Goodwill Industries of Central Florida and local elected officials recently unveiled a 140-kW, 12,000-square-foot solar array installed on the roof of the nonprofit’s Oviedo Retail Store. As part of Goodwill’s “Solar for Good” initiative, the cost savings generated by renewable energy will benefit job training and placement programs.
The 423-panel system is also part of Goodwill’s “Made in America” initiative and was manufactured by Suniva in the U.S. It will offset an estimated 80 percent of the store’s annual electricity needs. Orlando-based NovaSol Energy was the project’s developer. Goodwill installed the array with the support of a SunSense grant from Duke Energy.
Goodwill plans to install solar arrays at nine of its locations across Central Florida. The installations are expected to save nearly $5.4 million – and divert nearly 59,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere – over the next 25 years. Defraying these costs will allow the nonprofit to provide job training and placement to an estimated 42,000 more Central Floridians.
“Sustainability is something we practice every day at Goodwill – turning generous donations from our community into job training and placement opportunities for Central Floridians,” said Bill Oakley, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries of Central Florida. “Generating renewable energy with Solar for Good is the next natural step, and we look forward to serving more job-seekers in our community through this initiative.”
The Oviedo solar array is Goodwill’s second Solar for Good project. In April 2014, Goodwill installed a 14,000-square-foot rooftop array on its Waterford Lakes Retail Store with financial support from Duke Energy. Since then, the array has offset approximately 76 percent of the store’s total energy. Between the Waterford Lakes and Oviedo stores, Goodwill’s combined solar capacity is now 293 kW, enough to power over 28 average Floridian homes annually.
“We’re proud to take part in this project and help advance Goodwill’s mission,” said Haseeb Qadri, president and CEO of NovaSol Energy, the project’s developer. “When organizations like Goodwill invest in their own solar resources, it not only benefits their own bottom line, it also lessens the burden on the energy infrastructure, which benefits the entire community.”
NovaSol Energy also installs its solar arrays at no cost to qualifying large-scale commercial clients under a long-term leasing arrangement that provides for relatively flat monthly energy bills.
Duke Energy Florida state president Alex Glenn added, “At Duke Energy, we are looking for ways to help our customers meet their sustainability goals and expand their use of renewable energy. The $130,000 grant we provided will help cover the cost of the solar array and allow the nonprofit to focus more of its funds on its important mission – helping people. We are honored to play a small role in that.”
Goodwill Industries of Central Florida was recently awarded an Energy Star Award from Goodwill Industries International for its energy conservation efforts in new constructions and existing stores.
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