I’ve been partnering with Our Power to let you know about community solar, and especially, to make sure that if you live in New York, you don’t miss your chance to sign up and find out when community solar New York projects become available. When Our Power’s Jessie Sitnick told me about her aunt, Toby, and why she signed up, it was such a great story, I asked her if she’d share it with you. I won’t be surprised if, when you read about Toby, you think to yourself, “That sounds just like me!”

How Toby Discovered New York’s Best Kept Secret:
Community Solar New York

As Toby flipped through the real estate pages of the New York Times last weekend, sipping her morning cup of coffee and enjoying the sunlight flooding her Brooklyn kitchen, this is the headline that caught her eye.

“I’ve been ready,” she told me. The problem was being able to take advantage of it.

“I never thought we could do it. Not where we live and not at the current cost.”

All that changed when Toby found out about community solar.

Admission: I was the one who let her in on the secret. I work in the environmental sector and we’ve bonded over the years chatting about social issues. We were on the phone and I asked her if she had heard about this new legislation that got passed in New York, which basically will make it possible for people to buy solar power from local solar gardens. That means no panel installations on your roof, no fire code worries, no big capital investments.

She said, “Count me in!”

Then I told her about Our Power, an organization that connects people to community solar projects as soon as they become available. “So I signed up,” she says, “because this is the kind of thing we’ve really been waiting for and I decided, I’m not going to miss it.”

Meet Toby – Child Psychologist, Life-long New Yorker, Hopeful Grandma

With her stylish silver hair, bright eyes, and bohemian jewelry, Toby is the quintessential baby boomer. Now in her mid-60s, Toby still works long hours as a child psychologist. Her husband is retired; her children are grown up and living on their own.

“The last big thing I want out of life is grandkids,” she says, and I can hear the smile in her voice.

“The thing is, when you get to this point in life – it’s no longer so much about you anymore. You start thinking a whole lot more about the world your kids are facing, the world your grandchildren might face. And you think, how can I make this better for them?”

Toby has always cared about the environment. She recycled before it was cool. When her son started having asthma attacks as a little boy, she worried about the air quality in the city. Was living here hurting him?

She’s kept her eye on the renewable energy movement for the past five years or so. She believes switching to solar is as much about taking a stand against climate change and pollution as anything else.

“I have friends who live outside the city – Long Island or out in the country – and they put in solar panels. It was a big deal. I mean, it was expensive, a big decision. But I was really proud of them for making that choice. Living here, it never really seemed like an option.”

“How Are We Not Doing This?”

As Toby scanned the New York Times article, the stories sounded familiar. Couples, about her age, taking out loans to afford the upfront cost of panels. Or being told that, even though they were willing to pay, that it wasn’t worth it because their roofs were flat or shaded by other buildings.

“It’s frustrating when you want to do the right thing, and you see other people doing it, but it’s just not available to you,” she said.

Toby knows that solar technology has become much more affordable in recent years and that there are also a lot of new government incentives in New York to help people convert. Living in the city is expensive, she notes.

If solar can help lower her electricity bills, that’s huge.

“When you read that these people’s electricity bill went from over $250 per month to about $36 per month, you think, how are we not doing this?” she asked, referring to the Brooklyn couple cited in the article (a filmmaker and TV producer in their late 60s).

“But then you read that it cost them almost $7,000 up front to install the panels! I get that that’s a lot less than it used to be. Still, that’s not a small amount money.”

Going, Going, Gone…

What surprised Toby the most was that the article didn’t refer to community solar at all. “They mention these solar co-op groups people are starting, which is great. But that still means people installing panels on their roofs and that’s not going to be an option for everyone. Our roof is flat, we’re surrounded by buildings. So for us, community solar will be a better way to go. But it still seems like it’s a bit of a secret.”

Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I asked. “Well, I guess right now it’s kind of good for us because I expect that as soon as more people know about this, those community solar spots will fill up pretty quickly.”

It’s not lost on Toby that these new projects will only be able to serve about 2% of New York households.

Get in On the Secret

Nevertheless, she says, “ultimately I really hope people wake up to this idea. I hope the media start talking about it too because there are plenty of people like me who are ready for solar power. We want to leave the world a better place for our grand kids. We just need the opportunity.”

Are You in on New York’s Best Kept Solar Secret?

