Solarizing Across the State

Harvard resident Tom Williams first learned about the Solarize Massachusetts Pilot this spring from a notice in the local newspaper, the Harvard Post. After attending two educational solar meetings and getting an solar assessment with New England Breeze (the Solarize Mass installer in Harvard) Williams decided that the six-year payback for a solar photovoltaic was economically good for his family, and also good for the town and the environment. 

 

Residents and business owners in the communities of Harvard, Hatfield, Scituate and Winchester have been hitting the streets and organizing online for the past three months to encourage their neighbors to adopt solar energy, thanks to the innovative new MassCEC pilot Solarize Massachusetts

 

“This is the best example of a public policy – private partnership I have ever seen. The whole process was fantastic. Also, New England Breeze had an effortless process and the installation was very professionally run,” said Williams who installed an 8.8 kW solar system on his home through Solarize Mass.

 

Launched this spring, MassCEC provided free educational outreach on solar and invited solar companies to propose tiered pricing for the installation of solar, so the more people in each community who participate, the cheaper the cost for everyone in town. Each community has had tremendous interest in the program, with crowds in excess of 100 attending many of the educational meetings held this summer, and now the results of that effort are rolling in.

 

A hard-working team of local advocates in Harvard has worked with Hudson-based solar installer New England Breeze to galvanize the community to go solar together. So far, 60 Harvard homeowners decided to put solar on their homes! These 60 systems will produce 307 kilowatts of clean, renewable energy and allow all Harvard residents who contract to install solar with New England Breeze before October 31 to achieve greater cost savings!

 

"Many volunteers in Harvard rallied to make the Solarize program spectacularly successful. As a result, over three percent of the homes in Harvard will have solar PV that will reduce the town’s carbon foot print by about 380,000 lbs of CO2 annually. It’s been fantastic to be part of such an impactful program," said Harvard resident and Solarize volunteer Jim Elkind.

 

Winchester, Hatfield and Scituate are making great progress as well. So far, 23 homeowners in Winchester have contracted to install 110 kW, reducing the price in solar for everyone in town. Hatfield is less than 1 kW away from reaching the second pricing tier, with 16 solar systems that will produce 99 kW. Through Solarize Mass, Sciutate has doubled the number of solar installations in the town, with 14 contracted so far with a capacity of 51 kW.

 

With less than one month left before the pilot concludes, these four towns are making great strides in the effort to Solarize!