Impact

Our programs offer a wide range of benefits that extend beyond individual homeowners to entire communities, particularly since they are designed with community benefits in mind.

Reduced energy costs and energy burden

• Rooftop solar installations reduce reliance on grid electricity, leading to lower utility bills for participating homeowners.
• Our targeted programs for Low and Moderate-Income (LMI) households can significantly decrease their energy burden (the percentage of income spent on energy costs), helping save money and improve the participating homeowners’ financial well-being. A study found that rooftop solar reduced the median energy burden for LMI households from 7.7% to 6.2%.
• Our Programs where excess solar generation is sold back to the grid, especially when coupled with battery storage, can generate additional income used to further subsidize electricity costs for even more LMI households in Cook County!

Environmental benefits

• Generating electricity from solar panels reduces the demand for electricity from fossil fuels, lowering greenhouse gas emissions and contributing to cleaner air.
• Replacing fossil fuel energy with solar can reduce air and water pollution, leading to improved public health outcomes.
• When part of broader community solar efforts, projects can be sited on previously contaminated land, transforming unusable sites into productive assets and potentially improving local environments. 

Local economic development

• Our rooftop solar installations, especially at scale, can help create jobs in manufacturing, sales, marketing, technical installation, and maintenance, boosting our local economyand providing opportunities for workforce development

Community empowerment and resilience

• Democratized Access to Clean Energy: Rooftop solar programs, especially when offered at no cost or with low-cost options, can expand access to clean energy for individuals and families who might not otherwise be able to afford or install it.
• Community Engagement and Cohesion: Working together to adopt rooftop solar programs can foster a sense of community ownership and collaboration around shared goals of sustainability.
• Enhanced Grid Resilience: By diversifying electricity generation and potentially incorporating battery storage, rooftop solar can contribute to a more resilient and reliable local power grid, lessening reliance on centralized power plants and reducing vulnerability to outages during natural disasters or other disruptions.