Going the Extra Mile for Impact in Holyoke

We often have investors who join the Solar Impact Fund because they want to use their investment portfolio to combat climate change. The commercial solar projects in the Solar Impact Fund undoubtedly do that. Each project produces a carbon offset we measure, so investors know exactly the environmental impact of their investment.

But the impact of our projects doesn’t stop there. The beauty of commercial solar can be found in the localized nature of the projects. Rather than relying on far afield power plants generating their power, the local businesses and organizations we support generate their power from commercial solar installations located in their own communities (and often on their own rooftops). This de-centralized, de-carbonized power production means that we are reducing energy bills for local organizations and supporting local solar jobs, in addition to combating climate change.

But the impact of our projects doesn’t stop there. Some see commercial solar as the province of big-box retailers. But we see a moral imperative to provide the benefits of clean energy to everyone in our communities. We take extraordinary pride in building portfolios of socially-diverse solar projects – from Class A office buildings to fire departments to houses of worship.

Take our Holyoke, Massachusetts project as an example. Holyoke, Massachusetts is a beautiful town situated along the banks of the Connecticut River in Western Massachusetts. It garnered the name “The Paper City” for being one of the largest producers of paper products in the world. Technology and transformation, being what they are, has moved paper production elsewhere, and Holyoke, like many industrial cities in the U.S., is transforming into a 21st Century city. We wanted to play a part.

In partnership with Holyoke Gas & Electric (“HG&E”), we developed a 416 kW installation on underutilized HG&E property in Holyoke.  Our project construction partner, Solworks of Ayer, Massachusetts, completed construction in December 2017. Today, we use the power generated from the installation to provide clean energy to the Holyoke Housing Authority – giving them a much-needed reduction in their energy bills and the satisfaction of knowing they are participating in the fight against climate change.

But the impact of our projects doesn’t stop there. Sunwealth® raises the bar on the environmental and social impact of our projects while not losing sight of our financial impact: market rate returns for our investors.  Now that is going the extra mile for impact!