Seattle, WA – 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.
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.
###
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Solar Group Purchase Campaign Launches for Central and Southeast Seattle
Seattle, WA – Solar
energy is currently powering hundreds of Seattle homes, and residents of
Capitol Hill, the Central District, Beacon Hill, Rainier Valley, and other
central and southeast Seattle neighborhoods are about to get a special
opportunity to add their rooftops to our city’s growing solar array. Through a
nonprofit-led program called Solarize Seattle, homes and small businesses can
qualify for special pricing and take advantage of many incentives that make
solar installations more affordable than ever.
Northwest Sustainable Energy for
Economic Development (Northwest SEED) and Seattle City Light are working with
several community groups to launch Solarize Seattle: Central/Southeast, a solar
energy education and installation program that starts today and runs through
October. The program will be co-led by a
community coalition of local volunteers, which will spearhead neighborhood
outreach. Supporting organizations include Sustainable Seattle, Sustainable
Capitol Hill, and Sustainable Central District.
The campaign features a group-buy
program that provides a streamlined process for residents and small businesses
to purchase solar systems for a discounted price. Participants learn how solar
works in Seattle, how it is installed, what tax and production incentives are
available to bring the price down, and how low-interest financing can spread
out the cost. The limited-time campaign
intends to install over 200 kilowatts of solar energy in central and southeast
Seattle by the end of 2013.
Through a
competitive bidding process, the Solarize Seattle: Central/Southeast Community
Coalition selected Puget Sound Solar and Artisan Electric as the project’s
solar installation team. These
contractors will offer solar systems at discounted rates to project
participants.
Solarize Seattle: Central/Southeast will
be the seventh campaign of Northwest SEED’s Solarize Washington program (www.solarizewa.org). Northwest SEED’s four campaigns
in Seattle have resulted in over 1 MW of solar added to the city’s electric
grid. To date, Solarize Washington
campaigns have educated over 1,750 people at public workshops, encouraged
nearly 300 residents to install solar on their homes, and injected more than $7.5
million into the local solar economy.
Registration for Solarize Seattle: Central/Southeast opens
Monday, July 8. Registration is open to
Seattle residents who live in the geographic area bordered by the Montlake cut
to the north, I-5 to the west, Lake Washington to the east, and the City of
Seattle boundary to the south. Free
educational workshops will be held on Jul. 23, Aug. 15, Aug. 27, and Sep. 18. For more information, visit 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 Seattle
City Light: Seattle City Light is the 10th largest
public electric utility in the United States. It has some of the lowest cost
customer rates of any urban utility, providing reliable, renewable and
environmentally responsible power to nearly 1 million Seattle area residents.
City Light has been greenhouse gas neutral since 2005, the first electric
utility in the nation to achieve that distinction. www.seattle.gov/light.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Sales Tax Exemption
One of the main financial incentives
for Washington State residents interested in installing solar has
been the Washington State Sales Tax Exemption. This tax incentive was
set to expire on Sunday, June 30th and dramatically
increased the length of time for a typical PV system to pay itself
off. Artisan Electric has been working overtime to ensure that all of
our customers could get their solar tax-free before the incentive
expired, but we couldn't meet the needs of everybody before June
30th. In fact, the whole solar industry has been suffering
from capacity issues over the last few months, so there's definitely
been a huge strain on all of us.
Luckily, over the weekend the
Washington State House and Senate “heroically” passed a budget
bill in the 11th hour which included an extension for
the solar sales tax exemption to 2018. This extension will not only
allow Artisan Electric to provide a better price to our customers for
the Solarize Central/Southeast and beyond, it will increase the
amount of solar installations across the state. And that, after all,
is what it's all about.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Vashon Solar Tour: June 30th, 9am - 5pm
 |
| This ground mount installation is one of the many systems available to view during the Vashon Solar Tour |
Artisan Electric will once again be hosting the 4th Annual Vashon Solar Tour on June 30th from 9am - 5pm. The self guided tour will feature recent solar installations around the island, giving those interested in renewable energy a chance to view different systems and chat with islanders about their experience going solar.
Artisan Electric asks that you follow tour signs; parking and sites will be well marked. Enjoy yourself, ask questions, and most importantly have a great day!
Vashon Solar Tour maps can be picked up at Artisan Electric's booth at the Caulk the Rock festival from 10am - 3pm, scanning the QR code, clicking the individual site links, or by clicking the online site map link below.
