A luxury, four-story condominium in northwest Washington, D.C. is now outfitted with solar panels and pumping electricity around the whole District. The clean energy generated by the solar on the rooftop — about 115,000 kilowatt hours — is sent back into the grid, giving about 31 households in the District $500 of clean energy each year for the next 15 years. That’s over $250,000 in free electricity for the community thanks to this system and the Department of Energy and Environment’s Solar for All program.
Meanwhile, the building owners at Harrison Condos can sit back and collect a new revenue stream from leasing out the roof to SaveSolar, who also provided a Firestone roof warranty to give the building owners an extra sense of security.
A rooftop covered in heating and air-conditioning units is not ideal for solar panels, but with a clever canopy system, that’s a problem of the past. Made and installed by Universal Renewables, this canopy system holds the solar panels above the HVAC units and makes roof repairs as easy as ever.
While most solar providers don’t offer rooftop canopy systems (because it cuts into their margins), SaveSolar knew that a canopy was the best option here and provided one at no cost to the building owner.
We welcome discussions with developers to assess your project for inclusion as part of the Solar for All program, and to leverage our proven experience for your success.
The building owners at Harrison Condos had a variety of pitches from solar companies to choose from, but aside from SaveSolar’s pitch, all were a fraction of the size — which would provide the building owners a fraction of the benefits. SaveSolar was able to use Solar for All funds to build a much larger installation providing a larger annual financial benefit than the more traditional net metering installation, all while boosting clean energy production for low-income District residents to receive free electricity.
The District's Solar for All program aims to bring the benefits of solar energy to 100,000 low to moderate-income families in the District of Columbia. Those who qualify will receive up to 50% off their electric bills.
The clean energy generated by SaveSolar's projects not only makes it possible for more D.C. residents to qualify for Solar for All, but SaveSolar is also knocking on doors and helping residents enroll in this innovative program.
For multi-family developers with income-qualified residents, SaveSolar is one of the few companies able to submit projects to the DCSEU and deliver the energy at no-cost to qualified District residents. SaveSolar has been an active participant of the Solar for All program since 2018, having successfully developed over 2.5 MWs to the District's Solar for All program to date.
SaveSolar is a Washington, D.C.-based organization that specializes in developing community solar assets. We work with building owners to finance and build solar assets, then compensate the building owners with long-term revenue and generate that solar energy back into the utility. This energy is then provided at a discount to residential, low-income community subscribers. Our mission is to help the District reach its renewable energy goals and to lower the cost of electricity. The SaveSolar executive leadership team has over 60 years of combined experience in renewable energy markets in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States. We have diversified experience across construction, finance, project management, technology and sustainability.