Solar for All

By: Julia Renner

Friends of Sunwealth® will be familiar with our goal of providing solar access to houses of worship. We recently continued this effort with the installation of 10 kW of solar at Congregation Eitz Chayim in Cambridge.

The project at Eitz Chayim builds upon the success of the Interfaith Solar Project, a partnership between Sunwealth and Resonant Energy that was completed last year. The project placed 70 kW of solar arrays on the Second Church in Dorchester, Bethel A.M.E, and the Church of St. Augustine and St. Martin, all located in parts of Boston traditionally underserved by the institutional solar market.

Faith communities such as the ones participating in the Interfaith Solar Project have historically been at the forefront of advancing social justice causes, including environmental issues.  Recently, many have taken up the cause of energy justice. The negative impacts of fossil fuel burning disproportionately impact low-income communities that lack access to renewable energy.  Therefore, energy justice refers to the necessity of ensuring the clean energy revolution reaches everyone, including communities that have not traditionally been included in renewable energy development.

As a public benefit corporation, Sunwealth holds a deep commitment to expanding the renewable energy landscape into traditionally underserved areas.  Our development of solar on houses of worship, nonprofit organizations, and low- and moderate-income housing expands the renewable energy landscape while targeting market-rate returns for our investors.

Ryan Dings, Sunwealth’s Chief Operating Officer, captures quite well the spirit of Sunwealth’s commitment: “We learned from our work with Reverend Mariama White-Hammond, who was a partner on the original Interfaith Solar Project, how these solar projects can serve as a visual testament for the community – representing the importance of combating climate change and building resilience.  That simple thought – these projects serving as visual testaments – has been a motivational force for us to bring solar to more communities and more houses of worship.”

Sunwealth’s work across denominations continues with Congregation Eitz Chayim.  We were delighted to welcome this project into our Solar Impact Fund, giving our community of investors the opportunity to expand solar access to houses of worship and pursue the fight for energy justice.