As the cost of solar photovoltaic (PV) has fallen, residential installations have soared. Today in the US, a solar installation is completed every 2.5 minutes and over half a million electric customers benefit from the electricity produced on their own roof. However, not everyone is benefitting equally from this surge in solar deployment. Installations in developed markets such as California, Arizona, and New Jersey, are driven largely by middle class customers with median household incomes between $40,000 and $90,000 (Hernandez, 2014). This report presents the exciting potential to bring the benefits of solar energy to low-income households. There are several reasons to pursue solar for affordable housing. First, low income households are disproportionately affected by the cost of energy.

Households in the lowest income bracket spend more than twice the proportion of their income on energy than their higher income peers (Bovarnick & Banks, 2014). Second, low income households are already bearing the brunt of climate change impacts and in the interest of fairness and equity; we should counteract those impacts with clean energy. According to the 2014 Green for All Report, “Climate Resilience in Vulnerable Communities,” minorities and low-income residents already breathe dirtier air when compared to more affluent communities, and are more likely to lack health insurance. Thus, as temperatures rise, the chemical interactions that produce smog will have a greater impact on disadvantaged groups. Finally, putting solar on affordable housing can debunk the perception that clean energy is complicated, expensive, and only available to more affluent communities.

Solar energy in many forms should be accessible to all communities, regardless of income, culture, or lifestyle. This report examines the feasibility of installing solar on multifamily affordable housing in Seattle