Gallery: Three Ways to Bring Solar Power to the People Who Need It Most
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This past summer, locals put up solar arrays for low-income families in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.
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Colorado utilities must set aside 5 percent of each solar garden for low-income users.
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Solar energy advocates assemble solar panels in Steamboat Springs.
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Last year Colorado spent $1.2 million on new solar gardens.
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Colorado is the US leader in community solar, where households can buy a share of a "solar garden" and get credit on their bills.
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In Woodland, California, a new complex's solar panels send power to the local grid, and proceeds are credited back to each household's utility bill.
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Even the carports are covered with solar panels.
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The Woodland complex boasts the nation's first affordable zero-net-energy-certified rental units, and they're just for farmworkers.
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At the Leech Lake Indian Reservation in Minnesota, solar panels are mounted on the south-facing sides of houses to produce heat during the winter.
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The sun's low arc across Minnesota's winter sky means the solar "furnaces" get direct rays when they need it the most.
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The Rural Renewable Energy Alliance has installed solar furnaces for 400 low-income households.
