LOWELL — Gov. Charlie Baker unveiled a $15 million initiative Tuesday aimed at creating hundreds of solar panel and renewable thermal-heating systems over the next several years to supply energy to low- and moderate-income households.

As an energy source for homes, renewables have traditionally been the reserve of well-to-do families and developers due to the large upfront costs required to install the systems. The initiative will allow more working families access to the cost-saving and environmental benefits of those technologies, Baker said.

“People struggling to get by, people struggling to pay their bills, people struggling to pay their rent ought to be able to participate more fully in the commonwealth’s clean-energy economy,” he said.

The money — $10 million from the Department of Energy Resources and $5 million from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center — will fund incentive programs that the state hopes will create more than 300 solar and 500 renewable thermal installments. Announcements about the funding opportunities will soon start to appear on the DOER’s website.

Lowell’s entire state legislative delegation attended, as did City Manager Kevin Murphy, City Councilor Corey Belanger, and several of the state’s top energy and housing officials.

Years ago, when Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Matthew Beaton was operating his own clean-energy installation business, he noticed the income divide between homes with renewable energy systems and those without.

“Access to additional clean-energy sources was lacking, and that bothered me,” he said. “The sector of our population that could most benefit from these resources could not tap into them there were too many barriers in the way.”

Individual families in Greater Lowell have increasingly been turning to solar panels for their energy needs, and the towns of Tyngsboro and Shirley are both considering large solar-farm projects. Some major private developments, like Boott Mills, where Baker’s announcement was held, have been collecting solar power for years.

The speakers on Tuesday hailed Boott Mills as an example of how clean energy and efficiency can benefit low- and moderate-income families. The renovated mill buildings on John Street have 435 solar panels on their roofs, which supply power to an affordable-housing complex in Lawrence.

“Back when they were built, (textile mills) were the innovation of the industrial revolution,” state Sen. Eileen Donoghue said. “Who knew that today the innovation would be the solar panels on these very roofs?”

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