The Clean Energy Group recently completed the report, Resilience for Free: How Solar + Storage Could Protect Multifamily Affordable Housing from Power Outages at Little or No Net Cost. The group’s research unveils just how easy and cost-effective it can be to furnish affordable housing with solar energy. The research and new technologies could be a game changer for the industry. The report examines data for multifamily affordable housing communities in three major metropolitan areas: New York, Washington, D.C., and Chicago. The results show that solar + storage can be installed and implemented with zero net cost over the lifetime of the project. Zero. Returns are reaped in a matter of years. Solar has finally become a cost-effective competitor for conventional power sources. The crowning features of solar + storage are especially important in affordable housing. Low-income residents have the fewest resources to pay for the rising costs of conventional energy. Prices for sustainable solar energy have actually decreased, making it more accessible than ever before. Low-income areas are the most vulnerable populations during crisis, particularly housing for seniors and the disabled. Those populations are the least equipped to recover from disaster as they lack the resources and access needed to bounce back quickly. It is important to keep these communities functional until surrounding infrastructure and services resume. Storage and backup batteries have drastically improved in recent years, providing power for affordable housing communities in emergency situations. Such features position sustainable solar as a viable alternative to conventional energy in terms of cost, accessibility and reliability. “There is now no economic or technical excuse to leave low-income and vulnerable people at risk,” Resilience for Free concludes. Precisely how solar + storage works in an affordable housing community will vary by project type. In the...