SAN FRANCISCO, March 26, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sunrun Inc. (Nasdaq:RUN), the largest dedicated residential solar, storage, and energy services company in the United States, today announced an expansion of its partnership with GRID Alternatives, a national leader in making solar power and jobs accessible to underserved communities. The partnership includes a philanthropic donation to support job training and solar installations for low-income families, as well as employee volunteerism on projects across the United States. As part of this year’s partnership, Sunrun and GRID Alternatives will be installing systems through the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s (NAACP) Solar Equity Initiative.
Sunrun will also continue to serve as third-party owner (TPO) on GRID projects through its solar lease and solar power purchase agreement (PPA) products. With this arrangement, Sunrun will own, operate, maintain and insure the systems, while GRID Alternatives will install and fund each customer’s prepaid 20-year solar PPA or lease bill. The TPO model allows Sunrun to leverage both the federal investment tax credit and depreciation benefits on these projects, reducing costs for GRID Alternatives and helping the organization serve more low-income households.
“We are committed to providing resilient, affordable solar access for all,” said Lynn Jurich, Chief Executive Officer for Sunrun. “This foundational idea shapes both Sunrun’s business philosophy and our values, and we’re thankful to GRID Alternatives for our long-term, growing partnership.”
Sunrun has supported GRID’s work philanthropically for more than six years. In addition, Sunrun employees have volunteered over 4,200 hours through this partnership to-date, installing more than 2,000 kW on single-family, multi-family, and community solar projects. This translates to over 38,000 tons of avoided carbon emissions, or the equivalent of planting nearly 900,000 trees.
“Solar has tremendous benefits for low-income communities,” said Erica Mackie, CEO and co-founder of GRID Alternatives. “We’re incredibly grateful for partners like Sunrun that share our vision of a transition to clean energy that includes everyone, and are willing to roll up their sleeves with us and make that happen.”
About Sunrun
Sunrun (Nasdaq:RUN) is the nation’s largest dedicated residential solar, storage and energy services company with a mission to create a planet run by the sun. Since establishing the solar as a service model in 2007, Sunrun leads the industry in providing clean energy to homeowners with little to no upfront cost and at a savings to traditional electricity. The company designs, installs, finances, insures, monitors and maintains the systems, while families receive predictable pricing for 20 years or more. The company also offers Sunrun BrightBox™ solar power generation with smart inverter technology and home battery storage. For more information, please visit: www.sunrun.com.
About GRID Alternatives
GRID Alternatives is a national leader in making clean, affordable solar power and solar jobs accessible to low-income communities and communities of color. Using a unique, people-first model, GRID develops and implements solar projects that serve qualifying households and affordable housing providers, while providing hands-on job training. GRID has installed solar for more than 10,000 families to-date and helped households and housing providers save $300 million in lifetime electricity costs, while training over 35,000 people. GRID Alternatives has nine regional offices and affiliates serving California, Colorado, the mid-Atlantic region, and Tribal communities nationwide, and serves communities in Nicaragua, Nepal and Mexico. For more information, visit www.gridalternatives.org.
Media Contact
Jessica Leader
Sunrun Corporate Communications
press@sunrun.com
+1 (386) 341 4428