The Davis Square Community

Super news today: we have passed a new milestone! We hit 308.46kW of solar in our fair city with this program so far, and 61 systems. And our recent extension seems to have clicked with folks, so we've got a lot of new interest. Our donated array is within our reach now, for sure.

Program extension update: http://www.thesomervilletimes.com/archives/71515
"Site visits are now extended through November 23 and participants have until December 16 to decide if they would like to go solar."

More info below the LJ cut:( Read more... )

Hi neighbors: I send out a periodic newsletter with updates on the program. You can sign up for those at the Solarize Somerville site. But I thought I'd post this update here as well for folks who might not be on the list. There are various links and a video, I'll put it all below the LJ cut.

Program site: http://www.somervillema.gov/sustainaville/solarize.html

( Read more... )

[Note: time has been shifted to 30min earlier. Doors now will open 6pm, program starts 6:30.]

As you might expect. the cities of Cambridge and Somerville are both facing similar challenges on this issue. So the cities teamed up for a special event dedicated to just this matter. There will be other general educational events still, and we are going to have booths at many city events about our Solarize program. But if you are in a multi-unit situtation this event is worth seeking out specifically.

Join the Sunny Cambridge & Solarize Somerville teams for “Solar 102: Going Solar for Multi-Unit Owners, Condo-Owners, and Landlords” Tuesday, August 16 at Lesley University, located at 1815 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge.

Doors open at 6:00 pm, event starts at 6:30 pm in University Hall, Room 2-078 on the Second Floor.

Have your solar questions answered! Visit www.somervillema.gov/sustainaville/solarize for more info on the Somerville program. Visit https://www.energysage.com/sunnycambridge/ for info on the Cambridge program.

Hello neighbors:
We wanted to let you know that very soon we'll be making the big announcements about the program, and the educational outreach activities are about to begin. So be sure to stay tuned for dates and locations where you can hear about the features of the program, it's coming very shortly.

Like other Solarize Mass communities, we will be offering residents a way to obtain solar PV for their homes in various manners. This can be outright purchase of a system, or with Mass Solar Loan assistance, or through a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). A PPA is an agreement where the system is owned/maintained by a third party financier and then a homeowner purchases the power that's being produced on their roof for a lesser rate than what they are currently paying their utility. These choices can reduce the cost of green power for you. We hope to help you decide what might be right, if you are interested in solar power.

If you have been considering solar, you should think about acting soon. The state's Department of Energy Resources (DOER) is making changes to the SRECII program, which is where "Solar Renewable Energy Credits" are assigned value. SRECII will stop taking new projects, replaced by an SRECIII program. We don't have the details for SRECIII yet. But if you want to obtain solar under the existing incentive structure, you have to act before January 8, 2017.

You can sign up on our web site to be notified as soon as our real launch goes out publicly, or check back there soon for the press release and other details: http://www.somervillema.gov/sustainaville/solarize.html. So be sure to watch for email notices soon, and our city Solarize web site will begin to reflect the program features as well.

If I got your name from previous conversations, you should be in my "interested residents" file and have received this by email.

Thanks for your interest.

[This can be shared with your social media networks if you want to tell your friends and neighbors.]

I'm the volunteer solar coach, Mary.

I attended the city's Commission on Energy Use and Climate Change (CEUCC) meeting this evening. One of the issues discussed was this proposal to have the city adopt a Community Choice Aggregation Program for. From the web site:

The objective of municipal aggregation is to lower electricity bills through the formation of a buying group composed of the residents and businesses without interfering with the level of service provided by the existing utility (Eversource in Somerville), which will continue to distribute the electricity supply. In addition to lowering and stabilizing electricity prices, aggregation can be used to increase the amount of renewable energy in the community’s energy supply.

It sounded like a reasonable proposal, which has been adopted in other communities, as a way to help access more green power, among other benefits. We are still having other initiatives like Solarize Somerville (which is still underway and will roll out later in the spring), but that won't be suitable for everyone's situation. So this might be an option some folks would like to investigate.

They hope that people will read this and ask any questions they might have. http://www.somervillema.gov/sustainaville/cca

(By the way, if this is an issue that interests you and you have skills in their topic areas, the city will also have a couple of openings on this commission soon. Look for announcements.)