Good Energy Collaborative (GEC), a campus-community partnership led by Professor of Environmental Studies Giovanna Di Chiro, collaborated to solarize YEAH Philly, a West Philadelphia-based nonprofit that supports at-risk teens and young adults. 

GEC, whose members include students, faculty, staff members, and alumni, worked with RE-volv, REVERB, and GreenBrilliance in July to successfully install an 11.61 kW solar roof system that now powers 100% of YEAH Philly's energy needs. The system will save YEAH Philly $85k in energy costs, avoid 466,172 lbs of CO₂ emissions over the system’s lifetime, and allow them to reinvest savings directly into youth programs and community services.

“As a teacher and scholar, I’m interested in environmental justice and sustainability, and in building collaborations,” says Di Chiro, coordinator of Swarthmore’s Environmental Justice & Community Resilience Program who has worked to engage organizations from Philadelphia and Chester in community sustainability and environmental health projects since 2012.

“Some students are from this area, but many are not. They get excited about the possibility of supporting our neighboring communities and in using their Swarthmore education to help make a difference.”

The GEC’s solarization project at YEAH Philly received significant support from musician Billie Eilish’s  Changemaker Program, which benefits organizations, projects, and voices dedicated to food equity, climate justice, reducing carbon pollution, and supporting crucial environmental work in combating the climate crisis. A grant from the program fully funded the solar roof installation.

In addition, at Eilish’s Oct. 23 concert in Philadelphia, GEC’s Ariza Nanji ’24 tabled alongside YEAH Philly and RE-volv to raise awareness about the nonprofit solar project and clean energy solutions. The following day, the organizations celebrated the completion of the solar project with a ribbon cutting and press conference at YEAH Philly in West Philadelphia.

“Today isn’t just about the 27 solar panels,” said YEAH Philly Co-Founder Kendra Van de Water at the event. “It’s about what it means when Black communities like West and Southwest Philly take control of their own power — literally and figuratively. This project is a symbol of what’s possible when we invest in sustainability and justice.”

GEC also provides skills training and education about solar energy apprentice programs and regenerative urban agriculture in Chester and Philadelphia. With YEAH Philly, they offer hands-on workshops in solar energy, green jobs, and urban agriculture, empowering young people in West Philly to see themselves in the clean energy movement.

“We are working to identify the next generation of leaders, and to show young adults how they can be in collaboration with others to co-learn the skills they want to transform their communities,” says Nanji, one of Di Chiro’s former students and the GEC project team leader. “We realized that marginalized communities are often left out of these efforts. When young people go through the programming we put in place, there is a higher rate of completion.”

Upcoming GEC events include a Community Walk in North Philadelphia’s Hunting Park neighborhood on Saturday, Nov. 15. At the event, GEC partner organizations Hunting Park Community Solar Initiative and Here for Climate Justice will showcase a newly installed, off-grid solar site, local community gardens, and discuss how urban sustainability can support the community’s needs and visions for the future.

About the Good Energy Collaborative

GEC connects Swarthmore students and faculty with community partners in Philadelphia and Chester to advance community-engaged environmental justice and sustainability. The group works on climate resilience collaborations that focus on solar energy, regenerative agriculture, and green jobs and workforce development. It is supported in part by a grant from the Green and Healthy Homes Initiative as part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Thriving Communities Grantmaking program.

Di Chiro’s first solarization project involving Swarthmore students and faculty took place in 2013 at Serenity House, a nonprofit community center at 12th and Lehigh in Philadelphia. They collaborated with RE-volv to install solar panels on the roof of Serenity House’s community center and, together with local partners, organized community workshops on the science and mechanics of solar energy and solar technology. 

Di Chiro and Serenity House leaders then launched Serenity Soular, a campus-community collaborative with the goal of helping North Philadelphia residents learn about and have access to clean energy and green jobs opportunities. After seven years and three additional solar installations, Serenity Soular paused operations during the pandemic. Di Chiro continued to bring sustainability initiatives and clean, affordable energy to communities that are most affected by global climate change and, together with her students and partners, launched GEC in 2022.

As Di Chiro notes, sustainability is relevant to all communities. “But some people can’t afford electric cars or organic produce,” she says. “What counts as sustainability for them? People we work with envisioned thriving community gardens providing fresh produce and access to solar energy. That grew into Serenity Soular, an earlier iteration of the GEC. We want to maintain focus on the soul of sustainability — the people and the community — and not just on the technology.”