Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., recently signed California’s 2019-20 state budget, which allocates $2.1 million for the Claremont-Pomona Locally Grown Power solar initiative.
The funding will go toward the construction of a manufacturing facility that will produce solar panels for low- to moderate-income (LMI) households.
Claremont/Pomona Locally Grown Power will have a relatively small footprint – 4,000 square feet – but will create over 200 manufacturing and construction jobs. The first production goal is to build and install 6,000 solar PV systems on LMI homes.
Devon Hartman, founder of Claremont-Pomona Locally Grown Power, thanks Assemblymember Chris Holden for “securing this critical piece of funding” in the state’s budget.
“The California legislature has set ambitious climate policies, and I am 100 percent committed to furthering our leadership role in combating climate change, but we need all Californians to be able to be part of greener energy solutions,” says Holden. “The Locally Grown Power nonprofit model gives the opportunity for more Californians to have a seat at the table and be able to support our existing legislative priorities.”
Hartman says, “Our goal with this initial factory is to take Claremont and Pomona to net-zero carbon emissions and to establish them as a national model for energy efficiency and renewable energy – proving that we can create sustainable energy and sustainable economics by focusing all efforts on stimulating our local economy, bringing back middle-class manufacturing jobs, and seriously addressing our environmental justice issues all at the same time.”
The Locally Grown Power initiative is designed to be replicable in cities across California. Locally Grown Power is a program of Community Home Energy Retrofit Project (CHERP Inc.), a California-based nonprofit, in a licencing agreement with idealPV, which will supply the solar technology.
Gosh, this seems like a scam to me. Take a look at http://idealpv.com/index.html and tell us what you think of this technology. And how in the world can a tiny startup factory compete on price with existing high volume players?