Small businesses, nonprofits, and municipalities throughout the state will be able to go solar through Pennsylvania BRIGHT with no money down, saving an average of 25% in electricity costs each year for the next 25 years – and will do so in time to take advantage of the soon-expiring federal tax credits.
“The PA Solar Center is so proud and grateful to be partnering with the Capital Good Fund in this revolutionary approach to lowering energy bills across Pennsylvania,” said Sharon Pillar, Founder and Executive Director of the PA Solar Center. “Our nonprofit’s GET Solar program has been offering trusted, unbiased guidance to hundreds of entities for the past eight years by helping them decide whether solar is right for them, as well as connecting them to financing options and qualified solar developers.
“It’s a dream to help nearly 70 of them go solar in one fell swoop with Capital Good Fund, especially since many of them were too small to get this type of financing on their own.
“Our organization has curated many of these projects for several years in collaboration with other groups such as the Congress of Neighboring Communities (CONNECT) in Pittsburgh and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission. Those long-standing and pivotal relationships facilitated a large number of these projects.”
Capital Good Fund will oversee the construction and operation of the entities’ new solar arrays under Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), which will help lock in dramatically lower and more predictable monthly energy rates.
A PPA is a tool used by organizations to gain access to solar energy with little to no financing upfront.
In a PPA, a third-party investor (in this case, Capital Good Fund) owns and maintains the solar array, and the host site pays for the energy generated by the solar system, typically at a significantly lower price than what the host was paying before.
The nonprofit is offering PPAs across projects, which range in size from 20kW to 1,500 kW.
PPAs are typically only available to large projects of 500 kW or larger, but by grouping these projects together, financing can collectively benefit them all.
The program plans to deploy 19,400 kW of projects statewide.
“Energy costs have risen by an estimated 50 percent over the past five years alone, placing enormous strain not only on Pennsylvania homeowners, but the small businesses and community organizations that serve them,” said Anika Wistar-Jones, Executive Vice President of America BRIGHT at Capital Good Fund. “We are delighted to be able to help ease that burden through Pennsylvania BRIGHT so that vital community organizations can focus on their core work and reinvest thousands of dollars in annual energy savings back into their missions.
“By combining pooled investor capital for PPA financing with the PA Solar Center’s established project pipeline, this partnership creates a unique opportunity to expand access to solar where it’s needed most.”
This program is made possible by initial support from The Reinvestment Fund and The Kresge Foundation, which allows Capital Good Fund to safe harbor the equipment that will be utilized across projects.
“Clean energy is fundamentally an investment in community strength. Through our work with Capital Good Fund, we’re helping mission-driven organizations reduce costs and redirect resources where they matter most,” noted Elizabeth Friend, Director, Clean Energy & Sustainable Finance at The Reinvestment Fund. “This partnership with Capital Good Fund ensures that the financial benefits of the energy transition reach the organizations that power local resilience.”
More details about individual projects will be released in the coming months.
The PA Solar Center is a nonprofit organization with the mission to expand the benefits of solar to all Pennsylvanians through technical assistance, public education, and advocacy.
The Center offers technical assistance to non-profit organizations, businesses, schools, faith communities, farms, and communities to help them go solar through their keystone GET Solar program.
It also provides media communications, resources, and programming to educate all solar stakeholders.
The PA Solar Center also advocates for robust solar policy and provides an online directory of qualified solar developers, a map of notable solar installations, a monthly solar webinar series, and a listing of solar events happening across the state.
Capital Good Fund is a nonprofit, U.S. Treasury-certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) with a mission to create pathways out of poverty and advance a green economy.
The organization offers financing, low-interest loans, and one-on-one financial coaching for the lower-income residents of Rhode Island, Texas, Illinois, Florida, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Colorado.
Since their founding in 2009, they have financed more than 17,000 loans totaling over $62 million with a 97% repayment rate and graduated over 2,000 people from their Coaching program.
[Posted: March 3, 2026] PA Environment Digest
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