11.9kW install supporting two Community Vision affordable homes in SE Portland!
Just after Labor Day in 2024, Solar for All install partner Power Northwest completed an 11.9 kW solar install on the flat roof of this Community Vision owned three bedroom home in SE Portland. What makes this project special is that there's an ADU sub-metered to this home on this site that will also benefit from the power generated by this system through Virtual Net Metering (VNM) with Portland General Electric - one solar install, but reduced utility bills and carbon footprints for two affordable homes!
Community Vision owns both homes, and pays the electric bills for each renter which allows PGE to split the kilowatt-hours (kWh) generated by the solar panels across the bills each month for both meters.
Additionally, this install was 100% funded by individual donors supporting our mission to "Save the Planet, One (or two in this case) Family at a Time!" We appreciate your continued support!
Community Vision owns both homes, and pays the electric bills for each renter which allows PGE to split the kilowatt-hours (kWh) generated by the solar panels across the bills each month for both meters.
Additionally, this install was 100% funded by individual donors supporting our mission to "Save the Planet, One (or two in this case) Family at a Time!" We appreciate your continued support!
Solar on a Duplex - One Install, Two New Solar Affordable Homes!
Upliftic Energy completed the install of two 4.4 kW systems next to each other on the shared South facing roof of a duplex in North Portland in August 2024. Each system is connected to the separate panels, and meters, for each homeowner in the duplex. Two projects completed on a single roof! Two more Proud Ground permanently affordable homeowners are now reaping the benefits of free electricity from the sun thanks to this joint project funded by the Portland Clean Energy Fund!
8.5 New kW in SE Portland Marks the PCEF Halfway Point
Power NW completed the install of this 8.5 kW East-West orientation solar system in SE Portland in August 2024. This is the sixth installation on a permanently affordable Proud Ground supported home funded primarily with a grant from the Portland Clean Energy Fund. Completion of this install marks the halfway point (six down, six more to go) from this PCEF supported project. We're already getting notes from owners of the previous homes (see stories below on this page) that they've seen tremendous savings on their electric bills this summer. This is why we do what we do: less carbon to produce energy, while helping keep these affordable homes "affordable" with lower monthly expenses!
Another PCEF funded solar installation in North Portland
DJ Khaled may have said it best...."Another one!" Upliftic Energy completed our fifth PCEF funded solar installation on a permanently affordable Proud Ground home in North Portland in July 2024! This 5.2kw installation has both South, and West, facing panels which will generate energy from the sun from sunrise through sunset with a boost in generation in the afternoons when the summer heat calls for additional air-conditioning (or multiple fans!) which should help this homeowner stay cool and not worry about the extra juice needed during our increasingly hot summer afternoons.
Fourth 2024 Proud Ground Install Complete with New Roof!
Power Northwest completed our fourth solar installation on this permanently affordable, Proud Ground supported home, in North Portland in the spring of 2024. One of the challenges we've encountered in this round of installations funded primarily by the Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF) is that many of Proud Ground's homes in the City of Portland were built in the early 2000s. That sounds like a relatively new home compared to a lot of the older homes that were built in the 90s, 80s, 70s, 60s and 50s; but it also means that the roofs are around 20 years old!
In order to install solar, a roof needs to have at least ten years of "remaining" life in order to not have to replace the roof shortly after adding solar panels. So, working with PCEF and local roofer Moon Roofing & Construction this homeowner now has a new roof and solar to provide free energy from the sun for another 20-30 years!
In order to install solar, a roof needs to have at least ten years of "remaining" life in order to not have to replace the roof shortly after adding solar panels. So, working with PCEF and local roofer Moon Roofing & Construction this homeowner now has a new roof and solar to provide free energy from the sun for another 20-30 years!
Another completed PCEF solar project in NE Portland!
In April 2024, Power NW completed another solar installation for the PCEF funded Solarize the Land Trust project Solar for All has been supporting to install solar on permanently affordable homes in the Proud Ground Community Land Trust. This 6.6kW install in NE Portland will save the current homeowner - and future income qualified homeowners ~$500 (more if rates continue to go up) and avoid over 1.2 tons of carbon dioxide annually by generating free electricity from the sun! Thanks to Power NW, Spark NW and PCEF for supporting this new solar installation in Portland!
Celebrating Nine Years of Solar Projects!
Nine years ago, in March of 2015, Solar for All completed our first installation of solar panels on an affordable homes in SE Portland. We kicked off our partnership with Community Vision (cvision.org) by providing 7.1 kilowatts of panels manufactured by Solar World at their (former) Hillsboro, Oregon manufacturing facility. (Oh, how times have changed!) on two homes owned by Jean P. and Phyllis K. pictured above. Asked about how the solar panels have helped over the past nine years, Jean said, "I like the solar panels; they look cool and I like saving money." And that's what Solar for All's mission remains about - saving money and the planet, one family at a time.
We estimate that over the 9 years these panels have been installed, Jean and Phyills have saved a combined $7,200 on their electric bills while avoiding 12.5 tons of carbon dioxide because of the free solar energy these panels produced!
We'd like to thank our partners and donors for helping us install solar on now 40 homes in Oregon and SW Washington over the last nine years. Thanks to your continued support, we plan to keep installing solar on affordable homes - at no cost to the homeowners or their housing providers - for another nine (or more) years!
We estimate that over the 9 years these panels have been installed, Jean and Phyills have saved a combined $7,200 on their electric bills while avoiding 12.5 tons of carbon dioxide because of the free solar energy these panels produced!
We'd like to thank our partners and donors for helping us install solar on now 40 homes in Oregon and SW Washington over the last nine years. Thanks to your continued support, we plan to keep installing solar on affordable homes - at no cost to the homeowners or their housing providers - for another nine (or more) years!
New 2024 Portland Solar Installs!
Our second PCEF funded project of 2024 on a Proud Ground affordable home in North Portland completed installation early in March. Another 6.6 kW of solar providing clean energy, and lower utility bills to a family in Portland! Thanks to Power Northwest for completing the installation, PCEF, Spark Northwest and Proud Ground for partnering on this project!
Our first install of 2024 is complete! Upliftic Energy installed the first (of at least 10 planned) Portland Clean Energy Fund supported solar installations on permanently affordable housing providers Proud Ground. We're working with Proud Ground and Spark Northwest, along with three local solar installers, to install solar on at least ten affordable homes in the Portland City Limits. Thanks to our great partners, and PCEF, for enabling us to Save the Planet, One (new) Family at a Time!
New Solar Install Partner!
Solar for All would like to announce our new install partner in 2024: Power Northwest!
Power Northwest will be installing a new system on a Community Vision owned affordable home in SE Portland this year, and they are donating the panels for this project!
Even better?? The install on this three bedroom affordable home will be large enough to power the separate "tiny home" ADU on the lot!
Stay tuned for project updates and photos!
Power Northwest will be installing a new system on a Community Vision owned affordable home in SE Portland this year, and they are donating the panels for this project!
Even better?? The install on this three bedroom affordable home will be large enough to power the separate "tiny home" ADU on the lot!
Stay tuned for project updates and photos!