Anonymous donor helps Philadelphia Habitat for Humanity homes go solar

Solar Power World’s project coverage usually focuses on arrays just starting development or construction, or on systems that have received permission to operate. However, the real effects on a community are seen during a solar project’s 25-year or longer lifespan. In reaction to this, Solar Power World has started Projects of Impact, a series highlighting the effects that existing PV arrays have post-installation.

This first Project of Impact is several solar systems built with the help of East Coast PV contractor Exact Solar and Habitat for Humanity, a longstanding American nonprofit organization that lowers the barrier to homeownership for people with low incomes.

SPW: Who all was involved in the development and construction of this project?

Exact Solar worked alongside the Habitat for Humanity homeowners to build solar projects across five rooftops in the historic neighborhood of Strawberry Mansion in Philadelphia.

Aaron Nichols, solar policy and research specialist, Exact Solar: Ed McColly, who’s the director of real estate development for Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia; and then there’s Dave Hammes, who was our sales engineer on the project.

The project came from an anonymous donor. His stipulation was that he wanted to donate money for solar projects on Habitat for Humanity homes. Ed knew that he wanted to engage a local solar installer. He first saw our billboard but then reached out to Solarize Philly (Solarize Greater Philadelphia). We’re a Solarize Philly installer, and so all of those organizations were involved and interfaced to get this going.

What’s really cool about this project is that the homeowners themselves were very involved. Habitat for Humanity has that [term], “sweat equity.” These are homes that are designed for low-income people that they buy at greatly reduced rates, but they also help build them. Our crews got to work alongside the homeowners who were finishing the inside of the houses while we were putting solar on the roofs.

SPW: What challenges did this project pose, and how did Exact Solar solve them?

Nichols: Being in a historic neighborhood was a big one. The Strawberry Mansion neighborhood of Philadelphia has some historic zoning codes that we had to work around. We had to paint all of the conduit and inverters a certain color and put a mesh over them so they wouldn’t be visible from the street.

SPW: What makes this project unique out of Exact Solar’s breadth of installations?

Nichols: We’ve done a lot of cool projects, but this is one of the few that has had massive social impact locally. The fact that homeowners worked on the houses alongside the crews, it’s pretty amazing. And the amount of money that these families are going to save is more than the average person is going to save going solar, because the homes are also ENERGY STAR certified.

But being that these are local low-income families who have gone on this program, it frees up more of their budget that can go to so much more than just wasting money on rising power costs every month. Each one of the systems is going to save each home more than $40,000 over time. That’s more than $1,000 a year, which is so big for families in that situation.

Have an impactful solar project you’d like to share? Contact Managing Editor Billy Ludt at [email protected]