Two local community organizations – Bike Works and Clean Greens Farm & Market – will receive a donated system to generate renewable energy for their facility if enough homes in central and southeast Seattle neighborhoods choose to install solar electric systems in the coming months.

The donated solar systems serve as a community award for participation in Solarize Seattle: Central/Southeast, a project of Northwest Sustainable Energy for Economic Development (Northwest SEED) and Seattle City Light that is designed to accelerate solar energy installations through a group purchase of solar electric systems at a discounted price.  Participants in the project attend a free public workshop to learn how solar energy works in Seattle and to qualify for a free site assessment for their home or business.

The solar systems will be donated by Puget Sound Solar and Artisan Electric, the Solarize Seattle: Central/Southeast project’s competitively-selected solar installation team, if the community reaches pre-determined installation targets.

“This is a very visible way for the homeowners to give something back to the central/southeast community when they install solar,” said Evan Leonard, Vice President of Artisan Electric. “Our goal is to increase solar awareness and build community, so donating systems based on project benchmarks made a lot of sense.”

The first solar electric system will be awarded to Bike Works when 30 project participants have signed contracts to install solar; the second system will be awarded to Clean Greens Farm & Market when 60 participants have signed contracts.

“We’re confident we can hit both of these benchmarks in Central/Southeast, given that our previous campaign in Northwest Seattle succeeded beyond all expectations,” said Mia Devine, project manager at Northwest SEED who is managing the Solarize Seattle: Central/Southeast campaign.

Bike Works and Clean Greens Farm & Market were selected by the Solarize Seattle: Central/Southeast Community Coalition, a volunteer group of individuals and non-profits such as Sustainable Seattle, who led the award selection process.  The competitive application process took into account the suitability of each organization to generate solar electricity on site and to serve as a public educational tool.

“This project would be highly valuable to our organization,” says Bike Works Executive Director Deb Salls, “because it would reduce our direct energy costs, leaving more resources to invest in our youth and adult education programs.  It would also be a point of pride for us and interest in the community.”

The donated solar electric system will be rated at 3 kilowatts (kW) and will include all equipment and labor required for a rooftop installation, in addition to 10 years of maintenance service (the system itself has a life expectancy of at least 25 years).  The award is approximately a $15,000 value and will provide the host organizations with an additional value of up to $750 per year in electricity savings and Washington State production incentive payments.

Progress made towards achieving the community award installation targets can be tracked at www.solarizewa.org.

About Northwest SEED: Northwest SEED is a non-profit organization that empowers community scale clean energy through expert guidance that combines technical support, community education and practical implementation. www.nwseed.org.

About Sustainable Seattle: Sustainable Seattle is a non-profit organization focused on the long-term health and sustainability of the greater Seattle area by bringing together individuals, organizations, and businesses to build a sustainable future through innovation, education, and on-the-ground projects.  www.sustainableseattle.org.

 

About Bike Works: Since 1996, Bike Works has offered innovative and engaging bicycle programs focused on youth, the environment, and the diverse community.  The mission of Bike Works is to build sustainable communities by educating youth and promoting bicycling. The donated solar array will supply electricity to the bike shop.

About Clean Greens Farm & Market: Established in 2007 with the mission to create genuine, long-term economic, environmental, and social sustainability within the community, Clean Greens Farm & Market is opening the GREAN (Growing and Retrofitting Eco-friendly Agricultural Neighborhoods) House Café to serve as a social gathering space, community meeting room, and classroom. The donated solar array will supply electricity to the GREAN House Café.

The Solarize Seattle: Central/Southeast Community Coalition is seeking applications from qualified community organizations who would like to have a donated solar photovoltaic system installed at their facility to generate renewable energy for the facility and to use as an educational tool.

The donated solar system serves as a community award for participation in Solarize Seattle: Central/Southeast, a project of Northwest Sustainable Energy for Economic Development (Northwest SEED) and Seattle City Light that is designed to accelerate solar energy installations in central and southeast Seattle neighborhoods through a group purchase of solar electric systems at a discounted price.  Participants in the project attend a free public workshop to learn the technical and economic aspects of how solar energy works in Seattle and to qualify for a free site assessment for their home or business.  The Community Coalition is comprised of individual volunteers and local non-profits, such as Sustainable Seattle who is managing the community award selection process.

