Read moreTVA launches community solar initiative
In the early morning hours of Aug. 1, emails flooded into the Tennessee Valley Authority's computers from homeowners and companies vying for a spot in the federal agency's small-scale solar energy program.
Moments after the application process opened at 7 a.m., space had run out, and it was back to a waiting game for the hundreds of applicants who didn't make it in.
"They keep dangling this carrot in front of you, and then they take it away," said Darren Metz, CEO of Novacopy, a distributor of commercial printers and copiers that wants to get into the program.