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Project partners join Principal Peter Kannam, Climate Access Fund CEO Lynn Heller, and Senator Chris Van Hollen to mark the launch of Solar4Us @ Henderson-Hopkins, a 100% low-to-moderate income community solar project on the rooftop of Elmer A. Henderson: A Johns Hopkins Partnership School.
Climate Access Fund launches East Baltimore community solar project benefiting low-income households
Baltimore, MD (January 13, 2025) — In a ribbon-cutting ceremony held in East Baltimore this morning, the Climate Access Fund (CAF) and its partners “flipped the switch” on a $2.4 M, 808 kW rooftop community solar project that will reduce electricity costs for low-income households in Baltimore. Located on the rooftop of Elmer A. Henderson: A Johns Hopkins Partnership School (Henderson-Hopkins), a Baltimore City Public K-8 School, the Solar4Us @ Henderson-Hopkins project will save approximately 150 low-to-moderate income households nearly $1 million over 35 years ($200 per year per household) and will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 23,000 metric tons of C02, equivalent to the emissions generated by 2.6 million gallons of gas.
Solar4Us @ Henderson-Hopkins is a 808 kW system is comprised of 1,649 solar panels. The project will generate enough power to provide approximately 150 low-to-moderate income households with a 20 - 25% discount on their electricity bills.
CAF is a statewide nonprofit green bank that reduces household energy burdens in historically disinvested communities through innovative community solar development and finance. Energy burden is the percent of a household’s income that is spent on energy bills; the energy burden of Maryland’s low-income households can be as high as twenty-one times that of wealthier households. Rooftop solar power can help reduce a household’s energy burden, but many renters and lower income homeowners cannot put solar on their own roofs.
Maryland’s community solar program allows all households to access electricity bill discounts through solar energy. The energy generated by community solar projects like Solar4Us @ Henderson-Hopkins is sent directly into the electrical grid and households that subscribe to these projects pay less on their electricity bills with no impact on their electrical service. Through partnerships with certified B-Corp Neighborhood Sun and Baltimore-based consulting firm Urban Clean Energy Advisors LLC, Solar4Us @ Henderson-Hopkins focused its subscriber outreach to ensure that 100% of the power generated will benefit low-to-moderate income households.
CAF CEO Lynn Heller’s remarks emphasized the long-term economic development value of CAF’s community solar model. In addition to energy burden reduction, CAF’s projects create job opportunities, build wealth in host communities through shared project ownership, and provide educational opportunities. The project’s installer, Universal Renewables, LLC, employed 12 Maryland residents for full time installer positions and offered two on-the-job experiences in partnership with Civic Works, a Baltimore-based nonprofit that strengthens communities and promotes equity through education, skills development, job training, and community service.
Climate Access Fund CEO Lynn Heller reflects on the importance of community partnerships in making low-income community solar projects possible.
Heller also emphasized the critical importance of its public and private financing partners in bringing the Solar4Us @ Henderson-Hopkins project to fruition. The project has required innovative and diverse financing mechanisms, including a unique arrangement brokered by Atlanta-based social enterprise Solar Stewards through which global accounting firm CohnReznick will purchase the project’s Renewable Energy Credits (RECs), providing critical ongoing revenue for the project and models like Climate Access Fund more broadly. Since the late 1990s, RECs have transformed markets for renewable energy by allowing renewable energy generators to connect with clean energy buyers, regardless of where the energy is generated or used. Through the Solar Stewards Marketplace, one hundred percent of the revenue from RECs is used to fund projects with social and economic benefits for communities, creating a Social REC®.
For project construction, CAF raised debt and grant funding from a number of local and national institutions, including the Abell Foundation, Baltimore Community Foundation, Clayton Baker Trust, France-Merrick Foundation, Frier Foundation, Leon Lowenstein Foundation, Lockhart Vaughan Foundation, Osprey Foundation, and through a partnership between Sol Systems and Microsoft. CAF raised additional debt from 75 individual investors through a partnership with the climate investing and crowdfunding platform Raise Green (since purchased by Honeycomb Credit), and leveraged public resources to maximize community benefits, including grant funding from the Maryland Energy Administration, a state personal property tax exemption, and a federal tax credit made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022. Finally, CAF and the Solar4Us @ Henderson-Hopkins project have benefited greatly from in-kind contributions of technical support from the Coalition for Green Capital, CohnReznick, Green Pro Bono, Paul Hastings, RMI, and the U.S. Green Bank 50.
CAF plans to replicate the Solar4Us @ Henderson-Hopkins project model across the State of Maryland with financing from the federal Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, established as part of the IRA. Maryland’s Senator Chris Van Hollen was a key author of the IRA and a longstanding leader in the effort to establish a National Green Bank in order to finance projects like Solar4Us @ Henderson-Hopkins. Senator Van Hollen spoke at the ribbon cutting event.
Senator Chris Van Hollen’s remarks acknowledged a 15 year journey to establish the federal funding infrastructure for clean energy projects like Solar4Us @ Henderson-Hopkins.
“We fought to pass the Inflation Reduction Act to support community projects like this one at Henderson-Hopkins that will expand clean energy options while lowering Marylanders’ energy bills. This effort is an example of how a sustainable, clean energy future can support our communities, and it serves as a model for future transformative projects that can be powered by the national green bank that was incorporated into the Inflation Reduction Act, ” said Senator Chris Van Hollen.
The Climate Access Fund is actively seeking partners across the state, in both urban and rural communities, who are interested in hosting Solar4Us projects and can help identify rooftops, parking lots, and reclaimed land for community solar development. In his remarks at the event, Henderson-Hopkins principal Peter Kannam stressed the importance of community-based partnerships to ensure that historically disinvested communities benefit from clean energy projects. "Community solar is an important way that Henderson-Hopkins lives its values as a community school. 100% of the clean energy generated on our roof will benefit our school community and Baltimore neighbors," said Principal Peter Kannam. "Without collaboration with community-based organizations, transformative projects like this one would not be possible."
In his remarks, Principal Peter Kannam urged community-based organizations to collaborate with CAF and serve a critical role in expanding low-income community solar across Maryland.
The Climate Access Fund is grateful to the Henderson-Hopkins School and the many investors, policymakers, and community partners who made the Solar4Us project possible. “We would not be here today if it were not for individuals and institutions being willing to take risks and be early adopters of our vision of a community-centered, community solar project,” said Climate Access Fund CEO Lynn Heller. “We look forward to continuing this work to reduce energy costs for financially vulnerable households across the state in the years to come.”
Solar4Us @ Henderson-Hopkins celebrates its launch with project funders, implementation partners, elected officials, and other community stakeholders.
The Climate Access Fund (CAF) is a statewide nonprofit green bank. CAF’s mission is to reduce the energy burden of low-income households by increasing access to discounted clean energy through innovative clean energy development and finance as well as statewide advocacy efforts. Since 2018, CAF has focused its efforts on the expansion of community solar in Maryland’s historically disinvested communities to ensure that low-income households can experience the social, economic, and environmental benefits solar power has to offer. For more information about CAF and its work at the intersection of climate justice and environmental sustainability, please visit www.climateaccessfund.org.