Through a competitive bidding process, the Solarize Seattle: Central/Southeast Community Coalition pre-selected Puget Sound Solar and Artisan Electric as the project’s solar installation team.  As part of the project, these contractors provide solar systems at discounted rates to project participants.  In addition, this contractor team offered to donate a solar electric system to as many as two local community organizations as a reward for the Solarize project reaching pre-determined installation targets.  The first solar electric system will be awarded when 30 project participants have gone solar; the second system will be awarded when 60 participants have gone solar.

Qualifying community organizations must be located in central or southeast Seattle neighborhoods, must own their building or have a minimum 10-year lease, must be open and inclusive in engaging diverse community members, and provide a highly visible site with good access for the public to see and learn about the solar energy system.

“This is a very visible way for the homeowners to give something back to the central/southeast community when they install solar,” said Evan Leonard, Vice President of Artisan Electric. “Our goal is to increase solar awareness and build community, so donating systems based on project benchmarks made a lot of sense.”

The donated solar electric system will be rated at 3 kilowatts (kW) and will include all equipment and labor required for a rooftop installation, in addition to 10 years of maintenance service (the system itself has a life expectancy of at least 25 years).  The award of a 3 kW solar installation is approximately a $15,000 value for the installation and an additional value of up to $750 per year in electricity savings and Washington State production incentive payments.

The Request for Applications can be found at www.solarizewa.org.  The deadline for submitting an application is August 15, 2013.

Local non-profit Northwest Sustainable Energy for Economic Development (Northwest SEED) and Seattle City Light are seeking community partners for a new Solarize Washington campaign in central and southeast Seattle area neighborhoods.

Solarize Washington is a community-driven initiative to bring solar energy to homes and businesses in Seattle City Light’s service territory.  The program uses an innovative neighborhood group purchase process to achieve discounts and simplify the process of “going solar” for Seattle residents.  Solarize campaign staff work with community groups, individual volunteers, and local solar installers to provide a streamlined process and free community workshops for participants.  To date, Northwest SEED has completed six Solarize campaigns including the Seattle neighborhoods of Queen Anne, Magnolia, Northeast Seattle, and Northwest Seattle.  These campaigns have achieved discounts of up to 25 percent off the cost of a solar system and brought about the installation of nearly 200 residential solar installations in the region.

“We’re seeing more and more customers ask us about how they can install solar panels at their homes,” Seattle City Light Conservation Resources Director Glenn Atwood said. “Solarize is a great way to make that process easier and more affordable. Seattle City Light hopes to continue its partnership in other neighborhoods.”

In order to launch the next Solarize campaign this summer, Northwest SEED and Seattle City Light are seeking to connect with residents and community groups of central and southeast Seattle who want to see a Solarize campaign come to their neighborhood.  Community volunteers play an integral role in the success of a Solarize campaign, taking the lead on contractor selection and community engagement.  Participating neighborhoods will receive assistance from Northwest SEED to competitively select a solar installer, conduct neighborhood outreach and education, implement a series of free workshops, and facilitate the installation of solar PV systems.

“The idea of Solarize as a limited-time campaign appealed to me as a volunteer,” says Bill Thorness, lead organizer of the current Solarize Seattle: Northwest campaign.  “There are so many projects that feel like an open-ended commitment, but I knew with Solarize, I’d be putting effort into it for a defined amount of time.  That not only helped me commit to it, but it helps keep up the energy and excitement as the campaign rolls along.”

A volunteer orientation meeting will be held on Thursday May 2, 2013 from 6:00 to 7:45 p.m. at the Columbia City branch of the Seattle Public Library.  Additional information and volunteer job descriptions can be found online at www.solarizewa.org.  Individuals interested in joining the upcoming Solarize campaign as a volunteer should contact Mia Devine at [email protected] or 206-267-2213.