Mini Mart City Park is a nonprofit community arts space in Seattle that offers arts and environmental programs. In December 2025, the organization completed a solar and energy storage project. The City of Seattle identified Mini Mart City Park as an organization that helps strengthen community resilience. As part of a citywide resilience hub initiative, the nonprofit installed solar panels and a battery storage system.
Challenges
The project required extensive planning, coordination and facility upgrades. Coordinating multiple contractors also created scheduling challenges and delays.
Mini Mart City Park originally planned to have the system operational in 2024 so it could claim elective pay tax credits for that year. However, project delays pushed completion into 2025, requiring the nonprofit to cover project costs longer than anticipated while waiting to receive its tax credit.
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Outcomes and impact
Mini Mart City Park estimates that its new solar and battery storage system will reduce annual energy costs by about $2,000.
- Energy cost reduction: 90%
- Annual solar offset:
- 2025: 90%
- 2026 to date: 93%
- Greenhouse gas emissions avoided: 160.08 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e)
- Solar electricity generated to date: 27,600 kilowatt-hours (kWh)
During an extended power outage, the solar and battery storage system can provide backup power to Mini Mart City Park’s buildings and support nearby residents for up to 72 hours. The solar awning also creates more usable outdoor space, allowing Mini Mart City Park to offer more activities throughout the year.
“A direct pay tax credit has been a tremendous support for our small nonprofit. We’re able to use this tax credit to ensure the long-term maintenance of our solar investment and continue bringing arts and environmental programming to our community.” – Emily Kelly, executive director of Mini Mart City Park
Technical assistance provided
Mini Mart City Park began working with the Clean Energy Tax Credit Assistance Program (CETCAP) shortly after its launch and received technical assistance throughout much of the project. The nonprofit received free legal assistance from tax attorneys at Avisen Legal to better understand its eligibility for elective pay tax credits. With assistance from Avisen Legal, Mini Mart City Park qualified for an additional 10-percentage-point tax credit bonus because the project is located on a designated brownfield site.
After the project was completed and placed in service, CETCAP referred Mini Mart City Park to Giraffe Financial for free tax filing assistance. Giraffe Financial helped simplify the filing process, allowing Mini Mart City Park to claim more than $143,000 in federal clean energy tax credits through elective pay.
Washington Clean Energy Tax Credit Assistance Program (CETCAP)
In partnership with Lawyers for Good Government and Giraffe Financial, the Washington Clean Energy Tax Credit Assistance Program (CETCAP) team has helped more than 150 organizations statewide secure hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax credits by providing legal and filing assistance for hundreds of projects.
