Walnut Creek 1 Of 4 Cities Partnering To Help Residents Pool Solar-Buying Power

From city of Walnut Creek:

Walnut Creek, Concord, Fremont and Lafayette are partnering to make it easier for Bay Area homeowners to go solar through the East Bay SunShares program.

East Bay SunShares allows local residents to pool their purchasing power and receive bulk discounts for installing solar systems. Free informational workshops will be offered over the next three months to provide information and help with the sign-up process.

“Solar is our nation’s fastest growing source of new electric generation, but many homeowners still feel overwhelmed by the process or cost of going solar. That’s why the City of Walnut Creek has teamed up with neighboring communities to offer East Bay SunShares and make it easy for our residents to connect with affordable solar power,” said WC Mayor Bob Simmons.

The 2015 East Bay SunShares program is open to homeowners in participating cities, and as well as those who work in one of the participating cities and own a home in one of the nine Bay Area counties. Multiple financing options are being offered including direct purchase, leasing, power purchase agreements and Property Assessed Clean Energy financing.

Qualified homeowners start by receiving a no-cost, no-obligation site evaluation to determine if their home is suitable for solar. Homeowners can then choose to work with local solar installers who were selected by East Bay SunShares’ community evaluation committee following a rigorous Request for Proposals process. To take advantage of the volume discount, participants must sign a contract with one of the selected installers by November 6, 2015.

At the free workshops, local community solar experts will explain how solar works and answer questions to help residents decide whether solar energy is right for their home. The workshops will also cover information about federal tax credits (available until 2016) and financing options available that will help homeowners install solar and save on their utility bills for years to come.

Walnut Creek will hold East Bay SunShares workshops in the Council Chamber at City Hall at 7-8:30 p.m. August 20 and 10 a.m. to noon September 19. Homeowners can RSVP through the News & Events section of the East Bay SunShares website.

Attending a workshop is not a requirement for participation in the program. East Bay SunShares will kick off in August and interested homeowners can visit the program website to sign-up and view a list of scheduled events.

“East Bay SunShares is helping these communities build awareness, lower solar costs, and lead on climate action in one fell swoop. We are proud to be working with these cities to help their residents ‘put solar on it’ during the hottest months of the year and build a better energy system one rooftop at a time,” said Jessie Denver, Vote Solar program director.

Administered by the non-profit Vote Solar, East Bay SunShares helps neighbors navigate the process of going solar together. Previous SunShares programs in the San Francisco Bay Area have resulted in more than 500 homeowners going solar at prices below the average market rate. These systems total almost 2 megawatts of new local solar capacity, reducing electricity costs for participants and delivering economic, health and environmental benefits community-wide.

For more information please visit: http://www.mygroupenergy.com/eastbaysunshares