Department of Energy Names Sunwealth Project a Grand Prize Winner of the 2023 Sunny Awards for Equitable Community Solar

Our 245 kW low-income community solar project developed in partnership with 621 Energy at Congregation Beth Elohim in Acton, MA.

The Department of Energy (DOE) has announced that Sunwealth's low-income community solar project at Congregation Beth Elohim in Acton, Massachusetts, is a Grand Prize Award Winner of their 2023 Sunny Awards for Equitable Community Solar.

The Sunny Awards seek to identify and celebrate community solar projects and programs deploying best practices that increase equitable access to clean energy. This is the second consecutive year that Sunwealth has been recognized by the Sunny Awards — in 2022, our community solar project at Boston Properties CityPoint received special recognition in the Meaningful Benefits category for Greater Household Savings.

Our project at CBE, alongside four other impactful Grand Prize Winners, is being recognized for the meaningful benefits it is providing to subscribers and communities, such as increasing low- to moderate-income (LMI) household access to solar and providing greater household savings. This year’s iteration of the Sunny Awards also recognizes projects for their use of community participation in project or program design and inclusive outreach to prospective participants. Sunwealth’s inclusive outreach strategy included enrollment partnerships with three impactful organizations in the affordable housing space: Heading Home, Caritas Communities, and Wayland Housing Authority. We are thrilled to be recognized for the second year by an award that prioritizes and celebrates energy savings for LMI households and supports efforts to make solar accessible to all.

Our solar project at Congregation Beth Elohim consists of three carport structures totaling 245 kW of clean energy. The arrays will provide the organization with $63,000 in lifetime energy savings in addition to an annual lease payment for hosting the project. The project will also deliver over $80,000 in lifetime energy savings to 17 local low- to moderate-income households, who will benefit from an average of 22% savings on their electricity bill.