Scaling Up Solar for Under-Resourced Communities - Manufactured Homes

CESA investigated the potential for using solar to power manufactured homes in different states and worked with state government agencies, rural electric cooperatives, municipal utilities, and other stakeholders to help them explore the potential for launching a pilot project or program for manufactured homes.

An Advisory Committee of experts on manufactured housing and on solar energy shaped CESA’s work, which culminated in the release of a three-volume Solar for Manufactured Homes report between 2021 and 2023.

This major report was the first ever landscape assessment of the manufactured housing solar market, showing where manufactured homes are located across the country. It explained the general obstacles to solar access by LMI communities, as well as additional challenges related specifically to installing PV with manufactured housing. It identified the types of solar technologies that can work with manufactured housing and includes nine case studies highlighting ways in which solar can be deployed to benefit manufactured housing residents. The report made specific recommendations for how solar for manufactured homes could best be advanced at the national level and in specific states. Access all three volumes of the report and the accompanying matrix of solutions here.

Featured Webinar: An Equitable Solar Access Pilot Project in Minnesota benefitting Manufactured (Mobile) Home Residents

In this 2023 webinar, University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs Gabe Chan and Steve Coleman and Dan Josephson with Mahube-Otwa Community Action Partnership present their findings on the Equitable Solar Access project developed with Minnesota Clean Energy Resources Team, Detroit Lakes Public Utilities, and the Minnesota Department of Commerce to benefit income-eligible manufactured homes residents who heat with electric heat.