in Efforts to Solarize the Upper Valley
Volunteers and community members celebrate the success of Solarize Cornish-Plainfield. Photos courtesy Vital Communities.
By Allison E. Rogers Furbish
Residents and small businesses in 10 towns will have the opportunity to participate in Vital Communities’ successful Solarize Upper Valley program this fall and winter.
Volunteers in Andover, New London, Wilmot, Hanover, and Orford, New Hampshire, and Randolph, Brookfield, Braintree, Woodstock, and Pomfret, Vermont, are spearheading outreach campaigns in their communities to make it easier for neighbors in town to go solar – and less expensive, if they do it by January 31, 2015.
Interested residents are encouraged to attend the Solarize launch event in their community to learn about the program, meet their partner installer, and talk with friends and neighbors who are also considering solar energy.
Nancy Mogielnicki was a core volunteer for Solarize Cornish-Plainfield last spring. She and husband Peter also went solar through the program.
Solarize Upper Valley is a program of Vital Communities aimed at making residential and small business solar photovoltaic (PV) energy more accessible across the region. The program teams up local volunteers with solar PV installers for a 15-week outreach campaign to help residents go solar.
With resources and support from dedicated community volunteers and a trusted partner installer, Solarize makes it easy for homeowners to take the first step – request a free site visit. And through Solarize Upper Valley’s tiered pricing structure, the cost goes down for everyone as more people sign contracts to go solar with the community’s partner installer.
In the inaugural round of Solarize Upper Valley, which ran from March through June 2014, 120 homeowners added 638 kilowatts of solar capacity in Thetford and Strafford, Vermont, and Cornish, Plainfield, and Lyme, New Hampshire.
Vital Communities recently released its Solarize Upper Valley Round One Report, summarizing the program, its results, and lessons learned. The full report and details about Solarize Upper Valley are available at VitalCommunities.org/Solarize.
Solarize Upper Valley Launch Events
- Solarize Hanover
- Thursday, October 23, 6:30 pm Hanover High School
- Solarize Kearsarge (Andover, New London, Wilmot)
- Saturday, October 18, 10 am Colby-Sawyer College, New London
- Solarize Orford
- Saturday, October 18, 1 pm Rivendell Academy
- Solarize Pomfret-Woodstock
- Thursday, October 16, 7 pm (location to be determined)
- Solarize Randolph-Brookfield-Braintree
- Tuesday, October 14, 7 pm Randolph Union High School
Learn more: VitalCommunities.org/Solarize
Leave a Reply