New Haven Community Solar (1)

Do you want your investment to influence positive change? Do you care about the environmental and social impacts of your investment? Are you frustrated by traditional investment pathways? If so, New Haven Community Solar could be just the investment you are looking for... New Haven Community Solar will finance a 9.24 kW community solar project located on Button Street in New Haven, Connecticut. The lot on Button Street is the site of this year's annual Jim Vlock First Year Building Project – a partnership between the Yale School of Architecture (YSoA) and Columbus House. Columbus House is a nonprofit organization based in New Haven that serves people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless by providing shelter and housing and by fostering their personal growth and independence. Once the power purchase contracts are finalized, this project will provide Columbus House access to low-cost electricity to further their mission. Unique among architecture schools, the Jim Vlock First Year Building Project, which began in 1967, gives Yale students an opportunity to design and build a house in an economically challenged neighborhood in New Haven. The program is mandatory for all first-year graduate students in YSoA, many who arrive at Yale with a special interest in socially responsible design. Once complete, the Button Street House will contain two units, and provide recently homeless people with a brand new home. New Haven Community Solar is a company that exists to finance a solar array on the roof, providing its residents with cheap renewable energy in a state with one of the highest electricity costs. This project aims to improve the livelihoods of the residents and minimize environmental impacts, while allowing investors to benefit.

$999 — If you invest $999, you will receive a piece of commemorative swag.
$1,998 — If you invest $1,998, you will receive a piece of commemorative swag, and you will be invited to Columbus House open house day when the project is completed!

Customers in Connecticut on average pay 17.24 cents per kilowatt hour of electricity, almost seven cents higher than the national average of 10.41 cents.
On a standard monthly residential bill of 750 kilowatt hours of energy, Connecticut residents pay $51 dollars more than the national average.
Electricity rates across the Northeast are higher than other areas of the country.
All six New England states and New York rank in the top-ten.
All of the New England states, except Vermont, have mandated renewable portfolio standards (RPS) that require part of the power sold in these states to come from renewable energy.
Connecticut directed its electric companies to sign long-term commitments to purchase electricity from various renewable energy projects.
Renewables help cut energy costs by limiting increases in peak demand, reducing system congestion and transmission costs, and reducing the need for various distribution system infrastructure upgrades.

If we achieve our overallotment amount of $106,998, we plan to use the net proceeds of approximately $93.993.12 to do the following: 

• Additional project scoping and development in partnership with Columbus House to design and potentially install an additional community solar array(s) to benefit their low-income tenants and further their mission. This may positively impact the return on investment for investors. Potential addition of an accompanying storage unit with the solar array. This would be the most probable use of funds if the maximum oversubscription is satisfied.
• Marketing to expand the adoption of research and development, and knowledge generation to promote the positive environmental and social benefits produced by this first-in-class impact investing instrument. This is the second most likely use of oversubscribed proceeds as we want to share the information of this innovative financing model as applied to community solar and encourage the growth of the industry.
• Research and development, and knowledge generation through potential grants and research collaborations including next generation grid modification analytic tracking, verifiability, and demonstration of Hyperledger enabled metering of energy units and other metrics required to capture and reflect environmental and social benefits of impact investing via crowdfunding in community solar. This is the third most likely use of oversubscribed proceeds as it will demonstrate the potential of breakthrough technologies to efficiently allocate intermittent renewable power generation
• The company may also engage in venture philanthropy in pursuit of furthering Columbus House's mission. This is the fourth most likely use of oversubscribed proceeds.
• Cover and manage cost over-runs related to the construction, origination, engineering, procurement and contracting for the 2018 Jim Vlock Building Project that allow the management team to better ensure the profitability of the project to investors, and maximize benefit for Columbus House and the people it serves. This would be a minimally likely use of proceeds but act as an important buffer. We believe that our financial projects allow for positive return during operation barring the risks described in the offering statement.

Franz Hochstrasser
CEO, Manager, & Co-Founder
Prior to attending the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Franz served 8 years in the Obama Administration, and is dedicated to fighting climate change. Most recently he served as Senior Advisor to the Special Envoy for Climate Change at the U.S. Department of State, working on the team that successfully negotiated the Paris Agreement. Prior to that, he was Deputy Associate Director at the White House Council of Environmental Quality working on energy, environment and climate policy and public engagement; and a Confidential Assistant and Legislative Analyst at the U.S. Department of Agriculture working on conservation, energy, food security, science policy and open data. He also worked on both of Barack Obama’s Presidential campaigns in 2008 and 2012. Franz holds a Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics and a Bachelor of Arts in Politics from the University of California, Santa Cruz. When Franz isn’t busy battling climate change he enjoys painting, soccer, and songwriting. Franz works part-time for approximately 15 hours per week for Yale University as a Research Assistant and Teaching assistant. His primary position is a student.

Matt Moroney
COO, Manager, & Co-Founder
Matt is passionate about using data-driven insights to drive innovation that increases sustainability and equity. His recent research has focused on the relationship between consumer credit card spending and air pollution. Before obtaining a master’s in environmental management from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Matt obtained a Bachelors of Environmental Science with a Chemistry minor at Western Washington University. Afterwards, he spent four years investigating contaminated sites and assisting permitting for new data centers. Matt studies the flow of materials in society and ways to replace them using green chemistry and systems thinking, as well as technologies that will alter the way we live and work. In his “down” time Matt loves to go skiing, cycling, and listening to the freshest jams. Matt works part-time for approximately 5 hours per week as a Research Assistant at Yale University.

Kwasi Ansu
CMO, Manager, & Co-Founder
Kwasi comes from a background of international development and natural resource management. He is devoted to developing and implementing integrated data-driven community-based solutions that increase equity and resilience. Kwasi is also a recent graduate from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies Master’s program, where his research focused largely around smallholder-driven supply chains, and crafting certification and responsible sourcing strategies within them. Bringing ten years of international development experience, Kwasi has worked in Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, Tanzania, Madagascar, South Africa, and Indonesia; each grappling with similar and yet incredibly unique challenges to attaining a sustainable future. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Wesleyan University where he also played football and lacrosse. In his free time Kwasi enjoys playing video games and hitting the beach. This is a part-time position and Kwasi allocates approximately 15 hours per week.

• Type of Security Offered: Non-Voting Member Units
• Purchase Price of Security Offered: $3
• Minimum Investment Amount (per investor): $300
• Maximum 35,666 Non-Voting Member Units ($106,998)
• Minimum 3,333 Non-Voting Member Units ($9,999)