ABINGDON, Va. — We were excited to join Elderspirit, a diverse, mixed-income community of about 45 retirees and other older adults, on Tuesday, July 14 for a ribbon-cutting event celebrating the completion of their solar installation. The system will save residents more $685,000 dollars in electricity costs over its lifespan. 

ElderSpirit worked with the Appalachian Solar Finance Fund, Invest Appalachia and Solar Holler to create a financing package that enabled the community to replace the aging roofs on two residential buildings and the Common House and to install a nearly 90-kilowatt solar system estimated to produce over a half a million dollars savings over its lifetime.

The community took advantage of tax credits made available by the Inflation Reduction Act that lowered the project cost by 40%.

The event featured remarks by Linda Mashburn, President of ElderSpirit; Dan Conant, our founder and CEO here at Solar Holler, Autumn Long, Director of the Appalachian Solar Finance Fund at Appalachian Voices, which supplied grant funding and technical assistance for the project; Mae Humiston, Director of Operations for Invest Appalachia, which provided project financing; local officials and others.

Big thanks to Appalachian Voices and Invest Appalachia for helping make this project possible. This is what happens when neighbors work together. Here’s to sunshine, savings, and a brighter Appalachian future