Become an Our Power Insider today.

NOTE About Our Partners – Partnerships with groups and companies like OurPower.solar enable us to bring you valuable information that helps you live the green life that’s important to you. Our editorial opinions remain our own.

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The post Do You Know What Toby Knows? appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Do you love the idea of going solar – but worry that it’s out of reach? Or too expensive? Or both?

 A new “community solar” program in New York will make going solar easy and affordable for everyone. But unfortunately, high demand also means that not everyone will be able to get in on it.

 I think the availability of community solar is such a no-brainer that I’m working with OurPower.solar so you won’t miss out. And I have one simple message for you:

 If you can sign up, you should. Don’t wait! Go here right now and do it. 

 But if for some odd reason, you’re still on the fence about it, please read this post all the way through. For one thing, you might find out you have something in common with Socrates – yes, that Socrates.

 You…and Socrates?

Harnessing the power of the sun is as old as humankind.  The Greek philosopher Socrates wrote about the advantage of building a home with overhangs to provide shade in the summer and south facing windows to draw in the sun’s warmth in the winter.

If you’ve put awnings over your windows for summer shade and keep the curtains open in the winter to let the warm winter sun in, well, let’s just say, you and Socrates could have been pals.

The Anasazi people who lived in the American Southwest more than 800 years ago didn’t know Socrates, but they were smart like him, and built their homes in south-facing cliffs so they could take advantage of the sun’s changing position in summer and winter both.

The Moon Landing, Panic at the Pump and Solar Power

Fast forward to the 1960s. Most people probably think the biggest technological achievement of those years had to do with us landing on the moon. But that’s also when we developed the modern-day solar cell. This breakthrough solution gave us the ability to transform the sun’s rays into electricity to power and heat our homes, warm our water, and fuel our industries and even our cars.

The oil embargo of 1973 sent Americans scrambling for energy – and also drove scientists to find an energy solution that would make us less dependent on oil from overseas.

Many of us would agree, given the hostilities we see in the world around us, that that goal is still important.

Today, we’re facing an additional threat—one that also risks world and national security and the future of the next generation: climate change.

But the silver lining in that very dark cloud is that, our dawning understanding that fossil fuels—like oil and gas—are driving serious environmental harm has spurred even greater innovation in solar technology.

Globally, since 2010, solar installations have risen on average 58% year after year.

Meanwhile, the cost of solar tech has dropped by 10% every year since 1980.

The US is on the verge of its 1 millionth solar installation.

No wonder Bloomberg predicts that solar is bound to be the most affordable energy generation technology across the world by 2030.

Why Don’t We All Have Solar Power?

Despite all of this progress and our increased desire and demand for solar energy, it’s still out of reach for almost half of Americans.

According to the National Renewable Energy Lab, 49% of US households can’t go solar, even if they want to, because they don’t have the right kind of roof, can’t afford the system, or because they don’t own their homes.

But that’s about to change—at least for some of us.

Community Solar Makes Solar Easy and Accessible at a Price We Can Afford

A new innovative program in New York called community solar will vastly decrease the cost of going solar and make it much easier for anyone to tap into the power of the sun.

That’s because community solar doesn’t require any kind of installation on your roof and, in most cases, no upfront capital costs.

Instead, it lets you tap into the energy produced by a local solar garden (a large group or array of solar panels).

Joining will be as easy as subscribing to a new cellphone plan.

And the cost savings will start right away, because the energy you buy from the solar garden will cost less than the energy you currently buy from your utility.

 So…What’s the Catch?

We know that the demand for this new program will far exceed the available spots.

94% of New Yorkers have said they are interested in using more solar power.

But community solar projects will only be able to accommodate 2% of New York households.

That’s why, if you want it, or even think you might want it, you need to sign up for it – now.

Good Thing Signing Up Is Free!

Signing up is free. It doesn’t cost anything to put your name on a list so that, as community solar projects get built, you can find out when you can actually start to benefit from them.

If you don’t sign up, someone else will. Shouldn’t you at least save your spot?

I would if I were you.

Photo Credits
Socrates – Dimitris Kamaras
Sun shot – Art4theGlryofGod by Sharon

The post The Best Chance to Get Solar Power You Might Miss Out On appeared first on Big Green Purse.