Expanding Solar Opportunity

CESA remains committed to helping states, communities, and partners bring the benefits of solar and solar+storage to low- and moderate-income (LMI) households. CESA’s ongoing work includes: 

• LMI Solar Office Hours: CESA hosts monthly LMI Solar Office Hours, an open forum for state staff who run solar and solar-plus-storage programs for LMI households. Participants trade ideas, share best practices, work through common challenges, and get answers from peers working on similar programs. To learn more or to join, reach out to CESA Project Director Amanda Sen.  

• Solar Equity Digest: CESA's monthly Solar Equity Digest newsletter shares news and resources from around the country on bringing the benefits of solar to LMI communities. Subscribe here.  

CESA's past work to advance LMI solar and solar+storage includes: 

• Solar for All State Support Initiative: Solar for All was a $7 billion competitive grant program run by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It funded states, tribes, nonprofits, and other eligible recipients to expand residential solar for low-income households and disadvantaged communities. Congress appropriated the funds to support solar deployment from 2024 through 2029. In August 2025, EPA sent termination letters to all Solar for All grantees. Those terminations have been challenged in several federal courts, and the litigation is ongoing. CESA supported Solar for All grantees from application through award and early implementation, including hosting virtual convenings where grantees nationwide shared program-related information. Learn more about CESA’s Solar for All work here. 

• The Solar with Justice Project: Connecting States and Communities: From 2021 to 2024, CESA led the Solar with Justice project, which improved information and knowledge-sharing practices between state energy agencies and community-based organizations in underserved communities to enable solar to be developed equitably and cost-effectively. This project received early support from the Nathan Cummings Foundation and was partly supported by an award from the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office and. Learn more about CESA’s Solar with Justice Project here. 

• Scaling Up Solar for Under-Resourced Communities: From 2019 to 2023, CESA led the Scaling Up Solar for Under-Resourced Communities project with support from the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office. Through the project, CESA convened, informed, and assisted states as they developed solar programs for three segments of the low- and moderate-income (LMI) solar market: single-family homes, manufactured homes, and community institutions. Learn more about Scaling Up Solar for Under-Resourced Communities here. 

• The Solar with Justice Report: Strategies for Powering Up Under-Resourced Communities and Growing an Inclusive Solar Market . In December 2019, with support from The Nathan Cummings Foundation, CESA published, Solar with Justice: Strategies for Powering Up Under-Resourced Communities and Growing an Inclusive Solar Market, a major report on how to grow an inclusive solar market. Learn more and download the report here.  

• Sustainable Solar Education Project: From 2016 through 2018, CESA led the Sustainable Solar Education Project with support from the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office. The project supported the growth of the distributed solar market by providing information and training to state and municipal officials to help ensure that distributed solar remains consumer friendly and benefits LMI households. Learn more about Sustainable Solar Education Project here.