Solar For Affordable Housing in San Francisco by avra

San Francisco Mayor, Gavin Newsom, has announced plans to install over 365kW of solar planes on public housing projects owned by the San Francisco Housing Authority.  

In my opinion, the more solar the better, so I’m excited about this new initiative and look forward to seeing it come into fruition.  The solar panel installations, to be located in Hayes Valley North and South and Plaza East, will be a joint effort between the housing authority and McCormack Baron Salazar, a well known affordable housing developer.  

While solar for affordable housing is often thought to be a good match, the financials for the project don’t always pencil out to make the installations feasible.  Because of the San Francisco’s GoSolarSF Initiative, the largest solar panel rebate program of any city, this project is sound financial investment.  It has the potential to generate cost savings for low income residents as well as tax payers.  This project will reduce overall energy consummation help San Francisco meet renewable energy goals.

The success of this project and the long term savings from renewable energy, will hopefully spawn more large solar projects across the country and encourage the inclusion of smart renewable energy in affordable housing developments going forward.