Indiana Nonprofit Launches 23-kW Solar Project for Youth Services

Five Star Life, an Indiana-based nonprofit that serves underserved youth through character and leadership programming, has brought a new 23-kilowatt solar array online at its Summit Facility in Union, Indiana. The project was marked with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on December 11, 2023, at the organization's 350-acre campus.

The solar installation was developed by Everybody Solar, a nonprofit that donates solar power to other charities to help them reduce operating costs and expand their missions. Funding partners for the Five Star Life array included individual donors, the Hammond Climate Solutions Foundation's Solar Moonshot Program, Business Performance Improvement and Engie.

The 23-kW system is expected to meaningfully reduce Five Star Life's monthly electricity bills, with the utility savings redirected into youth programming. Organizers say the financial relief from the solar array will help the nonprofit extend its programs year-round and reach more students.

Five Star Life's curriculum blends character and leadership education with hands-on skills training, including equine programs, archery, blacksmithing, nature education, and art. Executive Director Aubrey Danielson said the new array also creates a teaching opportunity: "We want to share with our students the need for solar, its impact on the environment and potential careers in the solar industry."

Hammond Climate Solutions Foundation Director Tara Hammond added that the project delivers benefits beyond the Summit Facility itself. "Not only will Five Star Life's solar project reduce monthly utility bill costs that are reinvested into its mission, but it will also lessen climate injustices, provide the community with clean energy education and support local green jobs," she said.

The Solar Moonshot Program, run by the Hammond Climate Solutions Foundation, is a grant initiative that helps nonprofits, schools and community organizations across the United States install solar power. The Five Star Life array is one of a growing number of Moonshot-supported projects aimed at cutting energy costs for mission-driven organizations while demonstrating clean energy in action.

For Indiana nonprofits and community groups watching the project, the Five Star Life installation underscores a funding model that is becoming more common: pairing donor-backed nonprofits like Everybody Solar with corporate and foundation grant dollars to deliver turnkey solar systems at little or no cost to the host organization.