The beginnings of the “Solar for All” partnership

There obstacles to face when attempting to go solar for low- to moderate-income (LMI) communities. Some of these concerns include access to financing, credit-quality issues, inability to maximize public incentives, education gaps, and contractors’ customer acquisition strategies.
 

Providing creative energy solutions to scale

The Connecticut Green Bank is tackling these concerns head on in the program, its Solar for All program. This program provides energy solutions to scale in LMI communities. This partnership combines the Green Bank’s LMI solar financing resources with energy efficiency and solar products. It gives LMI homeowners a solar lease along with energy efficiency measures, regardless of participants’ income or credit. Since the start of the program, over 900 low-income verified households have signed up to go solar. The solar penetration in Connecticut’s low-income communities has skyrocketed by 188 percent.
 

The background of the alliance

The Connecticut Green Bank was created through legislation  and is the country’s first full-scale Green Bank. It supports clean energy deployment that includes single-family residential homes, multifamily properties, and commercial and institutional buildings. It is a government supported organization that partners with investors to establish low-cost, long-term sustainable financing to maximize public funds.The bank launched the Residential Solar Investment Program (RSIP) to give up-front rebates and performance-based incentives (PBIs) for solar PV installations on owner-occupied residential properties through a declining block model. Since it’s inception the state has experience a tremendous boost in its residential solar market.  

To rectify this gap, the bank established a LMI PBI within the RSIP that was about  three times higher than the market rate PBI. The incentive is available to third-party-owned solar PV installations that serve LMI customers. It enables qualified contractors to offer more economical pricing to customers. To qualify, contractors must respond to an open RFQ with their proposed product pricing, marketing strategy, and general qualifications. The additional requirements reassure that the bank-supported LMI solar projects will have a positive economic impact for customers, are able to leverage all available revenue streams, and give reliable consumer protection. The bank also issued a solar financing RFP to spot PV system providers for underserved markets. The purpose was to help the chosen provider(s) create solar businesses in Connecticut focused on LMI customers and to ensure that contractors would be successful in reaching underserved markets. 

If you want to move into the future and join the solar revolution, or if you want to find out what solar panels are right for you, go to HahaSmart.com and try our price checker tool. You can see how much a system will cost, and how much you can save over the next 20 years. For more information relating to going solar, don't forget to visit our solar blog section for more handy guides and articles.