Author: Isaac Kaplan
Short Summary
The Solar Commons Project (SCP) is an effort to generate funds from provided solar arrays to low income communities. These arrays will provide enough power to participate in net metering and raise money for local trusts. These trusts will be set up by SCP, and the local community will be a beneficiary with authority and governance over its generated assets.Website address: https://solarcommonsproject.org
Location: Tucson, AZ & Minneapolis, MN, USA
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Profile
The Solar Commons Model
The goal of the Solar Commons model is to organize photovoltaic technologies to gather nature’s common wealth and distribute it equitably. This distribution comes in the form of savings on electricity bills, thanks to solar arrays (through net metering). The benefactor of these savings is obligated to pass them on to a community trust fund, the assets of which are owned and governed locally by beneficiaries that represent low-income communities.Key Players in this model (in chronological order of project):
- Researchers: Work to find donors, applicable sites for implementation, and relevant partners. They also work with local organizations and leaders to understand communities’ needs. Finally, they build broad and flexible governance regulations for the trusts that local communities can adopt/adapt.
- Donors: Primarily donors provide the initial investment required to implement solar arrays and support local governance structures, as well as community projects.
- Hosts: Solar arrays are installed for local hosts (e.g. businesses or local organizations like community centers and schools), which “host” the solar arrays and benefit from clean energy. They return their net metering profits to the trust.
- Trustees: The trustees manage the growing trust created by the projects. Trustees can include local organizations as well as financial institutions.
- Beneficiaries: These are the local communities as a whole as well as any specific organizations defined by the regulations. The beneficiaries control financial assets generated by the trust and can use them to better the community.
Iteration Plan
Recognizing the success of the 21st century donor-model of philanthropy, the Solar Commons Project creates administrative capacity around its Solar Commons Community Trust Ownership model. In turn, this allows donors to see their gifts turned into action seamlessly as the administration of Solar Commons trusts is already laid out.Inspired by the Carnegie Library Model, SCP researchers are establishing and testing clear but malleable guidelines, trust guidelines, and open-source legal templates that allow large scale donors to partner with low-income community program providers to support Solar Commons projects.
The project also supports public art that establishes neighborhoods as Solar Commons beneficiaries, providing artists with demonstration sites and resources.
"Solar commons wall mural in Tuscon Arizona Solar Commons Mural in Trust Beneficiary Neighborhood (Wright Elementary School, Tucson, AZ)
Artist: Karlito Espinoza 2020"
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Governance
Governance The SCP research team works to find overarching laws and rules to govern and manage trusts. At the same time they work to find funding for installation through donors.- The Solar Commons Toolkit: SCP researchers are currently working to design a comprehensive set of open source rules and tools for implementing the solar commons model within other communities. This toolkit will include a set of baseline trust laws as well as best practices for peer governance and adapting the model to fit within indigenous communities. The toolkit will also include a digital dashboard that will keep track of solar energy generation and in turn the finances each array garners.
- Living labs: Living labs are the ongoing operations of SCP. There are two current living labs, one more developed in Tucson AZ and another currently in development in Minnesota. SCP uses the constant flow of information from these existing labs to mold governance rules in cooperation with beneficiaries. These rules are tailored to match local or indigenous values and needs.
- Community governance (and assistance): As well as developing general and flexible governance structures to work within the community, the SCP team works to understand the capabilities or lack thereof of the beneficiaries to achieve their needs. SCP assists in forming these capabilities in ways such as setting up auxiliary organizations to which trust money will flow. The beneficiaries are then in governance of their own assets and can operate within this general framework while also creating and implementing their unique style of governance.
VIMEO 588565877 "Creating a community-owned revenue stream for local mutual aid work through the Solar Commons Community Trust Ownership Model."
Projects
- Solar Commons 1.0 Tucson, Arizona: The first Solar Commons Project in the US, SC 1.0 is a 14.5kW PV array. It is hosted by the Dunbar Pavillion and serves Tucson’s Garden District neighborhood (home to a significant portion of Tucson’s African American, Hispanic/Latino, and refugee populations). SC 1.0 brings in approximately $3000 dollars a year (estimated to continue for 20 years) that goes directly into its community trust. It is also projected to reduce Co2 emissions by 237 metric tons in its 20 year lifespan.
- Solar Commons 2.0 Northern Minnesota: Starting in 2020, the second Solar Commons Project in the US will be located in rural Northern Minnesota. It is planned to be a 500kW array that would be hosted by Heliene, Inc (a solar manufacturing firm). The Array would raise $70,000 a year for its trust and reduce Co2 emissions by 6500 metric tons per year. This project is still in development as the SCP looks for funding for the installation of the array.
Friends & Partners
- Bois Forte Food Sovereignty Group
- Commons Strategy Group
- The Dunbar Pavilion
- Greenway Solar Services
- Heliene Inc.
- Henson Efron Law Firm
- The John B. Wright Elementary School
- Lake Superior Living Labs Network
- Minnesota Renewable Energy Society
- Pilar Thomas
- Rocky Mountain Institute
- University of Arizona School of Art
- University of Colorado Boulder Media Enterprise Design Lab (MEDLab)
- University of Colorado Boulder
- University of Minnesota Duluth Center for Social Research
- Vermont Law School Energy Clinic
Finances
The Solar Commons Project benefits from funding from the following sources:- United States Department of Energy (US DOE): SCP was funded through the DOE’s “Solar in Your Community Challenge.” SIYC funded legal and financial analysis research as well as providing training.
- Nina Masson Pulliam Charitable Trust (NMPCT): Provided the first large donation for the first solar commons in Tucson, Arizona. University of Phoenix Foundation (UPF): Provided funding for initial research in site determination and design for the Arizona Solar Commons Model.
- Institute on the Environment (IonE), University of Minnesota: Has provided support for The Solar Commons Project through mini-grants that have allowed the project to expand from Arizona to Minnesota.