you by contextualizing, integrating and applying real-time equipment data and built-in analytics to visualize insights on machine health and performance. Then, you can easily compare machines against a desired state, adjust accordingly and generate early notifications of potential disruptions so you can address them before they get costly.

TIP #3

MONITOR MACHINE HEALTH TO REDUCE UNPLANNED DOWNTIME AND IMPROVE THROUGHPUT

Plex APM helps your enterprise avoid production disruption by connecting shop floor performance data to maximize operational visibility and production. That means fewer surprises for you and more on-time orders for your customers.

Here are just a few of the ways Plex APM delivers results:

It establishes connectivity to virtually any asset or data stream, helping you analyze trends and compare operational data against other KPIs to discover new opportunities for improvement.
Pre-built, intuitive dashboards allow you to view real-time status at the asset or plant level, so you’re always aware of which machines are off, in-cycle, idle experiencing a problem or something else.
It can provide historical views of logged asset status and event logs that make it easy to visualize data over time with graphical trend lines, so you’re better prepared to make informed decisions based on previous occurrences. Learning from past disruptions can help you prevent future bottlenecks, unplanned stoppages and unnecessary rework.

DISCOVER MORE BENEFITS OF PLEX APM

If you want to learn more about the benefits of Asset Performance Management, visit our page on Plex APM by Rockwell Automation. Plex APM is just one component of the Plex Smart Manufacturing Platform, a fully integrated end-to-end solution that powers your entire enterprise. Contact us to ask questions and discuss your application.

TELL ME MORE ABOUT PLEX APM

Plex asset performance management 101: how to monitor plant health to optimize productivity

TIP #1

UNLOCK AGILITY, FLEXIBILITY AND RESILIENCE ON YOUR PLANT FLOOR

TIP #2

AUTOMATE YOUR DATA ANALYTICS

TIP #3

MONITOR MACHINE HEALTH TO REDUCE UNPLANNED DOWNTIME AND IMPROVE THROUGHPUT

DISCOVER MORE BENEFITS OF PLEX APM

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Plex asset performance management 101: how to monitor plant health to optimize productivity

TIP #1

UNLOCK AGILITY, FLEXIBILITY AND RESILIENCE ON YOUR PLANT FLOOR

TIP #2

AUTOMATE YOUR DATA ANALYTICS

TIP #3

MONITOR MACHINE HEALTH TO REDUCE UNPLANNED DOWNTIME AND IMPROVE THROUGHPUT

DISCOVER MORE BENEFITS OF PLEX APM

Tell Us More About Plex APM