The California Energy Commission announced this week that it had approved the first loan under its Clean Energy Business Financing Program.

The $5 million loan will go to a firm called Calisolar. It will use the funds to purchase solar-cell production equipment: Calisolar's annual output will go from 60 megawatts today to 75 megawatts when its expansion is complete.

An estimated 181 jobs will be created or retained as a result of the CEC's investment; job creation was a metric on which loan applicants were rated, in fact. Proposed projects were ranked based on job creation or retention, the level of financing they included and the amount of energy they would save.

The CEC's loan program, Calisolar CEO Sandra Beach Lin said, will have "a direct impact on the ability of companies like Calisolar to create new jobs in California, introduce innovative systems and solutions that benefit the environment and compete successfully in the global arena."

The loan initiative could help stem the tide of job losses that California has suffered, as well. Since 2001, the state has lost more than 600,000 manufacturing positions.