Disabled veterans who fall into a low-income earning bracket may now have a new way to get renewable solar power. A recent partnership between the Tri-County Community Action Partnership, Minnesota Power and The Rural Renewable Energy Alliance (RREAL) aims to bring it to them.
The groups already worked together to hook up a community solar array. It is located in Little Falls, where the TCC has its headquarters. When in use, Minnesota Power plans to account for those solar energy savings and credit them to 10 disabled vets who qualified on an income basis.
After the program begins, the partners will continue to study it for the next three years to determine how well it works.
This idea itself is not brand new. In 2019, RREAL created a scalable model called “Community Solar for Community Action.” It won the Solar in Your Community Challenge that was put on by the Department of Energy. Though it could be used nationally, this is a smaller version of the same idea.
Funding for the project comes from the Initiative Foundation and from Minnesota Power. A grant was also given out by the Clean Energy Resource Team to help with development. The program director for RREAL said that they were very thankful for their partners in this project and for the ability to bring disabled vets energy-saving options.
Veterans with disabilities deal with a lot of challenges and changes in their lives. It’s important that they understand all of the avenues they have for potential financial assistance as they move forward. Helpful programs like this are just one example.
