Three sustainability-minded residents in the Orange County city of Irvine who had installed solar were talking one day in 2016 about how few of their neighbors had solar panels. After asking some friends, they discovered many considered adopting solar energy a complex and daunting task. 

Out of these discussions the three banded together to bring reliable information about solar to others. They held meetings in their living rooms and solicited proposals from local contractors to secure a group discount – more than 70 homeowners got solar from these initial efforts. In 2019, this grassroots endeavor evolved into the nonprofit organization OC Goes Solar, and to date more than 600 homeowners have purchased rooftop solar in a way that’s easier and more affordable than it otherwise would have been. 

Although OC Goes Solar’s past work has focused on helping single-family homeowners install solar, they partnered with SOMAH in early 2022 to expand the organization’s reach to community members that have long been left out of the clean energy transition—low-income apartment renters. OC Goes Solar’s Executive Director Senait Forthal believes in SOMAH’s mission and shares the importance of its focus on equity. 

"As a proud partner of the SOMAH Program, OC Goes Solar is deeply committed to advancing equitable access to renewable energy and promoting climate justice for low-income and underserved communities,” she said. “The SOMAH Program addresses critical inequities, providing clean energy access to communities that often bear the heaviest burdens of pollution and climate change. At OC Goes Solar, we believe that affordable, renewable energy is a right—not a privilege—and our partnership with SOMAH brings us closer to making this vision a reality for all." 

OC Goes Solar has built on a successful record of neighbor-to-neighbor outreach by continuing to host in-person SOMAH educational events throughout Orange County. The organization has taken the strategy of first engaging their local elected officials and city staff with the SOMAH Program, then conducting outreach to property owners with the support of those government offices. 

Most recently, OC Goes Solar partnered with the cities of Santa Ana and Irvine and the affordable housing advocacy nonprofit The Kennedy Commission to hold educational workshops for local affordable housing developers and property management companies to learn about SOMAH eligibility, financing pathways and steps to apply. Following these workshops, OC Goes Solar outreach staff have worked diligently to follow up with property owners and managers to provide free solar technical assistance reports and connections to SOMAH support services to move forward with applications. 

City of Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan, who also attended the latest workshop, further points out SOMAH’s benefits, stating, “Installing solar energy systems on multifamily affordable housing is a critical tool for helping Irvine achieve its carbon neutrality goal by 2032. The SOMAH Program plays a vital role in this effort by facilitating equitable access to the cost-saving benefits of solar for both property owners and residents.” 

Together with integral community-based partners like OC Goes Solar and support from elected officials, SOMAH continues to help Orange County – and the rest of California – go solar.