For more information, contact Grace Willard at: grace@artisanelectricinc.com
11515 105th Place SW
This is a west-facing array that performs extremely well due to relatively few horizon obstructions and the low pitch of the roof.
17300 96th Place SW
10014 Bank Rd SW
Both the V/MI Land Trust and the Vashon Household/JG Commons are Community Solar Projects made possible by Sustainable Vashon’s Solar Initiative.
19834 Vashon HWY SW
An example of a ground mount installation.
20120 Vashon HWY SW
This is an educational and demonstration PV array for the students of VHS and the greater Vashon community that was funded by a Careers Technical Education Grant.
21412 Tramp Harbor Rd
A steep roof installation on a beautiful craftsman owner renovated home.
24430 Old Mill Rd SW
Another fantastic example of a ground mount system.
Another fantastic example of a ground mount system.
6207 SW Luana Beach Rd
5213 SW Point Robinson Rd
Solar panels form the roof of this installation.
10. Rogers Residence
28029 133rd Ave SW
This installation is a “single size” array, with a relatively small footprint. The resident found another use for the array – storing her kayak to keep it out of the rain.
Access the map using your smartphone:
.tiff)
Caulk the Rock Energy Fair: June 30th, 10am - 3pm
 |
| GreenTech was one of last year's exhibitors will all electric vehicles (Image courtesy of WisEnergy) |
WisEnergy will be hosting the 3rd annual Caulk the Rock Energy Fair on June 30th from 10am to 3pm in the Island Lumber parking lot. The fair will feature 40 different vendors specializing in green/renewable energy from throughout the Puget Sound or the greater northwest area.
Caulk the Rock Energy Fair is also the official head quarters of the 4th Annual Vashon Solar Home Tour - stop by to see our demo Silicon Energy solar module, pick up a Solar Tour Map, or sign up for a free solar site evaluation.
You might also want to check out our partners Sustainable Works, Puget Sound Cooperative Credit Union, and Revolution Green Power who will also be present at the fair.
Visit WISEnergy Vashon's website to see the full roster of 2012 vendors.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Community Solar at Jefferson Park
Rather than attaching solar panels to a preexisting roof, Seattle City Light (SCL) designed the shelters to be dual functioning, using the modules themselves as the roof structures. Most solar modules are structurally weak and unsuitable to be used as a roofing material. However, the Silicon Energy modules use glass on both sides of the solar cells, forming structurally robust frameless “tiles” that allow light to penetrate around the edges of the cells. Between the overlapping modules, gaskets were attached to block rain blowback from prevailing winds. The picnic shelters were not designed to be waterproof, however, and some leakage around the bedrails or “mounting feet” is expected. If desired, this type of shelter could be more rain tight by installing vertical gutters sandwiched between the mounting feet and steel rafters, diverting all water shed by the shelters into the existing attached gutter at the bottom of the array.
The new SiE5300 inverters are single phase by default and needed to be reconfigured to 208V without a neutral in order to backfeed into the preexisting three-phase SCL service at the park. Custom service cabinets were built by Skyline Electric, located in downtown Seattle, in order to accommodate the ventilation needs of the inverters while protecting the equipment from vandalism (or stray condiments).
Unlike most community solar projects in the state, the Jefferson Park shelters are highly visible and meant to be an integral part of everyday park usage. Jefferson Park users have sought covered picnic areas for more than a decade, but tight budgets had kept the Seattle Parks Department from providing them until now. The Community Solar project was developed with the help of a $300,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. City Light customers can purchase units of the array for $600 each, which in turn cuts down on their monthly utility bill. According to Seattle City Light, most of the 500 units having already been sold, which will create a rotating fund for the utility’s next solar projects in the near future.
“I’m very happy to be a part of this program,” said Robert Hinrix of Beacon Hill, one of the project’s founding members. “I’ve been a longtime supporter of alternative energy, going back 30 years almost. This is a way I can put my money where my beliefs are and make something happen. I encourage all of my neighbors and fellow citizens of Seattle to consider it.”
Thursday, January 26, 2012
COMMUNITY SOLAR PROJECT TO BE PLACE AT THE HARBOR SCHOOL, VASHON
Here's an article that came out yesterday about the community solar project we will be installing next month here on
Vashon, WA. I'm not sure how accurate my statement is about finding investors, but hopefully people are interested in supporting this effort.
