About 14,000 Navajo households are nonetheless dwelling with out entry to electrical energy, along with consistently having to oppose coal mining on their lands. “We nonetheless really feel the results of the mining right now,” stated Jay Begay, Arduous Rock Chapter Home President, Navajo Nation.
The Arduous Rock Chapter Home serves as a central assembly place the place the Navajo group is ready to collect, and it was just lately the recipient of a free photo voltaic + battery storage system because of a partnership between San Francisco-based non-profit Empowered by Light (EBL), Sunnova and Generac.
“With this new undertaking, we will lastly shift to renewables and present our whole group the profit s and resilience of nature by harnessing clear power from the solar to energy our every day actions on the Chapter Home, whereas combating local weather change,” Begay said. “Our group depends on the important companies supplied on the Chapter Home as a result of we dwell in a really distant space. The Chapter’s objective is to repeatedly develop these companies, and with the additional invoice financial savings from our new photo voltaic + storage system, we purpose to do exactly that – develop and higher our assets for the folks we serve.”
Via EBL, Sunnova recognized this undertaking as a key candidate for Sunnova’s adaptive photo voltaic + storage answer, with the objective of offsetting the Chapter Home’s electrical energy payments and offering resiliency for the group. With over 270 sunny days a 12 months, the Navajo Nation is the biggest contiguous premium photo voltaic useful resource space within the Western United States, in accordance with ScienceDirect.
“This undertaking was an opportunity for us to assist make an influence by offering clear, dependable energy, whereas additionally decreasing their electrical energy payments to assist them reinvest the financial savings to strengthen their group,” stated Kelsey Hultberg, EVP, Communications and Sustainability, Sunnova.
Sunnova labored with Fusion Energy, a Sunnova Seller, to design a Sunnova SunSafe photo voltaic + storage system to fulfill the wants of the group. Sunnova and Generac labored collectively to equip and fund the 18-kilowatt photo voltaic system and 36 kWh PWRcell power storage system. Sunnova is offering a 25-year bumper-to-bumper Sunnova Defend service guarantee for all the system.
“Along with having extra assets for the group because of the utility invoice financial savings from the Sunnova system, the Chapter Home can proceed serving as an incredible useful resource for the group when the grid fails,” stated Moira Hanes, Govt Director and Co-Founder, EBL. “Neighborhood members can proceed to assemble, and in addition cook dinner meals, get emergency provides, and keep heat within the winter since many houses don’t have a warmth supply.”
A Chapter Home is much like a city council the place group members can collect for key conferences and have entry to companies, like distribution of hay, free trash disposal, faxing, printing, notarizing, blading unpaved roads, and extra. As a substitute of getting to drive lengthy intervals of time outdoors the reservation to finish every day duties, residents are in a position to keep native and even lower your expenses on fuel.
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