Investing in earth-friendly sustainability, the Housing Authority of the County of Santa Barbara (HACSB) took green to the next level with the recent installation of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems on 90% of its housing units. It’s a precedent setting project, and one of the largest solar projects by any housing authority in the country, to date.     The story of this initiative is as much about the process as the result. Initially, the photovoltaic project was expected to cover just a small portion of the Housing Authority’s portfolio with funding through a stimulus grant offered by HUD. But a confluence of other grant options available made a portfolio-wide retrofit possible. The effort resulted in 863 of HACSB’s almost 1000 units installed with solar PV, a system sized at 1.7MW – enough to offset 100 percent of the electricity energy needs for the 863 units. The PV project utilized American-made solar panels from SolarWorld and employed a local business, Planet Solar, for the installation. “This was a case of unique timing and a whole host of funding sources in order to pay for the project,” says Loren Reeves, HACSB bookkeeper and solar initiative project manager. In addition to the HUD stimulus funding, the HACSB utilized $3.5 million in funding through Multifamily Affordable Solar Housing (MASH) offered through the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC). Following MASH, the HACSB opted to go all in, taking advantage of available 1603 federal funds from the U.S. Treasury Department. Ultimately, all $12.5 million for the project was paid for from grant funding, meaning that once the switches flipped on, the Housing Authority and its residents received immediate relief on their electricity bills. “We are really proud of this project and I think a lot of other people in the community...