Transforming Public Housing, One Community Solar Project at a Time

Sunwealth’s Omar Blayton, Sophie Maguy, and Lydia Smith with U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy, David Turk, and representatives from NYCHA and Solar One at one of Sunwealth’s Kingsborough projects in 2023.

Introduction

25 MW Across Thousands of Buildings

In 2016, the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) announced their NextGeneration NYCHA Sustainability Agenda.

The agenda stated four main goals:

Achieve short-term financial stability and diversify funding for the long term
Operate as an efficient and effective landlord
(Re)build, expand, and preserve public and affordable housing
Engage residents and connect them to best-in-class social services

As a part of their effort to meet Goal #1, NYCHA pledged to develop 25 MW of solar capacity by 2025, which will be the largest community shared solar project in the city. This pledge is also a part of NYCHA’s participation in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Renew300 Initiative, which focuses on helping federally assisted housing save money through onsite renewable energy generation.

NYCHA is the largest public housing authority in the nation, and home to 1 in 17 New Yorkers. The organization provides housing to over 500,000 residents through public housing and Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) programs, along with Section 8 housing. Faced with decades of divestment in public housing, deteriorating buildings and limited funds to execute repairs, and the impacts of climate change – especially given that many NYCHA residents live in disproportionately climate-burdened areas – NYCHA recognized the need for change. Luckily, local solar developers, installers, workforce training providers, and financiers — such as Sunwealth — were able to step in and support them in executing these changes.

Utilizing solar and other energy efficient measures (smart building technology, improved water and waste management, effective ventilation) meant that NYCHA could offset carbon emissions and generate meaningful energy savings, helping to make them both environmentally and economically sustainable. For Sunwealth, supporting NYCHA’s sustainability initiative meant we could combine our capital and development expertise with other partners’ engineering, installation, design, and job training knowledge to expand our impact and support a sector deeply important to our mission: affordable housing.

Chapter 1: The beginning

Solar for Queensbridge

NYCHA’s Queensbridge Houses – a campus of 26 residential buildings and two community centers in Long Island City, Queens – was one of the first sites to be selected for community solar. NYCHA partnered with solar developer, Sol Purpose, and its team: Bright Power, the project engineer, Venture Solar, the installer, Green City Force: an AmeriCorps program that prepares young adults for sustainability-related service, and Sunwealth: project financier, project development supporter, and long-term owner-operator. The portfolio, the largest community solar project in New York City at the time on the largest public housing development in the U.S., totals 1.8 MW and is spread across 27 rooftops.

One of Sunwealth’s rooftop arrays at NYCHA’s Queensbridge Houses, overlooking the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge.

Sunwealth’s projects at the Queensbridge Houses were the first to reach completion as part of NYCHA’s solar program. They also employed 13 NYCHA residents and community members as full-time installers through a solar apprenticeship program with Green City Force, Solar One, and Venture Solar. Solar proved to be a win-win for the residents, saving them on electricity and generating quality employment – almost 40% of those who received solar training accepted offers of full-time employment at the projects’ completion. Check out our blog to learn more about the Queensbridge projects.

Chapter 2: momentum

Carver, Glenwood, and Kingsborough

A Sunwealth solar array at NYCHA’s Carver Houses in Manhattan, NY.

As Sunwealth was completing the Queensbridge solar arrays at the start of 2021, we also began working with Coop Power and Accord Power on solar portfolios for NYCHA’s Carver, Glenwood, and Kingsborough Houses in Brooklyn and Manhattan. These projects total 1.2 MW across 40 rooftops and increased Sunwealth’s total NYCHA portfolio size to 3 MW. Just as at Queensbridge, Solar One provided green job training and education to twelve NYCHA residents, and these newly-trained solar installers placed the panels atop the three public housing developments. The Queensbridge, Carver, Glenwood, and Kingsborough projects will deliver over $7.2 million in energy savings over their operational lifetimes to NYCHA residents. This project also was a part of Con Edison’s testing of “smart inverters,” a technology that titrates the flow of energy from solar panels to the electricity grid to help grid voltage stay in a normal range and thus better integrate solar into the grid and improve grid reliability. Utilizing smart inverters on these projects allowed Con Edison to track smart inverters’ effectiveness in real time to, in turn, enhance solar panels’ utility in connection with the grid. Collaborating with various partners and stakeholders– with expertise in solar development, installation, job training, and beyond – was crucial to making this project a win-win-win: for Sunwealth and our partners, NYCHA residents, and the earth.

