When you think of Ronald McDonald, you usually just think of a clown, potentially eating a Big Mac. You don’t often think of the Ronald McDonald House Charities of San Diego, which supports families with seriously ill children who are in the San Diego Hospital. But the now one year old house, which has rooms for families to stay in overnight and a place for them to stay during the day if they need it, will also be home to a new 116 kW solar electric system. The solar system will offset power costs for the charity, helping them be able to help more families. They are also creating a more sustainable, greener environment for the kids and the families, which must be an additional blessing for the families who don’t want to have to worry about anything but the health of their child. The building itself was designed and built to be as sustainable as possible, using a large amount of recycled materials and using 17.5% less energy than a similar California building.

                Solar projects such as the Ronald McDonald House in San Diego are becoming increasingly popular, because they make sense. Especially with the great new financing opportunities and incentives for solar in the San Diego area and the rest of California, creating a more sustainable environment for charities, especially those that are helping children and families, is becoming an important initiative. With the money saved from electricity bills, the charities can put more money towards directly benefiting the families or children that they are trying to help.

                As one of America’s Solar Cities, San Diego has made a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas levels to 155 below 1990 levels by 2015. One of the key ways they are doing this is helping Affordable Housing for Multifamily groups get the proper financing to install solar. As electricity is one of the largest expenses for low to moderate income households, the City of San Diego is trying to make it easier and more affordable for these households to install solar electric systems and offset these costs. Vermont based groSolar has really gotten behind this concept, with unique financing options in California and parts of New England to help the families who need it the most get solar.