Somerville looking for solar energy volunteers, meeting report

[mem-winterhill.livejournal.com]

[I posted this as a reply to the original post, Somerville looking for solar energy volunteers, but I think it should be more widely seen.]

I attended this meeting hosted by the Commission on Energy Use and Climate Change. The city is serious about submitting an appliction (very soon) for the Solarize Mass process. Learn more about that here: http://www.masscec.com/solarizemass

If they are approved, they want to roll it out also very quickly. If successful with their application, they envision the process of outreach to neighbors in late spring and this coming summer. Then a big wave of installations follow the sign ups. The idea is that with a certain number of committed folks, they get a certain price, discounted for a bulk purchase. But there are tiers, and if more people sign up the price might even drop. Depends on how the outreach goes, of course.

At the meeting, they were sensitive to both the concerns and issues of renters and landlords. Questions were raised about shared housing like condos as well. Seemed like a good cross-section of folks with appropriate issues. Little minority representation, however.

They are looking for volunteers to commit to this in the very short term, because they need folks for their application process. If you would consider being a solar ambassador, don't wait--contact them for more details soon. Volunteer work might mean presentations at local community meetings, booths at festivals, answering email questions, that sort of stuff.

Other interesting tidbits: they want to investigate providers that offer both ownership and leased scenarios. So you won't necessarily have to drop big money on this. And they are interested in business owners and other community groups being involved too. It's not limited to homeowners. Another cool tidbit: one of our neighbors is associated with the Google Sunroof project, and that began a discussion of how that resource could help residents investigate suitability and make decisions. If you haven't seen it, check it out: https://www.google.com/get/sunroof#p=0

Comments

[somerfriend.livejournal.com]

Just an insignificant tidbit from my memory of the meeting: I heard them say outreach/marketing would be March through July.

Also a general note: leasing is great for having an environmental impact without having to front cash flow. Owning is better for providing the best financial return while having an environmental impact. Some installers tend to favor leasing, hopefully Solarize Somerville will select an installer that helps customer decide what is best for them.

[koshmom.livejournal.com]

The biggest question I have is can I set up the system to allow me to have power to my home if the rest of the city has a blackout? Even if it entails me walking to my basement and pulling a big red switch. I won't install solar on my home until that option is available to me.

[mzrowan.livejournal.com]

It's possible, although maybe not cheap: http://thirdsunsolar.com/knowing-solar/solar-power-in-a-blackout/

[mem-winterhill.livejournal.com]

That's an issue I had too. But my housemate and the installers talked me out of this (for now). I didn't even want much power, I just wanted enough to kick the spark on the furnace so that the heat will work. I don't care about the TV or even the fridge (I'd mostly miss my router, I think. Heh.). I just wanted my pipes to not freeze.

But currently that drives the cost way up. I was disappointed, but not enough to avoid the rest of the benefits. My other fear is that waiting would have lost the opportunities for the current tax benefits. These are big currently, but they may expire and not come back, and that was a larger concern to me.

(To explain some backstory: I was interested in the city plan when the survey first came out, and then because I never saw any follow up, we went ahead and committed to a regular installation with a local provider anyway. So I won't be participating in the city version, but I am interested in working with other neighbors on solar and I hope we'll form a community of folks with shared issues, like a club or a network, for future things like potentially doing the battery or switch stuff should that become more cost-effective.)

[somerfriend.livejournal.com]

The battery technology just isn't that good yet, though it is getting better.