New York City’s public housing authority is taking bids in a plan to lease its roofs for community solar projects that could power thousands of urban homes.
Miguel Rodriguez, who grew up in public housing in New York, is developing skills as a solar installer through a public housing-connected program. Credit: New York City Housing Authority
Lindsey Gilpin reports for InsideClimate News:
When you look out across New York City from the top of the Empire State Building, thousands of empty rooftops come into view. They could be ripe for solar panels, but the overwhelming majority of residents and business owners inside are renters with no control over those sunny patches of real estate.
The city’s public housing authority, the largest public housing landlord in the United States, recognizes the potential, and it has a plan to put hundreds of those rooftops to work.
In January, the authority will start reviewing bids for phase one of a project to increase the amount of solar power generated in the city. It’s a small step, but one could that could help grow the market for urban solar power. The goal is to install 25 megawatts of solar panels atop the city’s public housing buildings, enough capacity to power 6,600 households, as part of New York City’s 100 percent renewable commitment.
There’s one catch: The New York City Public Housing Authority (NYCHA) can’t directly use that power. It already has a deal with the electric utility Con Edison.
Instead, the authority plans to lease its rooftops for community solar projects―an arrangement that will allow companies to install solar panels in one location and sell the energy to customers who can’t install their own.
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