DC SUN awarded “Solar for All” grant to support solar co-ops, seeks staff to support effort

More solar co-ops will soon be sprouting across the District. The D.C. Government has announced provisional funding for DC SUN to help neighbors go solar together as part of D.C.’s “Solar for All” program. The grant will add an additional 750 kW of solar to the District over the next 18 months. We are also in search of a two new staff people to help run these co-ops. You can read position description for the D.C. Program Manager here, and the description for the solar co-op coordinator here.

The co-ops will be open to all D.C. homeowners. Included in the grant is $1.5 million of direct support to help low-income families go solar. Homeowners who earn less than less than 80% of area median income will be eligible to have their system paid for as part of Solar for All.

The Solar for All program was created last year as part of the District’s expansion of its renewable portfolio standard. The program seeks to offset the energy bills of 100,000 low-income households in D.C. with solar by 2032. The announcement included funding to support both rooftop and community solar projects. In total, the D.C. Government announced support for ten organizations that will build a total of 7 MW worth of solar.

We expect to launch the first co-op as part of this effort in the fall.