Help crowdfund solar for affordable housing

I’ve written before about Re-Volv’s solar seed funding campaigns. And Kristin has also covered Grid Alternative’s volunteer-driven efforts to put solar on affordable housing. Now these two powerhouse (sorry!) non-profits are teaming up—using Re-Volv’s crowdfunding platform to raise money for a 10.7 kilowatt solar array for Unity Gardens, a multifamily affordable housing unit part of the Northern California Land Trust in Berkeley, California.

According to the campaign, the $26,530 they are looking to raise should more than pay for itself—covering 80{0b7da518931e2dc7f5435818fa9adcc81ac764ac1dff918ce2cdfc05099e9974} of the building’s ongoing electricity costs, and saving occupants $60,000 over the lifetime of the installation. It will also, of course, send a message to the surrounding community that affordable housing is worth investing in, and that clean energy is a community asset too.

Andreas Karelas, Executive Director of Re-Volv, seems pretty thrilled about this pairing of nonprofit expertise:

“GRID Alternatives is a pioneer in the field and one of the most impactful solar nonprofits in the country. Our models complement each other in ways that empower more people at every level of the project- from the crowdfunders who support the project, to the job trainees who install it, to the families who benefit from it.”

The campaign press release also highlights the fact that the solar industry itself is a major driving force behind the initiative. The panels themselves have been donated by Jinko Solar. And many of the Solar Champion volunteers are industry insiders too. Kelsey Jonat, for example, works for SunPower as a day job, but sees this as a way for the industry to broaden its positive impact:

“I came across this project and was excited about the good work NCLT is doing. I am grateful for the opportunity to help them save money by harnessing the power of the sun.”

The crowdfunding campaign concludes August 17th and—assuming it’s successful—the array should be installed and operational in the Fall of this year. You can lend your support via Re-Volv here. And check out the video on why this matters below: