Using Community Solar to Cut Energy Burdens in Manufactured Mobile Home Communities

Manufactured homes (aka “mobile” homes) are an important form of affordable housing for low- and moderate-income (LMI) households. But they can often be energy-inefficient and difficult to weatherize, resulting in high energy bills and energy burdens. Community solar can be a promising way to address these problems. 

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) recently asked for input from the U.S. Department of Energy National Community Solar Partnership on program designs that would link community solar to manufactured home communities, to reduce energy burdens for LMI households. In response, Berkeley Lab proposed combining community solar subscriptions with air-source heat pump installations and managing bill credits to reduce winter heating bills. 

The report, “A Program Design Combining Community Solar and Weatherization for Manufactured Homes in Michigan,” cited experience from New Hampshire as a potential role model. New Hampshire has three community solar installations for manufactured home communities, with more on the way. 

In this Clean Energy States Alliance (CESA) webinar, we heard about the research from Berkeley Lab researcher Bentham Paulos.  He was joined by Jeannie Oliver of the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund.   

Panelists:

• Bentham Paulos, Berkeley Lab
• Jeannie Oliver, New Hampshire Community Loan Fund 
• Matt Ohloff, CESA (moderator)