Construction of the solar array on Orting Veterans Village’s 35 tiny homes and community center was completed in July of this year.  As an integral community resource for the unhoused in Pierce County, Orting Veterans Village is an ideal location for hosting solar. The Orting Veterans Village solar project includes 4 to 8 solar panels across each of the thirty five tiny homes, depending on their orientation to the sun, and 103 panels on the community building (a total of 315 panels). MAD Energy NW designed and installed the 120 kilowatt system.

The installation will reduce the village’s energy bill, saving more than $618,000 over the next thirty years. Savings from the solar energy will directly benefit village residents by making more resources available for mental health programs and services. The solar energy will reduce Orting Village’s carbon footprint by 95 thousand pounds of CO2 emissions, equivalent to planting 1,144 trees every year, or not driving 172,000 miles. The project’s Silfab Solar Panels
were manufactured in Washington State.

Olympia Community Solar developed the project and secured grant funding for the project. Project funding came from the low-income community solar incentive program at Washington State University Energy Extension. “The Quixote Village solar project is an example of how solar energy may be leveraged as a powerful tool for equity. Solar energy is not only a climate solution, it is a vehicle for economic justice” stated Olympia Community Solar President Mason Rolph in an August press release.