Thursday, December 2, 2010

Creating a Solar Co-op in Anthem Arizona

Over the last few months I have been considering installing solar panels on my house here in Anthem Arizona. I have been researching the solar panel technology and getting quotes from local contractors. During this process I have learned a lot. There are many things to consider in terms of installation, rebates, tax incentives, inverters, warranties, payback and efficiency. So it’s certainly more of a process than I thought. While doing some research online I learned about a couple of groups of people in California and Washington D.C. that created solar co-op's. A solar co-op can come in different forms but it's basically a group of people banding together as one in order to get a reduced price for residential solar installation. By doing this the savings can be considerable, you could expect to save between 15-30% depending on the manufacturer your working with. So in essence if you can create a cooperative of people you can buy at commercial rates. I thought to myself Anthem is a good sized community and well organized, why don't we have a solar co-op? There are approximately 30,000 people that live here, the sun shines all the time and just about every home here has access to the sun. So if we don't have one, we should create one. There are many reasons to do this other than just purely saving money. We create a greener place for our kids to grow up, we reduce our carbon footprint and we become more self-reliant by creating our own energy. We can also set a standard for other communities in Arizona to follow. Over the next couple of weeks I am going to put a template together for the new "Anthem Solar Co-op". I have a number of ideas on how to promote this to our community but I would like to hear ideas from anyone that has been apart of a solar co-op in the past or present. I would also like to hear ideas and suggestions from the people that live in Anthem. Look for another blog in the next two weeks with an update. Until then please share your comments.

Cheers, Troy Huntley

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