URL: http://www.vashonbeachcomber.com/news/138000353.html
By LESLIE BROWN
Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber Editor
JANUARY 24, 2012 · UPDATED 2:47 PM
Vashon Solar LLC is poised to install the Island’s first community solar project, an array that will be perched next to The Harbor School and could eventually kick out enough power to heat three houses.
Evan Leonard, solar project manager at Artisan Electric and a board member for Vashon Solar LLC, said the group is thrilled to have found a spot for the array, which will be installed in two phases this winter and spring.
“It’s wonderful,” he said. “It’s been a long time coming and a lot of hard work.”
The group, led by Vashon architect Gib Dammann, has been searching for months for a site for a community-based system, racing to get a project installed so as to take full advantage of generous state incentives slated to end in 2020. Another group, Vashon Community Solar, a project spearheaded by The Backbone Campaign, is also working to develop a site.
Leonard said the site at The Harbor School is ideal. The array will be situated on the ground on the south side of the building, where on a sunny day it would have 98 percent sun exposure — meaning that “from sun up to sun down 98 percent of the time the sun is hitting that surface,” Leonard said.
“That’s pretty rare. We’ve got a lot of trees on Vashon,” he said.
The project will be funded by Islanders investing $5,000 to $35,000 each, Leonard said. The group expects to have about 20 investors, ponying up a total of $250,000.
A federal tax credit gives each investor a 30 percent construction refund for various green energy projects, meaning that an investor who provides $5,000 toward the project can reduce his or her tax bill by $1,500.
The state Legislature, meanwhile, sweetened the pot with a bill it passed two years ago in an effort to stimulate a solar panel manufacturing industry: For every kilowatt hour produced by a system manufactured in the state and placed at a public building, the entity that created the project receives $1.08 — or 10 times the market value of the electricity — to be divvied up among its investors.
The Harbor School is private but its building and land are owned by the Vashon Island School District. The array will benefit the private school, not the district, Leonard said. But when the school’s lease is up, “It’ll be a good leverage point for the district,” he said.
Finding investors won’t be a problem, he added. “Already several people have shown a high level of interest,” he said.
Vashon, WA. I'm not sure how accurate my statement is about finding investors, but hopefully people are interested in supporting this effort.
URL: http://www.vashonbeachcomber.com/news/138000353.html
By LESLIE BROWN
Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber Editor
JANUARY 24, 2012 · UPDATED 2:47 PM
Vashon Solar LLC is poised to install the Island’s first community solar project, an array that will be perched next to The Harbor School and could eventually kick out enough power to heat three houses.
Evan Leonard, solar project manager at Artisan Electric and a board member for Vashon Solar LLC, said the group is thrilled to have found a spot for the array, which will be installed in two phases this winter and spring.
“It’s wonderful,” he said. “It’s been a long time coming and a lot of hard work.”
The group, led by Vashon architect Gib Dammann, has been searching for months for a site for a community-based system, racing to get a project installed so as to take full advantage of generous state incentives slated to end in 2020. Another group, Vashon Community Solar, a project spearheaded by The Backbone Campaign, is also working to develop a site.
Leonard said the site at The Harbor School is ideal. The array will be situated on the ground on the south side of the building, where on a sunny day it would have 98 percent sun exposure — meaning that “from sun up to sun down 98 percent of the time the sun is hitting that surface,” Leonard said.
“That’s pretty rare. We’ve got a lot of trees on Vashon,” he said.
The project will be funded by Islanders investing $5,000 to $35,000 each, Leonard said. The group expects to have about 20 investors, ponying up a total of $250,000.
A federal tax credit gives each investor a 30 percent construction refund for various green energy projects, meaning that an investor who provides $5,000 toward the project can reduce his or her tax bill by $1,500.
The state Legislature, meanwhile, sweetened the pot with a bill it passed two years ago in an effort to stimulate a solar panel manufacturing industry: For every kilowatt hour produced by a system manufactured in the state and placed at a public building, the entity that created the project receives $1.08 — or 10 times the market value of the electricity — to be divvied up among its investors.
The Harbor School is private but its building and land are owned by the Vashon Island School District. The array will benefit the private school, not the district, Leonard said. But when the school’s lease is up, “It’ll be a good leverage point for the district,” he said.
Finding investors won’t be a problem, he added. “Already several people have shown a high level of interest,” he said.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)