Chapter 3: setting a higher bar

Incorporating Solar with Renovations at Linden and Penn-Wortman

Due to initial success, NYCHA updated their goals in their new Sustainability Agenda to 30 MW installed by 2026. And Sunwealth’s partnership with NYCHA continues to support their progress towards ambitious goals.

Sunwealth is working with SunKeeper, a leading solar engineer, procurement, and construction (EPC) firm in the New York City greater area, to develop a portfolio of 16 solar projects for NYCHA’s Linden and Penn-Wortman Houses as a part of NYCHA’s Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) Program.

PACT was launched in 2015 as a part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD). The program aims to improve the quality of NYCHA housing through unlocking previously inaccessible funding. This occurs through partnerships with private developers, which shifts the categorization of NYCHA housing from Section 9 to Section 8 Housing, and in turn, unlocks forms of funding such as bank mortgages, tax credits, and bonds distributed by the New York City Housing Development Corporation.

The Linden and Penn-Wortman public houses in Brooklyn, NY host almost 1,000 units, and are undergoing significant renovation, thanks to PACT. NYCHA is working in partnership with Douglaston Development, L+M Development Partners, Dantes Partners, and SMJ Development to provide “large-scale rehabilitation work, robust property management, and much-needed social services,” according to NYCHA CEO, Greg Russ. Some of the specific improvements include modernized kitchens and bathrooms, Energy Star appliances, improved laundry facilities, resident community centers, offices for on-site social and tenant services, and exterior modifications: new trees and playgrounds, public seating, and pathway repairs. The buildings’ safety will also be improved through new security systems and resident key-fob access.

Our 16 solar projects at Linden and Penn-Wortman total 911 kW and are set to be placed in service this fall. They will remove over 19,000 tons of carbon from the atmosphere over their lifetimes, while generating about 31 solar job years, and saving NYCHA residents more than $1.4 million in electricity savings. Soon, NYCHA residents will live in newly updated apartments that operate on discounted clean energy.

Federal divestment in public housing is a decades-long, country-wide problem, and NYCHA is no exception. Sunwealth believes that everyone has a right to quality, livable, and affordable housing, and we know that solar can play a crucial role in lowering rental costs and, in turn, maintaining housing accessibility. We are proud to be supporting a program that is leveraging public-private partnerships and funding to make much-needed housing improvements, and delivering clean energy and meaningful electricity savings in the process.

Chapter 4: NYCHA’s Future is bright

Thanks to Sunwealth Solar

83 projects totaling almost 4 MW is a significant milestone in our long-term efforts to support NYCHA. And with almost 600 kW of solar through the PACT Program in Sunwealth’s project pipeline, we’re set to continue lighting NYCHA’s way towards 30 MW in 2026. Together with our partners, we’re supporting the rehabilitation of crucial housing for New Yorkers in need, decreasing our reliance on fossil fuels, delivering New Yorkers clean energy savings, and building a more equitable solar workforce and economy in the process. Marcel Rodgers, Sunwealth’s Vice President of Project Development, says, “Sunwealth's partnership with NYCHA is the embodiment of our commitment not just to the environment but also to equitable participation in the clean energy transition and to the lives of those historically marginalized. We're at a momentous time in history, responding to the effects of climate change, reshaping the trajectory on which we're headed, and building foundations for the future we envision. Investments in NYCHA projects is just the beginning.”

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