This summer, homeowners in Issaquah have a chance to go solar with a community program called Solarize Issaquah. A collaborative effort of the city of Issaquah, Spark Northwest and a team of community volunteers, Solarize Issaquah is a time-limited campaign designed to help homeowners and small businesses purchase solar electric systems with a streamlined process and group purchase discount. Registration is open with upcoming workshops being held in August and September.
A volunteer committee has selected the installer Northwest Electric and Solar, after a thorough evaluation of their pricing, quality, and customer service, to provide a group purchase discount to Issaquah residents. Participants in the campaign will be eligible not only for the group discount, but also for various federal and state incentives for solar energy.
“Many people don’t realize that the price of solar has dropped over 50 percent in the past five years, so going solar is more achievable than you might think,” Jill Eikenhorst, project coordinator for Spark Northwest, said in a press release. “With federal and state incentives and the Solarize discount, solar is an effective way to lock in energy prices and produce clean energy that you can feel good about.”
Those incentives, however, may not be around for long. A federal tax credit will step down in value beginning in 2020, and state incentives may be reserved before the end of next year as well.
“Currently, most systems will pay back in five-10 years, so now is a good time to look into it,” Eikenhorst said in a press release.
To qualify for a free site assessment and community pricing, interested residents and business owners are invited to attend free educational workshops scheduled in August and September. Workshop attendees will learn about the technology, costs and incentives, maintenance and more. Registration for Solarize
Issaquah is now open at www.solarizenw.org. Workshops will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 14, 7-8:30p.m. and Monday, Sept. 10, 6:30-8 p.m. at Issaquah City Hall.
Workshops are free and open to the public, and residents and businesses in Issaquah are eligible for the group discount.
Solarize Issaquah is the 20th Solarize campaign that Spark Northwest has launched in Washington and Oregon. So far, the campaigns have resulted in over 950 solar installations and $20 million invested.
For additional information, visit www.solarizenw.org.
