Millvale is a self reliant urban solar village.
Solar and other forms of renewable energy are at the heart of this goal, but with a lot of wisdom, the community decided to start by addressing energy efficiency and building performance first. A participant in ReEnergize Pgh’s Energy Efficiency Challenge, Millvale won a community energy efficiency competition in which participating households demonstrated over 8% energy savings cumulatively compared to the previous year. Residents not only changed their behavior, but also learned about how they can make improvements to their homes to help improve performance.
Solar and other forms of renewable energy are at the heart of this goal, but with a lot of wisdom, the community decided to start by addressing energy efficiency and building performance first. A participant in ReEnergize Pgh’s Energy Efficiency Challenge, Millvale won a community energy efficiency competition in which participating households demonstrated over 8% energy savings cumulatively compared to the previous year. Residents not only changed their behavior, but also learned about how they can make improvements to their homes to help improve performance.
Meanwhile, the Millvale Community Library, which is already energy efficient, has expanded its solar installation and is now generating more electricity than it uses. This has given the Library the financial capacity to remain open longer and offer more community programming. The Library also led the effort to fully solarize the Imagine building located next door, which houses Tupelo Honey Teas Cafe.
The Millvale Food + Energy Hub is powered by a state of the art solar DC microgrid system. This project was made possible through New Sun Rising and an innovative partnership between the University of Pittsburgh’s GRID Institute, EIS Solar, Steel City Energy Conservation, and Sigma Luminous. It is also home to Teen + Adult Workforce Training Programs and community education. To learn more about the Millvale Food + Energy Hub’s DC Microgrid system, watch the video provided below.