Last September, Brighton Senior Housing hosted an event to celebrate the completion of a 100-kilowatt solar project to produce energy on top of the building. The installation generates renewable energy for this community in the Rainier Valley neighborhood of Seattle. The net metering credits Brighton receives from the project help lower operating costs.

At the event, Curtis Brown, the Executive Director for SouthEast Seattle Senior Foundation, talked about the benefits of bringing new, renewable technology to underrepresented neighborhoods: “As someone who grew up in this neighborhood, most often we feel left behind in innovation. I think we've been left out of the sense of ownership of the new technology and what a new world is going to look like. Now, with this project, we can call it part of who we are, which is really important.” That sense of ownership is what Curtis considers the real value of solar projects like this—that they help residents invest in the future of their community.

Puget Sound Solar installed the solar panel project, which has the following technical specifications:

Total Inverter Nameplate Rating (AC): 73 kW
Total Module Nameplate Rating (DC): 100 kW
Inverter(s): [quantity, model name] 235 QCells 425 W
PV Modules: [quantity, model name] 5 SolarEdge SE14.4K-US

Seattle City Light contributed $150,000 in renewable energy credits for this local rooftop solar project through the Green Up Community Program.