Solar Panels to Go Live at Public Housing Property Ahead of Earth Day
April 21, 2021
—
Ahead of Earth Day on April 22, the Opportunity Home San Antonio (Opportunity Home) celebrates the use of solar energy at public housing properties, a green initiative uncommon in the affordable housing industry, with the new installation of solar panels at Blanco Apartments on April 21.
The new solar panels will offset 20 percent of the building costs and will be combined with efforts to upgrade lighting and upgrade systems to energy efficiency.
The electricity in the building will be temporarily turned off while the installation occurs.
Blanco Apartments is the third public housing property to use solar energy. Solar panels are currently used at Fair Avenue Apartments to also help offset costs, and solar panels are used at Mirabella Apartments for a hot water solar power system. The solar panels preheat water before it enters the water tank and helps conserve energy used to maintain the temperature.
Opportunity Home can pursue green initiatives through its unique involvement in Energy Performance Contracting (EPC), an innovative financing technique that uses cost savings from reduced energy consumption to repay the cost of installing energy conservation measures and allows the agency to invest those savings back into those communities in capital improvement projects. This innovative financing technique allows agencies to achieve energy savings without upfront capital expenses.
The City of San Antonio hopes to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Pursuing green initiatives allows Opportunity Home to align with the city’s carbon neutrality goal.