Empowering Communities Through Solar Energy: The SmartSolar Sustainability Scholarship
For years, energy conferences have been dominated by conventional power structures, often overlooking the needs and innovations of those generating their own renewable energy. Recognizing this gap, a movement began to unite independent energy producers, leading to the creation of initiatives that prioritize community empowerment through sustainable energy solutions.
The Genesis of a Movement: From Energy Fairs to Renewable Energy Associations
The journey began with a simple idea: bringing together like-minded individuals passionate about renewable energy. Over 20,000 letters poured in from renewable energy producers and aspiring enthusiasts, revealing a groundswell of interest and knowledge. This led to the First Annual Energy Fair at the Amherst, WI fairgrounds, planned in a local farm kitchen by a group of friends. Despite a rainy forecast, the event was a resounding success, marking the birth of the Midwest Renewable Energy Association (MREA).
The MREA and The Energy Fair flourished, eventually finding a permanent home in 1999 at the ReNew the Earth Institute (REI) in Custer, WI. This campus became a living laboratory, powered by various renewable systems, including solar electric, storage, solar hot water, solar hot air, wind, and EV charging. The Energy Fair, typically held around the summer solstice, became a unique event characterized by large white tents spread across 22 acres. It hosted educational workshops, presentations, exhibitors, keynote speakers, career fairs, kids' activities, and musical performances. Attendees from across the country traveled to the event, often using sustainable transportation, to learn, network, and connect with others over social hours, food trucks, and community dinners. The Fair was an annual event from 1990-2024, only taking a break in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The MREA's enduring legacy is built upon the support of long-standing members who continue to champion its mission as it transitions to new ventures with the same goal as the Fair.
The Climate Access Fund: Bridging the Gap in Community Solar Development
Lynn Heller, a social entrepreneur with extensive experience in the nonprofit sector, recognized the need to address energy inequities in historically disinvested communities. After serving as Vice President of the Abell Foundation and launching political and economic development programs, Heller founded the Climate Access Fund (CAF), a nonprofit green bank.
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CAF's mission is to use flexible capital to promote community solar development in underserved areas of Maryland. Environmental harms and the impacts of climate change disproportionately affect these communities, which often have higher percentages of low-income people of color. While most community solar projects are located on large tracts of land and serve higher-income families due to their attractive financial returns, smaller projects (<1 MW) on commercial rooftops and parking lots in underserved communities can offer multiple community benefits beyond electricity bill savings. These "co-benefits" include job training, employment, educational opportunities, and wealth creation through shared ownership of the solar asset.
Driven by a desire to address poverty and a sense of urgency following the 2016 election, Heller recognized the potential of community solar to reach low-income households at scale. However, a significant financing gap was preventing private solar development from benefiting these communities.
Henderson-Hopkins: A Model for Community-Based Solar
Elmer A. Henderson: A Johns Hopkins Partnership School (Henderson-Hopkins) is a Title I, K-8 school in East Baltimore, serving a predominantly Black/African American community where 100% of students are eligible for free and reduced lunch. Operating as a community school, Henderson-Hopkins focuses on building partnerships with residents to support both academics and community well-being.
Inspired by the school's ethos and community-focused approach, CAF partnered with Henderson-Hopkins to install a rooftop solar array that would benefit the school community and other neighborhood residents. Henderson-Hopkins agreed to use 100% of the power generated for the benefit of the school community. The project anticipates serving approximately 150-175 low-income households.
This initiative emphasizes the importance of co-benefits, such as workforce and education-related opportunities. The construction of the system will create solar-related jobs in the neighborhood, with priority given to local hiring. CAF is also collaborating with CivicWorks, a local nonprofit, to offer paid apprenticeships to graduates of their solar installation job training program. Additionally, an after-school club for Henderson-Hopkins middle school students focuses on environmental sustainability and clean energy, utilizing the solar panels as an on-site, experiential learning tool.
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The Henderson-Hopkins project represents a commitment made by Johns Hopkins University to families in the Old Town/Middle East neighborhoods of East Baltimore, where the median income is less than $25,000, and over 50% of children live below the poverty line. The partnership with Henderson-Hopkins is fundamental to CAF's mission, demonstrating a community solar approach that prioritizes the needs of the community.
Funding from Sol Systems has been crucial in financing the project, enabling the creation of a working capital fund and necessary reserves. CAF is intentional about cultivating mutually beneficial partnerships at every level, including national coalitions, green banking and solar development peers, elected officials, community-based organizations, renewable energy and environmental justice advocates, and other mission-aligned organizations.
A New Approach to Economic Fairness
CAF's approach to community solar is a unique way of bringing economic fairness to under-resourced areas. Unlike traditional community solar projects built on large tracts of open land, which often benefit out-of-state investors without providing local co-benefits, CAF's projects prioritize community education, job training, apprenticeships, and local hiring. Private solar developers often overlook these aspects, focusing solely on maximizing returns on investment. CAF, however, seeks to share the benefits of long-term asset ownership with community members themselves.
Complementing its green bank role, CAF also engages in advocacy. In 2022, CAF originated HB 1039, which exempts community solar projects on rooftops, parking lots, and landfills that are at least 50% low and moderate income (LMI) from personal property taxes.
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