Olympia solar nonprofit expands its ‘Solarize’ program to offer bulk-buying deals to all
The local nonprofit Olympia Community Solar is expanding its annual solar group purchasing campaign to neighboring counties in an effort to push Washington toward greener energy sources.
According to a new release from the nonprofit, the Solarize campaign is managed by Olympia Community Solar, which partners with local installers and makers, cities and lenders to purchase solar panel systems in bulk for better deals and larger community impact.
Olympia Community Solar president Mason Rolph told The Olympian the cost of solar energy is very much front loaded: People must pay for the equipment and installation, but once it’s up and running, there’s really no cost for upkeep. And since the nonprofit has struck group deals with area solar companies, each person who participates in the campaign will receive the same rate.
This year, the program runs from April to August and has been expanded to include residents in Pierce, Lewis and Mason counties, according to the release.
Residents can schedule a free solar assessment of their home or small business on Olympia Community Solar’s website. An installer can provide either a virtual or in-person site assessment and provide a solar proposal at the discounted group rate. After that, all it takes is scheduling a date for installation.
Last year the Solarize campaign led to nearly 130 installations in Thurston County alone through a partnership with CapStone Solar. Rolph said 143 people have already signed up for assessments since this year’s campaign started on April 4.
The nonprofit partnered with area solar companies and were able to secure contracts for more than 200 projects for this year, up from 50 partner contracts in the previous year.
Rolph said there are a few benefits for the average household investing in solar energy.
“The first is energy cost reduction,” he said. “So when someone goes out to get a solar quote, an installer will look at their energy bill, see how much they’re consuming and they scale the solar array to meet the customer’s consumption, or however much energy they’re able to create with the amount of available roof space.”
He said the average house uses anywhere from 6,000 to 10,000 kilowatts per year, so the goal is to build a solar array that can generate that much every year. The nonprofit negotiated a flat rate with their partners of $2.60 per watt, or $2,600 per kW.
The nonprofit’s Merritt Manor project is a good example of how it works. Installers filled the entire roof of the low-income housing complex on Martin Way with solar panels, which only covered about a third of the building’s energy costs.
To make up for this situation is the concept of net metering, where extra energy produced by a solar panel is stored and recycled back into the grid for later use or so others can use the excess energy if their production is low. Excess energy shows up on the owner’s electricity bill as credits they can use later on.
“The real benefit that I see in this campaign is that people have a trusted local nonprofit who’s vetted all of the installers, has negotiated pricing to make sure people get fair deals, and will be auditing the campaign and contracts signed through the campaign to ensure everyone’s following the rules,” Rolph said.
The nonprofit is working with several partners again this year, including CapStone Solar, South Sound Solar, PacWest Solar and Sunpath Electric. Puget Sound Cooperative Credit Union and Olympia Federal Savings are both offering residents reduced rate solar loans as well.
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