By Brian Beaumont
Northwest Sustainable Energy for Economic Development (Northwest SEED), Sustainable Queen Anne, and Sunergy Systems are launching a new project – Solarize Queen Anne – a community-driven effort designed to bring widespread use of solar energy to Seattle homes.
Solarize Queen Anne provides a way for residents to get solar panels installed on their homes for less cost than that of a typical solar installation. In addition, the project will incorporate a large amount of education about the benefits of solar energy. A similar program initiated in Portland last year witnessed unprecedented success, more than quadrupling the number of residential solar installations in that city.
Solarize Queen Anne is the pilot project of Solarize Seattle, an initiative launched by Northwest SEED to accelerate the pace of solar installations in Seattle. While registration for the pilot is limited to Queen Anne residents, Northwest SEED anticipates rolling out the Solarize program in two additional neighborhoods in 2011. “With this program, we hope to streamline the process of installing solar, deliver significant cost savings, and unleash the demand for solar energy in Seattle,” said Jennifer Grove, Executive Director of Northwest SEED.
Appeared in The Seattle PI on January 6, 2011.