Community Solar: Betting on the Sun and Community

Editor's note: The following article was written by Chris Herman and Carlo Vol of the Edmonds Community Solar Cooperative.

Our sun is 4.5 billion years old, without a power outage or a rate increase. In the Northwest, whenever there is a “solar spill” we call it a “nice day.” Using it more is part of most Americans’ energy agenda.

But there are many in our region who have a shady roof, segmented, or facing the wrong way, or who rent their home or apartment. Or maybe they’d love to support the expansion of solar energy use, but don’t have $20,000 to put into their home right now.

There is a great solution for these situations: community solar. The community solar law passed in 2009 in Washington State gives double state production incentives for community solar projects. To be classified as a community solar project, the funds have to come from the community and the solar system has to be built on a municipal, special purpose district or county building.

Community solar projects are beginning to spring up in a lot of cities in our region: Edmonds, Ellensburg, Seattle, Bainbridge, Bellevue, Olympia and others. And they are a great option for many more people because they can get into solar with a lot less of an upfront investment, pool their financial resources with others in their community or region, and build sizable solar systems together.

In countries like Germany, this has been going on for a number of years, and there are even small utility companies that are owned by large groups of common citizens. The generous state and federal incentives in Germany have resulted in Germany now being the country with the most residential solar capacity in the world.

And the interesting thing is that Germany actually gets less sun on an annual basis than Seattle.

A great example of a community solar project in the Puget Sound region that has already been successfully established and continues to grow is the Edmonds Community Solar Cooperative.

This solar co-op was formed in December 2010 and by August 2011 had built a in downtown Edmonds with the participation of 37 co-op members.

They were not only Washington residents, including the president of the Edmonds City Council and many other civic minded citizens, but also businesses and organizations such as PCC Natural Markets and the Edmonds Unitarian Universalist Church.

The co-op members are not in it just for the money, though.

The major motivator for most members is to be doing something good with their money. Clean renewable energy, locally produced with locally manufactured equipment, installed by a local company is a much more attractive option than leaving money in a big bank that does who knows what with it and pays almost nothing for the use.

“This is something positive we can do with our money that helps us, the city, the state and our planet,” said one prominent co-op member.

The Edmonds Community Solar Co-op is using locally manufactured solar equipment that stimulates our state’s economy and is selling the power to the City of Edmonds at a 40 percent discount, which helps them in tight financial times.

in late spring, in time for the long sunny summer days and any Washington State resident can buy shares of the co-op, called SunSlices.

May 4th is the last day to get SunSlice(s).

The co-op now has 62 members from all over the region, including the St. John’s Episcopal Church in Snohomish and the VP of Plug-in America, among others. Several people even bought SunSlices as gifts for their children and grandchildren to show their “eco-love” and provide ongoing income.

A limit of 40 SunSlices, per owner, has been set in order to stay within the income limits of the state incentive.

People, planet and profit are the triple bottom lines that responsible businesses strive for, and the Edmonds Community Solar Cooperative is well on the way to achieving these.

This is just one example of several community solar projects happening in our region and is a sign of the times as we move forward and beyond such a huge dependence on fossil fuels and conventional sources for our energy needs.

Anyone interested in the Edmonds solar co-op can visit their website or Facebook page.

There is also a four-minute video on YouTube.

Those who want to learn more about Edmonds Community Solar Cooperative and its Phase 2 project at the Frances Anderson Center can attend a meeting Friday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Edmonds City Hall Brackett Room, third floor.