What Is Community Solar?

Creating a Truly Interconnected City

With solar projects in the District of Columbia’s NW, NE, SW, and SE quadrants and serving low-income households in NW, SW, and SE, New Partners has created an innovative program to provide solar energy benefits to residents who can’t afford their own solar arrays.

What We Care About

Environmental Justice, positive social and community impact, innovative technological approaches, and strategic financial partnerships guide our work. Click on a focus area below to learn more.

Environmental Justice Advocacy

Environmental Justice Advocacy

Environmental degradation does not affect communities equally. Disadvantaged communities have lower carbon footprints and contribute less to negative climate change, yet feel the burdens more acutely. A critical part of our work is to advocate and promote policies...

Resilience Against Climate Change

Resilience Against Climate Change

New Partners is committed to mitigating climate change through producing renewable energy and developing sound energy policy. Our innovative work in battery storage provides resilience strategies both for the electric grid and for people among us who may be least...

Renewable Energy Education

Renewable Energy Education

Renewable energy education is key to our mission. From elementary schoolchildren to graduate students, commercial building owners to policymakers, and returning citizens to housing managers, we support our communities by teaching about environmental issues, renewable...

Bringing Renewable Energy to Underserved Communities

Bringing Renewable Energy to Underserved Communities

Substantial upfront costs and complicated financial, economic, and legal hurdles prohibit many underserved communities from adopting solar. By working with affordable housing owners and managers, lenders, investors, and government partners, we offer the benefits of...

Creating New Real Estate for Solar

Creating New Real Estate for Solar

Washington DC is an urban area with tightly-confined borders and limited open space available for solar production. By identifying unused rooftop space and designing solar projects that co-exist with rooftop terraces, large equipment, and green roofs, our work expands...

Partnering for Innovation

Partnering for Innovation

In addition to our direct solar development and finance work, we leverage our experience by designing solar projects and programs for others. Working directly with affordable housing and commercial building owners, tenants, and property managers, we address each...

“[New Partners] were driven by mission – they took no developer fee and contributed all the legal work associated with the project pro-bono. And their model is replicable, particularly as it is scaled.”

~ Thom Amdur, Tax Credit Advisor, March 2017

“The savings that are coming from Jubilee Housing’s solar panels as well as solar panels throughout the city are going directly to our residents.”

~ Rebecca Ely, Jubilee Housing’s Vice President for Institutional Advancement

Our Impact

We measure our impact both by how we are benefitting the environment and by how we are benefitting the community.

1st

Community Solar Project in Washington DC

1st

Solar+Green Roof on a downtown DC office building

1st

Solar+Battery Resiliency Hub for affordable housing tenants

1st

Low-Income Community Solar in Washington DC

1st

Vertical wall-mounted arrays to maximize rooftop solar production

1st

Project qualifying for US Green Building Council’s pilot LEED credit for social impact

TONS OF CARBON OFFSET

FAMILIES BENEFITTING

2M+

kWh of CLEAN ENERGY

%

REDUCTION IN UTILITY BILL PAYMENTS FOR OUR PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS

%

OF OUR ENERGY CREDITS GO TOWARD OFFSETTING PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS’ BILLS

Recognition and Latest News