Habitat building first solar house with donated panels in Roanoke

ROANOKE, Va. – Construction for the first Habitat for Humanity solar house is underway in the Roanoke area. 

The house is being built on Fairfax Avenue in northwest Roanoke.

The framework for the solar panels is donated by Renewable Energy and Electric Vehicle Association in Fincastle. Mark Hanson says the solar panels will zero out the power bill with only the monthly service fee for the resident to pay.

"It was Jimmy Carter's plan to make these solar like a lot of them in Colorado and California. So I thought if I help do one house here maybe it would take off and people would do solar with Habitat" Hanson said.

"We are really helping to restore the originally community here and and we are going to have a family that moves in and that really needs the help and that's why we sponsor this things in the first place," said Jonathan Leder, of Novozymes. 

The house should be finished in December. With the solar panels will go into their frames around the same time.