The tax credits will be given to businesses that build clean energy products to help them defray up to 30 percent of the cost of new investments in manufacturing facilities, said the San Francisco Chronicle.

Obama said the clean energy sector will create “jobs that pay well and can’t be outsourced.”

The tax credits are funded by the $787 billion stimulus package and matched by $5 billion in additional private funding.

Hundreds of companies filed applications for the credits and winners were selected after reviews by the Energy Department and the Internal Revenue Service, said the San Francisco Chronicle.

In November, the U.S. Department of Energy distributed 125 grants of up to $150,000 each to 107 small clean energy technology firms, said
theGovMonitor.com.

Small businesses that show successful results will be eligible for $60 million in a second round of grants this summer.