Obama’s solar plan builds assets in communities with federally subsidized housing

By Stephanie McCauley
September 30, 2015

In July, the Obama Administration rolled out a new initiative to install 300MW of solar power in federally subsidized housing communities by 2020 and expand solar opportunities for renters and those with inadequate roof space on their homes through community solar installations. The initiative also makes provisions for job training and education in the solar sector, with funding for Americorp to focus training efforts in underserved communities.

Climate Protection: Solar energy allows for less fossil fuel use and lower CO2 emissions Energy & Mobility: Increases renewable energy installations and knowledge Resilience: Helps diversify the grid and allows for more off-grid possibilties Jobs & Assets: Provides job opportunities and training, affordable solar systems, and reduced energy bills, especially for low income communities Connection: Allows for people to better understand their energy footprint and see where their power comes from, connects citizens through the Americorp program and RE-volv crowdfunding loan program that pays their investment forward****

This post is part of a series on examples of ​multisolving​, or climate-smart policies that simultaneously work to mitigate climate change while providing co-benefits such as the ones described above. The multiple benefits analysis was done using the ​FLOWER framework​.****