solar power for low income families Archives

GRID Alternatives, the nation’s largest non-profit installer of solar energy systems, has teamed up with Grand Valley Power of Grand Junction, Colorado to create a community solar installation dedicated exclusively to serving the needs of low income families, reports Solar Power World. The 25 kilowatt array will provide clean, renewable power for 6 – 10 families in the Grand Junction area and offset as much as 90% of their electricity costs.

GRID Alternatives will partner with Grand Valley Power to build a community solar farm for low income families in Colorado. “We have seen a tremendous groundswell of hard-working families wanting solar and the benefits it brings,” says Chuck Watkins, Executive Director of GRID Alternatives Colorado. “Community solar can provide solar to all Coloradans regardless if they’re renters or homeowners. We’d like to see this replicated all over Colorado.”

Grand Valley Power is a locally owned utility. Among its contributions to the partnership will be land, interconnections and philanthropic support to the project. This is the first time in the US that a non-profit installer and an utility have worked directly together to bring solar power to qualifying families. The utility will own the solar equipment and provide retail bill credit for participating low-income households.

The partners see this as a model that can be duplicated by municipal and cooperative utilities throughout Colorado. “This model makes sense. We can make clean energy available to folks who have never had access to it. Everybody benefits. By leveraging GRID Alternatives’ expertise in solar development and working with lower income families, we can successfully serve some of our most vulnerable members,” stated Tom Walch, General Manager of Grand Valley Power.

Work on the project begins today, March 27 and is scheduled to be complete in time for GRID Alternatives Colorado’s Community Solarthon event on May 30, 2015. The project brings together over 100 stakeholders, including Housing Resources of Western Colorado, Atlasta Solar and Alpine Bank. It also is the beneficiary of major equipment donations from national partners SunEdison, Enphase Energy and IronRidge. When completed, it will establish GRID Alternatives, Grand Valley Power and Colorado as trailblazers in access to renewable energy.

Photo credit: GRID Alternatives

GRID Altenatives, the nation’s largest nonprofit installer of solar power products, is partnering with Clean Power Finance (CPF) to help more low-income homeowners save money on their electric bills with residential solar. The partnership will help GRID expand the reach of its Solar Affordable Housing Program to hundreds of additional families in California, Colorado, New Jersey, and New York.

Clean Power Finance is a financial services and software provider for the US residential solar industry. Its financing platform connects institutional investors with solar sales and installation companies in eleven states. Investors and lenders use its platform to invest in solar assets that provide reliable rates of return with managed risk. Founded in 2006, CPF has raised more than a billion dollars of project financing from third-party solar investors that include major corporations, electric power companies, and financial institutions.

“CPF is proud to structure an innovative public-private and non-profit partnership that expands the availability of solar energy to communities most in need of clean, low-cost electricity,” said Micah Myers, senior vice president of business development. “CPF is a long-time supporter of GRID Alternatives’ work serving low-income families, and this is an exciting evolution of our relationship. We are pleased to work with GRID to bring clean electricity to more communities in need.”

”We’re thrilled to be able to make federal tax credits available for solar projects in low-income communities, where the energy cost savings are most needed,” said Tim Sears, co-founder and chief financial and operating officer of GRID Alternatives. “And GRID’s unique model ensures that the families reap the full benefits of the system while ensuring consumer protection.”

GRID decided to join CPF’s partner network after reviewing several other financing options. CPF brings a strong track record of underwriting financed residential solar systems and is recognized as a leader in creating new financing products to address the needs of specific market segments – especially those with limited financing options. It provides services to tribal communities in the US and to rural communities in Nicaragua.

Source: Business Wire : Photo: GRID Alternatives

solar power for low income families

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