Find out how APANO and Portland’s Clean Energy Fund turn climate goals into solar panels on local roof …
In the Mt. Scott–Arleta neighborhood, work is underway installing grant-funded rooftop solar panels on a home near the SE 82nd Avenue corridor.
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
Even before noon on a warm Thursday in late August, solar panels were stacked neatly along the side of a home on SE Carlton Street in the Mt. Scott-Arleta neighborhood. Workers were already on the roof, installing metal brackets and running electrical conduit. Below, the homeowners watched with obvious enthusiasm as their house hosted one of the latest solar installations in outer East Portland.
They were part of a rooftop solar program organized by APANO, using voter-approved climate dollars from the Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF).
APANO Environmental Justice Program Coordinator Madeleine Geffke describes the partnership between APANO and the Portland Clean Energy Fund during a solar installation in outer East Portland.
Grant turns climate goals into rooftop panels
APANO Environmental Justice Program Coordinator Madeleine Geffke described the project as “one piece of a broader clean energy effort”.
“We’re here today with some of the homeowners of our rooftop solar program,” Geffke explained. “The program that we’re running is funded by the PCEF, and we provide free solar panels – specifically, nine solar panel systems – to homeowners in the program who’ve qualified.”
Geffke outlined how the program came together through a successful grant application.
Up on the roof, a worker is installing metal brackets and electrical conduit as part of the grant-funded solar project.
“We applied for a grant through the PCEF to help provide renewable energy opportunities for the communities that we work with,” Geffke reported. “We’re based in the Jade District Neighborhood Prosperity Initiative of East Portland, and we serve Asian and Asian American communities around Oregon, and so we’re hoping to provide more clean energy for homeowners in the area that we work with.”
The project on S. E. Carlton Street involved electrical-generating solar panels Geffke clarified, as workers carefully positioned each panel on the roof.
Jade District focus reaches into S. E. Portland
Although Mt. Scott-Arleta lies south of the Jade District’s commercial core, Geffke emphasized that the location still fit the program’s geographic goals.
Standing next to the just-delivered solar panels, contractor Justin Lee from Upliftic Energy speaks with homeowners Carver Olander and Kisa Lawrence.
Homeowner sees ‘a really great opportunity’
On SE Carlton Street, homeowner Carver Olander and partner Kisa Lawrence watched workers installed the project’s infrastructure.
Olander recalled how the couple first learned about the rooftop solar program. “We heard about this program through my work, and it seemed like a great opportunity,” he reflected. “I shared it with some of my coworkers as well, and we decided to apply for it. It just seems like a really great opportunity.”
Olander identified his own background as part of the program’s equity focus. “Yeah, so I’m half Japanese, half American,” he shared. “I was born in Yokohama, Japan, and I’ve grown up in Portland.”
By evening, these nine rooftop solar panels will have been installed up on a Mt. Scott–Arleta neighborhood home, turning sunlight into electricity.
Centering on communities of color and minority-owned contractors
Geffke emphasized that the program aims not only to serve homeowners in communities of color, but also to support minority-owned businesses through the installation work. “Our contractor on this project, Justin Lee with Upliftic Energy, is Korean,” Geffke pointed out.
On the roof, installers moved steadily, securing the mounting hardware. On the ground, components were lined up in careful rows. The mid-morning light reflected off the dark glass surfaces of the yet-to-be-mounted panels.
The homeowners, watching their rooftop transformation, looked pleased as the pieces of the system came together.
Clean energy, lower bills, local control
Also watching the installation was Will Howell, a PCEF representative. “APANO, is installing solar systems on 13 homes. The project will slash home utility bills by roughly $680 annually, increase the property’s value, and contribute to greater financial stability for the homeowners.
By the time workers finish on S. E. Carlton Street, the roof carries more than new hardware. It holds a local example of what Portland’s climate dollars are meant to accomplish: cleaner power, lower bills, and a measure of energy resilience for families who might otherwise be left out of the clean energy transition.
For more information about this program, CLICK HERE.
© 2026 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™
