NHT Ingenuity Power Celebrates Completion of 1.3MW Solar Project

Last month, NHT Ingenuity Power, a partnership between the National Housing Trust and Urban Ingenuity, held a ribbon-cutting celebration with the D.C. Department of Energy & Environment (DOEE) Director Tommy Wells to celebrate the completion of a 1.3 megawatt scattered site solar project. The event was part of the Housing Week of Action and hosted by So Others Might Eat (SOME) at their Jeremiah House property, one of 23 affordable housing properties in the D.C. area that participated in the landmark project.

These 23 scattered solar systems will reduce emissions by 1,371 metric tons of CO2 annually — roughly equivalent to removing 300 cars from the road each year. These reductions are a critical component of D.C.’s ongoing efforts to achieve the Sustainable DC and Clean Energy DC goals, which call for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent, increasing the use of renewable energy to 50 percent of the District’s energy supply, and reducing energy use by 50 percent by 2032.

The rooftops on which the solar panels were placed are owned by several of the largest non-profit affordable housing organizations in D.C.—including So Others Might Eat, Victory Housing, Mi Casa, and Mission First—as well as for-profit housing owners Urban Atlantic and Somerset Development Company. The housing owners are formal partners in the project—receiving benefits to their organizations—as well as free power and residents services funding for their residents. The property owners sign long-term Power Purchase Agreements to access low-cost, discounted green power for their properties and residents.

This ribbon-cutting ceremony represented the completion of construction and start of operation for all 23 installations across the DC area. The ceremony included the opportunity for attendees to take a firsthand look at the solar installation through a visit to the Jeremiah House’s rooftop and celebrate the partnership between NHT, Urban Ingenuity and the six affordable housing developers involved in the project.

For more information about NHT Ingenuity Power or NHT’s other solar initiatives, contact NHT Sustainable Development Manager Kathleen Berube.