Solarize Seattle: Northeast is here!

Solarize Seattle is a concept borrowed from Portland.  The idea is that by pulling a community together, bulk discounts can be negotiated from suppliers and everyone gets a terrific deal installing solar on your home.  What’s great about this idea is that it really works.  In the current campaign, Solarize Seattle: Northeast, prices are about 25% less than what a home owner might expect if they were to go it alone.  Once you take into account production incentives, tax credits, and tax exemptions, you could save up to 50% on the upfront cost of your solar array in the first year.  

Solarize Washington is a Northwest SEED initiative designed to bring solar energy to Washington homes.  By partnering with grassroots sustainability groups and local installers, we help neighbors come together to enjoy significant discounts through the group purchase of solar systems.  The Solarize initiative provides a streamlined process through which neighbors can collectively decide where to start, how to budget, what to buy, and who to hire.

So once upon a time (2011), Sustainable Northeast Seattle, a community group, teamed up with Northwest SEED, a local non-profit.   Together they approached the Seattle solar installer community, and ran us through the wringer.  Our proposals were graded on experience, expertise, capacity, sustainability practices, sales practices, health and safety records, employment practices, quality at all levels of the installation and customer service, and last but not least price.  In the end, program participants get to rest easy knowing the hard part of the homework has been done: who do I shop with, and how do I know I’m getting the best possible price?  NW SEED and Sustainable Northeast Seattle selected A&R Solar and Northwest Wind & Solar.  Why two contractors?  A&R Solar and Northwest Wind & Solar self-selected each other to work together as a team.  We wanted to bring the best value to the program, and knew that by collaborating together we could do it better than anyone else.

You can participate on several levels.  For those with little time on your hands, just register and attend a free workshop or webinar to learn more about the program and how solar works in Seattle.  After that you qualify for a free site assessment.  The assessment will often start over the phone using aerial photography, and could end with a company representative coming to your house to take precise measurements.  After that you’ll receive a proposal based on the pricing negotiated by the selection committee before the program kicked off.  Then it’s up to you whether or not to go solar.

Another way to participate is to become a volunteer.  We always need people to help at events, put on events, and just get the word out.  So again:

The process to get involved is very easy.

1.       Register online – it’s super quick and easy

2.       Attend a workshop.

3.       Receive a free site assessment.

4.       Receive a fixed price proposal.

5.       Install solar panels.

6.       6. Bask in the glory of knowing you produce your own clean green energy.

7.       Tell your neighbors and friends about Solarize Seattle: Northeast

There’s only one catch:  there is only a short window of time to participate.  Registration opened on Tuesday and closes April 23^rd.  Don’t hesitate to register now.  There is no obligation and no cost to participate.  So what are you waiting for?

Solar Industry Cost Overview

While reading the morning paper, I came across an article about cost trends an renewable energy technologies.  The conclusion of the article is very encouraging.  To paraphrase, many renewables are on the cusp of obtaining "grid parity" (ie- they cost the same as fossil fuels.) And they're achieving parity without considering the environmental costs (pollution) of utilizing fossils.  If you pair this article with the information from yesterday's post about the paltry subsidies renewables receive you can start to get extremely excited about the renewable revolution that's right around the corner.  My conclusion?  Even if the government won't support renewables the way it supports fossils, these industries are going to keep growing anyway.  Clean green future, here we come.

Holy Subsidies Batman!

Sometimes I wonder, "would solar be doing as well as it is without the subsidies from the Federal Government?" And then I saw the following infographic and thought, "Egads! How many hundreds of thousands of jobs would be created if our industry got a fraction of the subsidies as the other guys?!"


Just imagine what kind of clean green future we could have with a real investment in renewables by the United States of America?

Check it out:
http://holykaw.alltop.com/what-if-solar-got-fossil-fuel-subsidies-infog

Refer Friends. Make Money. Make a Difference.

A&R Solar has launched a new referral program where we pay you $100 for every Kilowatt of installed solar power that you send our way, up to $500! While we focus on high quality installations and top-notch customer service, we rely mainly on word of mouth advertising from our fans and customers to drive business our way. This is where you come in....

You can make up to $500 per referral just by spreading the word about the benefits of going solar and how amazingly amazing our company is! At the same time, you'll be helping to lower our collective environmental footprint, securing our energy independence, and bolstering a green economy.

On average, our customers install 20 panels rated at 240 Watts each, totaling 4.8 kW, or a referral of $480! Use this money to "speed up" the payback of your own solar system, put it toward your child's college fund, or pay off those student loans! There is no limit on the amount of customers you can be paid on for sending our way, so why not start now?

Did you know that prices for solar energy systems are the cheapest they have ever been, with paybacks as quick as 7 years in our not-so-sunny city of Seattle? What about the fact that energy prices continue to rise, and going solar allows you to lock in your rate for 25-30 years? There are plenty of other reasons why going solar is not only a smart decision, but the right thing to do for our communities and our planet.

If you have any friends, neighbors, or family members living around Puget Sound who may want to become solar powered, please pass along our information. We are extremely grateful for any and all of your support.

* Note: On November 30th, 2011 this program was changed to limit the maximum referral amount to $500 per new customer. There is still no limit on the amount of total referrals.

Washington's First & Only 110% Performance Guarantee

As a company that prides itself on being honest and transparent with its customers, A&R Solar has launched the state's first 110% Solar Performance Guarantee on all of our PV systems. Our program will demonstrate to the masses that solar isn't just a smart idea in theory or on paper, but in actual, real life....even in the Northwest.

Our offer is simple: your solar PV system performs the way we say it will, or we refund 110% of all missed energy savings and state production incentive credits.

To learn more about our performance guarantee or find out how solar can save you money, reach out to us by calling 206-707-9937 or e-mailing info@a-rsolar.com.