A newly installed rooftop solar power system will help the Free Clinic of Simi Valley keep its doors open and the lights on for the area’s disadvantaged patients.
The Ventura County facility annually serves more than 10,000 uninsured or underinsured, low-income residents. Funding for the project was provided through a grant from the global nonprofit humanitarian aid organization Direct Relief.
Fred Bauermeister, executive director of the clinic, said being mostly “off the power grid” allows them to fund other priorities.
“Despite the fact that we got this building donated, we still have to pay $3,000 a month in electricity, which from a nonprofit point of view, is hard money to raise,” Bauermeister, explained. “It’s not very compelling when I go out in the community and say, ‘Hey, would you give money so we can pay the electricity bill?'”
He pointed out the solar array, combined with soon-to-be-completed battery backup, will provide 53 kilowatts of power, enough to make the clinic officially net-zero in terms of carbon emissions.
The $165,000 grant from Direct Relief comes through the group’s Power for Health Initiative, born amid the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.
Sara Rossi, managing director of the group’s Health Resiliency Fund, said health providers’ biggest need was to get the power back on.
“That could include making them more resilient to the effects of climate change through rooftop solar and battery backups that help them weather power outages,” Rossi outlined. “Or helping them increase their ability to store cold chain medications and vaccines.”
Bauermeister added Direct Relief’s solar power system is a gift to their patients that will keep on giving.
“They were generous enough to give us a grant to install 135 solar panels on our roof,” Bauermeister noted. “So far, we saved $8,249.87 and that will go on forever. We’re forever going to save money on electricity.”
