Solar Installation by the Low-Income Weatherization Program for Multifamily Brings Tenant Savings, Job Training to City of Richmond

Ninety-eight households in the low-income public housing development of Triangle Court in Richmond will start seeing electricity bill reductions of up to 98 percent after solar PV was installed through the Low-Income Weatherization Program for Multifamily Properties (LIWP-Multifamily). Each detached, cottage-style unit received a stand-alone rooftop system ranging in size from 1.7 to 2.7 kilowatts that will directly offset use, helping residents live more affordably in their homes. LIWP-Multifamily’s solar PV installation built on an energy efficiency retrofit funded by the Rental Assistance Demonstration Program and tax credits that reduced energy use an estimated 15 percent.

“The Triangle Court community is among the most environmentally impacted neighborhoods in the Bay Area,” said Adam Lenz, Environmental Manager for the City of Richmond. “It is great to use targeted clean energy investments to build health equity with our residents.”

The project was led and installed by nonprofit GRID Alternatives, whose community-based model provided opportunities for local volunteers and job trainees to participate in the installation, gaining hands-on experience they can use to get jobs in the growing local solar industry. Sixty-one job trainees received nearly 900 hours of training through the project, including students of local job training organizations Rising Sun Energy Center and Solar Richmond, and the project also hosted GRID’s week-long women’s intensive training program.