Community Partnerships

As a mission-driven organization, Crauderueff Solar seeks to bring solar technology to low-to-moderate (LMI) income communities. We partner with economic development groups, faith-based collaborations, and community based organizations to advance solar at the community scale.

What do we offer?

Leverage real estate networks

We work to identify your community’s needs and figure out a plan to meet them by providing a real estate analysis. We will identify whether or not buildings are suitable candidates for solar development, and estimate their potential power output. We develop financing strategies so your network can leverage economies of scale while selecting the right deal structure(s) for their buildings. If your sites are not suitable solar candidates, we’ll design a plan to meet your energy needs through alternate means like community solar subscription.

Toolkit development + master planning

When you work with Crauderueff, you receive a detailed plan that allows you to understand the collective opportunity associated with a solar transition and how economies of scale can benefit the community at large. We provide a suite of educational materials for your community, including regulatory compliance research. Together, we can design a plan for your community to pursue solar development tailored to your assets and needs.

Program Funding

Crauderueff brings years of experience with identifying and securing sources of funding for communities in need. We specialize with LMI communities and the intricacies of mobilizing new legislation, like the Inflation Reduction Act, to fund energy transition projects.

Our Work in Action

New York State Council of Churches (NYSCOC)

Through a NYSERDA grant, Crauderueff has partnered with the New York State Council of Churches to bring solar energy to houses of worship and the communities they serve. Jointly, they provide educational materials and consultations to church groups to identify whether church properties are suitable candidates for solar development and leverage church real estate appropriately. They also engage in advocacy work through church networks to bring the environmental and financial benefits of community solar to LMI communities. Together, Crauderueff and the NYSCOC also work to bring solar energy to affordable housing providers and their residents (including, but not limited to, faith-based houses of worship).

Staten Island Economic Development Corporation (SIEDC)

We worked the SIEDC to develop a master plan with clear, actionable priorities to implement the solar transition on Staten Island. Staten Island faces a disproportionate energy burden, where residents pay a greater proportion of their income for energy than other neighborhoods in the city. Because community solar subscriptions guarantee a 10% savings on energy costs through bill credits, SIEDC can leverage solar investment to support Disadvantaged Communities.

We conducted a GIS assessment of rooftops on Staten Island and identified 178MW of potential solar capacity. That’s enough power to provide bill savings for 22,646 LMI households on Staten Island. Furthermore, we estimated that this solar development could generate 3,578 jobs for the community. Switching to solar also provides financial benefits for these buildings, which will avoid fines under Local Law 97 if they can switch to solar energy. We identified 81 priority sites for solar development across the island.

With this information, we issued 5 key recommendations to the SIEDC moving forward.

  1. Prioritize educating the 81 priority building owners on the benefits of solar energy.

  2. Engage with building owners and SIEDC members at large about the benefits of community solar subscription.

  3. Provide technical assistance to interested businesses to develop or subscribe to solar projects.

  4. Leverage the SIEDC Community Solar Steering Committee to connect residents from DACs with workforce development and subscription opportunities. 

  5. Partner with the public sector to encourage community solar development that will bring benefits to DACs.