More than 1,000 families in low-income homes and multifamily homes in Santa Barbara County, Calif., will now experience lower electric bills thanks to solar. On Aug. 18, the county, SolarWorld, which provided the modules, and developer Planet Solar were on hand for a ribbon cutting ceremony to unveil the nearly complete 2-megawatt distributed generation project.

Construction on the 2-megawatt project began last November, according to SolarWorld spokesperson Devon Cichoski.

“There are 21 different locations, and twenty of them are installed,” she said. “The very last site is ready, but hasn’t been completed yet.”

The solar arrays were installed on existing buildings throughout the developments.

When completed, the Housing Authority of the County of Santa Barbara (HACSB) will have installed solar on 250 separate structures.

“The vast majority are multi-family houses, a lot of duplexes and quadplexes and some more traditional housing, [like single-family homes and apartments],” Cichoski said.

According to SolarWorld, “more than 7,200 SolarWorld panels will offset 100 percent of the energy consumption of 863 units of affordable housing, including both tenant and common areas, and trim power costs for both HACSB and residents.”

The installation is likely the nation’s largest at a government-sponsored affordable housing project, the company said.

The arrays are net-metered or virtually net-metered at multi-family dwellings, according to Cichoski.

“Their bills will be significantly reduced and in the future could be zero,” she said.

The renters, at least for now, will continue to pay some electric bills including a nominal maintenance fees and service charges. However, renters’ bills are based on a percentage of what it’s deemed they can pay for electricity.

It’s not the first time that SolarWorld has provided panels for low-income or affordable housing developments.

“In 2010, SolarWorld and Planet Solar collaborated on a 100-kilowatt system for the Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara,” the company said.

That was the first multifamily affordable solar housing project in Southern California Edison’s service territory, according to the company.

Image courtesy of SolarWorld.