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Community solar lets you share power with your neighbors.
Our Model: Sharing Power
Groundswell’s model is designed to help neighbors share power with neighbors. When you join Groundswell as a project host or as a subscriber, you make solar savings available to Empowered households, low-income neighbors who struggle with the burden of high energy bills.
EMPOWERED HOUSEHOLDS
Empowered Households are low-income households in your community who qualify for affordable solar energy to power their homes. Through Groundswell’s Community Solar Program, this opportunity is thanks to the participation of others in their community who pay the average market rate.
Why it matters
Families that earn the least pay the most for electricity.
The poorest 20% of America pays the most for electricity – 10% or more of their entire household income on average – because their homes are typically older and less energy efficient. Sharing power to help our neighbors cut their bills means more money for groceries, school supplies, and healthcare. Read the report: From Power to Empowerment.
Groundswell’s community solar programs enable neighbors to work together to Share Power© through community solar, offering substantial energy savings to low income households. We have more than 13 Megawatts of community solar projects in development in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Georgia – including projects that improve resilience by incorporating energy storage.
Groundswell develops community solar projects and subscriber management programs that connect solar power with economic empowerment for marginalized communities. We believe that clean energy is a necessity, not a luxury; we’re all in this together; and we can’t afford to leave our neighbors in need behind.
Groundswell’s community solar programs enable neighbors to work together to Share Power© through community solar, offering substantial energy savings to low income households. We have more than 13 Megawatts of community solar projects in development in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Georgia – including projects that improve resilience by incorporating energy storage. Our team also serves as technical advisors on multiple projects in New York. True to our green jobs roots, Groundswell incorporates workforce training and apprenticeship opportunities into all of our work through collaborative local partnerships.
Complementing our community solar programs, Groundswell also offer additional clean power savings through affordable wind power and energy efficiency in states across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
Sharing power with our neighbors matters. Today, across our nation, the poorest 20% of Americans are paying 10% or more of their total income for electricity and at least 49% of America can’t access rooftop solar. The clean energy table is abundant, and Groundswell is working with local communities to give everyone a seat.
Groundswell was founded in Washington DC in 2009 by a group of field organizers who worked together on Obama for America during the 2008 Presidential campaign. Originally focused on organizing neighborhoods to participate in energy efficiency retrofits that supported local jobs, Groundswell expanded its clean energy work throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast to provide small businesses and households with affordable wind power options through consumer choice. Groundswell launched its Share Power Community Solar program in November 2015.
Groundswell is a registered 501c3 nonprofit.