Our Impact
Our work covers four key areas
Increasing community wealth
Through our work we hope to reduce energy burden and increase wealth for traditionally excluded communities. We do this through a variety of ways:
CASE STUDY
The Big Apple goes solar!
Next time you’re in New York City, look up! Thanks to a partnership with the New York City Housing Authority, more than 30 affordable housing rooftops are now sited with community solar arrays.
Solstice worked with partners such as Urban Homesteading Assistance Board and Solar One to enroll households for these projects, with more than 25% of the participants consisting of low- to moderate income households.
These households are not only saving money on their monthly energy bills, but also directly contributing to putting more clean energy into the grid, making their community more resilient and sustainable. We look forward to working on more inclusive projects with community partners like these in the future.
Innovating Community-led Solar Projects
Scalable and Replicable
Solstice Initiative is re-envisioning a model of community solar that empowers traditionally excluded communities and is entirely community-led.
Through our work, Solstice and community partners will build solar projects that prioritize community-specific values and provide opportunities for residents to build wealth. Our pilot programs in Boston and Buffalo will provide affordable clean energy to over 100 households. Depending on the ultimate size of the project, this could generate $125-$500 savings a year for low-income residents of color which is up to an estimated $1,335,000 in savings for the community over the lifetime of the project!
Once these projects are complete, Solstice Initiative will share our findings and work with other communities to replicate the process.
Using research and data science for energy justice
When communities or households want clean energy but are unable to access it, Solstice Initiative finds out what the roadblocks are and innovates solutions. We have partnered with the Department of Energy on two projects that will have enormous impact on the community solar industry
EnergyScore
Solstice worked with data scientists at MIT and Stanford to develop a machine-learning model to predict the likelihood of an individual defaulting on their utility bill — the EnergyScore.
EnergyScore was designed to be a more equitable and accurate qualification metric to FICO scores, which are currently used to underwrite customers for residential solar and energy efficiency products. But about half of Americans have have subprime credit scores or are underscored altogether, dramatically limiting participation in the clean energy movement.
There’s no time to waste when it comes to expanding access to clean energy, and we hope to offer our patent-pending EnergyScore product to commercial, government and nonprofit organizations looking for a better alternative to FICO scores for the energy sector.
Community Solar Product Innovation
Solstice is leading a research project focused on understanding how to make community solar more valuable and accessible for low- to moderate-income communities and communities of color.
This far-reaching study will incorporate input from community members and industry players across eight states on the opportunities and barriers related to adapting community solar products to better meet the needs of low income and BIPOC communities. A goal of this research will be to make recommendations to the community solar industry that will not only meet community needs, but help make the community solar industry more inclusive.
Creating energy justice champions
Systemic change is not possible without empowerment at the community level.
Through our work to date, we have educated people engaged in our programming. We have seen an increase in knowledge level on community solar for members of our Boston community advisory board.
Our energy system is complicated and can feel exclusionary. Through our education work, we hope to empower individuals and communities to take action and join the movement for energy justice, demanding a more just and sustainable energy system.
Through our work to date we have educated # of people engaged in our programming. We have seen a x% increase in knowledge level on community solar for members of our Boston community advisory board.
Learn more about one of our amazing Community Advisory Board members here.
