Invest in a new kind of solar project

 


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Installation of the Button Street project.

Installation of the Button Street project.

Community Impact

New Haven Community Solar is excited to announce its first annual dividend payment to shareholders. In 2018, we acquired and installed 9.24 kW solar project located on Button Street in New Haven. In 2019, we crowd-invested the capital needed to install an 11.24 kW array on a triplex located on Plymouth Street, New Haven. Both projects provide discounted electricity for the Jim Vlock First Year Building Project – a partnership between the Yale School of Architecture and Columbus House. Columbus House is a nonprofit organization based in New Haven that serves people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless by providing shelter and housing and by fostering their personal growth and independence. These projects create a predictable set of future cash flows for investors and provide Columbus House access to low-cost electricity to further their mission.

Watch this video to learn more about the 2019 Jim Vlock Building Project and the crowdfunding raise.

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Responsible Design

Unique among architecture schools, the Jim Vlock First Year Building Project, which began in 1967, gives Yale students an opportunity to design and build a house in an economically challenged neighborhood in New Haven. The program is mandatory for all first-year graduate students in YSoA, many who arrive at Yale with a special interest in socially responsible design. New Haven Community Solar has partnered with the Jim Vlock First Year Building Project for the past two years running.

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Plymouth Street Project

The Plymouth Street House contains three units, and provides recently homeless people with a brand new home. New Haven Community Solar is a special purpose vehicle that finances a solar array on the roof, providing its residents with cheap renewable energy in a state with one of the highest electricity costs. This project aims to improve the livelihoods of the residents and minimize environmental impacts, while allowing crowdinvestors to benefit.

Button Street Project

Button Street Project

Our first project, the Button Street House, provides discounted electricity for two units that provide housing, in keeping with Columbus House’s mission: “to serve people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, by providing shelter and housing and by fostering their personal growth and independence.”

A New Opportunity in Community Solar

 
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Freeing up income

In Connecticut, a state that typically has some of the highest energy costs, this project will greatly reduce the electricity bills of its residents. In a country where income is the largest social determinant of health, freeing up income through decreasing electricity bills becomes a health co-benefit.

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How it works

Individuals that invested in NHCS have become owners of the projects, participating in a collective effort to provide cheaper, cleaner power to low income tenants in Connecticut where residential utility prices are double the national average. Investors can go here to learn details of the last offering and ask questions about the investment.

Founders

As recent graduates of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, we feel a deep connection to the New Haven community. We are relentlessly passionate about democratizing the ownership of renewable energy and empowering communities to drive solutions to climate change. Together we can build and own a more inclusive future that we want and need.

Board of Advisors

As supporters of New Haven Community Solar, our board provides the founders with valuable insight and vision about how to build a prosperous entity that benefits the community, Columbus House, and the planet. We are grateful for their guidance as the vision for New Haven Community Solar expands into a local organization designed to reduce the energy and cost burden to organizations that work tirelessly to provide New Haven with crucial services.

Featured
Gioia Montana Connell
Gioia Montana Connell

Gioia is a Master of Architecture I and Master of Environmental Management '20 candidate at Yale. She has been a critical advocate in establishing solar as an important element of the Jim Vlock Annual Building Project. Driven by the desire to extend clean and affordable energy in her home city of New Haven, she was key in building the Architecture School partnership with New Haven Community Solar. Working with the studio coordinators, she has created educational materials for students on solar design and modeling, hosted site visits to precedent projects, written outreach content, and formalized solar energy as a part of the curriculum for the past two years. She is delighted to be part of the team that originated New Haven Community Solar, and looks forward to the work continuing to spread and inspire across the city.

Onyeka Obiocha
Onyeka Obiocha

Onyeka Obiocha is the Associate Director of the Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking. At Tsai CITY Onyeka is charged with building a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem at Yale through organizing resources and attracting partnerships on a local, national, and international level. Previously, he was the Director of Innovation at Dwight Hall, focusing on developing trainings, programs, and partnerships to support members of the Yale and Greater New Haven communities dedicated to creating social change. Outside of Yale, Onyeka’s work spans community development, social entrepreneurship, and civic consulting. He recently moved from President and Co-Founder of A Happy Life, a social enterprise dedicated to creating a happier world for all, to launching Breakfast Lunch & Dinner a design studio that aims to build social cohesion through economic and cultural development. Onyeka has been recognized as a Next City Vanguard, a Nantucket Project Scholar, and a recipient of Connecticut Magazine’s 40 under 40 award.


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