[CPEO-BIF] "Integrating Photovoltaic Systems into Low-Income Housing Developments"

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

[While this project is a retrofit, not a new development, it  
describes a way to build renewable energy into low-income housing  
projects that may prove useful at Brownfields rental housing  
projects. - LS]

Integrating Photovoltaic Systems into Low-Income Housing Developments:

A Case Study on the Creation of a New Residential Financing Model and  
Low-Income Resident Job Training Program

Jesse Dean, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Christine Smith-Drier and Gete Mekonnen, Northeast Denver Housing Center
Wendy Hawthorne, Groundwork Denver
U.S. Department of Energy
September, 2011

Affordable housing developers use myriad financing mechanisms to help  
meet local and national demands for low-to-moderate income,  
affordable housing developments. Since 1987, the Low-Income Housing  
Tax Credit (LIHTC) program has been the federal government’s primary  
vehicle for producing rental housing that is affordable to low-to- 
moderate income households. From 1995 to 2007, 1.4 million housing  
units in almost 19,000 projects were developed using this financing  
mechanism. In the past, solar projects have not been incorporated  
into LIHTC projects because of the unique challenges associated with  
integrating photovoltaic (PV) systems into existing financing models  
and the added cost to the new and existing developments.

The Northeast Denver Housing Center (NDHC), in partnership with Del  
Norte Neighborhood Development Corporation, Groundwork Denver, the  
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Bella Energy, and the  
Governor’s Energy Office of Colorado, has successfully installed PV  
systems on 12 separate existing buildings to provide renewable energy  
to 30 affordable housing units. NDHC was able to finance the PV  
system installations by blending private equity funding with utility  
rebates, federal tax credits, and public sector funding. A grant  
provided by the Governor’s Energy Office was the key element that  
allowed for the creation of the new financing model and made the  
projects successful.

...

To download the report, go to
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/pdfs/51075.pdf

--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

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