Big Pine Paiute Water Pump Solar Project
The Big Pine Paiute Water Pump Solar Project will install a 32-kW ground-mounted solar system to provide power to the pump at the Tribe’s domestic water well (known as Well #4), which provides potable water to all of the households and community facilities on the entire Reservation.
The project will provide economic benefit to the Tribe, increase knowledge and awareness of solar in the community, and strengthen sovereignty. This structure, vital to the wellbeing of the Tribe, has cost over $13,000 in electrical bills in the previous 12 months. This makes the water pump the second largest consumer of electricity on the entire Reservation. With no economic development and a community of 57% low to moderate income (according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 2017 Low to Moderate Income Area Benefit Designation), the cost of providing water to Tribal members is burdensome.