Cal Solar History Series The Miner’s Foundry Project

At Cal-Solar, we’ve always believed this work is about more than solar panels, back up batteries, and inverters. At its core, it’s about people, place, and community. It’s about using renewable energy to strengthen the organizations and spaces that give our communities their identity, preserve their history, and bring people together.

The Miner’s Foundry Cultural Center project remains one of the clearest examples of who we are as a co-op and why we do this work.

The Miner’s Foundry has been a cornerstone of Nevada City culture for generations. Music, art, gatherings, storytelling, activism, celebrations, and community have all flowed through those historic walls. It is more than a building, it is a gathering place woven into the cultural fabric of Nevada County. 

There is another layer to that history that makes this project especially fitting. As one of the first buildings in Nevada County to have electricity in the late 19th century, the Foundry was originally powered by hydropower and the famous Pelton Wheel. More than a century later, helping return the building to renewable energy brought that history full circle.

So when the opportunity came to help support the Foundry through renewable energy, the project felt deeply aligned with our mission.

To meet the energy demands of this historic facility, our team designed and installed a 31 kW solar system featuring 80 high-efficiency Maxeon SPR-X22-470-COM modules paired with four SMA Sunny Boy inverters. The system officially received Permission to Operate from PG&E on July 25, 2018, marking the completion of a project that had begun with our first site visit earlier that year.

But the real story goes well beyond the equipment on the roof.

As a nonprofit operating on a tight budget, the Foundry faced a challenge that was common at the time. It could not directly take advantage of the federal solar tax credit available to taxable businesses and homeowners. Cal-Solar helped arrange a special financing structure that allowed the Foundry to capture some of those tax-credit savings indirectly, bringing the upfront cost of the project down to almost nothing.

The structure also helped turn a higher, variable monthly PG&E bill into a lower, fixed loan payment. That meant the Foundry could begin seeing savings and improved cash flow right away, rather than waiting years for the project to pay for itself.

From the beginning, the goal was long term resilience. By offsetting approximately 95% of the Foundry’s electrical usage, the system helps reduce one of the ongoing costs of operating a historic cultural facility. Those savings can help redirect valuable resources away from utility bills and back toward what the Foundry does best: supporting community programming, arts, events, education, gatherings, and cultural preservation.

In that way, clean energy became more than a sustainability measure. It became a practical tool for helping protect a local institution and strengthening its ability to continue serving Nevada County for years to come.

Projects like this matter deeply to us because they sit at the intersection of legacy and forward thinking.

Historic buildings do not have to be left behind in the transition to a cleaner and more resilient energy future. In many ways, they can become some of the most meaningful examples of what thoughtful sustainability looks like, honoring what came before while investing in what comes next.

That balance was especially important at the Miner’s Foundry. From our first site visit in early 2018 through design, installation, and final interconnection, our team worked closely with the Foundry to develop a system that respected both the character of the historic building and the needs of the people who rely on it.

Years later, this project remains one of our favorite examples of what we mean when we say, “This is who we are.”

• Local people helping power local institutions.

• Renewable energy supporting arts, culture, and community.

• Preserving history while building resilience for the future.

• Using clean energy to keep more resources circulating where they matter most.

• Community-centered renewable energy in action.

For us, that is what cooperative solar can look like at its best: technology serving a larger purpose and local expertise being put to work for the places we collectively value.

We are incredibly proud to have played a role in helping power the Miner’s Foundry and to know that the energy produced there supports a place that has brought people together for generations.

Here’s to preserving the places that tell our stories and helping power them into the future.

Proudly serving communities across Northern California and beyond, we’re here to help you with all your renewable energy needs. Our service areas include Grass Valley, CA, Auburn, CA, Loomis, CA, Granite Bay, CA, Lincoln, CA, Rocklin, CA, Roseville, CA, Cameron Park, CA, Diamond Springs, CA, Placerville, CA, Pollock Pines, CA, El Dorado Hills, CA, Truckee, CA, Tahoe City, CA, and South Lake Tahoe, CA. Contact us today to learn more about our residential solar solutions, such as a solar powered system, backup batteries/battery storage, smart energy management, home standby generators, electrical vehicle chargers, and solar system servicing (system check & repair) available in your community.