The Communities of Caroline, Danby, and Dryden
have joined forces to Solarize their towns!

Solarize Tompkins SE  is bringing solar home to Caroline, Dryden, and Danby in 2013. This is a volunteer effort in our communities to make Solar Energy attainable for all. By reducing cost and complexity through our community purchasing program, we are working to reduce the financial and psychological barriers to going solar. This program is open to residences, farmers, business owners, municipalities, and institutions.

Time left to ENROLL!
(remember, enrollment is NOT a financial commitment, implied or otherwise!). That only comes when you approve and sign a contract for your individual system. 

Tompkins County, New York

Solarize Tompkins SE 2013 is limited to these three towns, but anyone can attend workshops

Enrollment Form

Enrollment in the Solarize Program is now open

Enrollment Form

We are grateful to the following sponsors of our program:

Solarize Tompkins SE is up and running!
Our installers were chosen on April 19, after a careful and comprehensive evaluation process. In addition to services and pricing, we considered company profile (stability, structure, and financial status), experience and qualifications of personnel, employment practices, training opportunities in the renewable energy trade, sustainability practices, and community service. We are happy to have found two excellent solar providers to work with us this year. And they are:

Solar PV (electricity) will be offered by SOLAR LIBERTY

Solar Thermal (hot water) will be offered by RENOVUS ENERGY

Enrollment opened on April 23 at our first workshop and now site assessments have begun for our first enrollees!


PLEASE NOTE: Our "INTEREST SURVEY" is not the "ENROLLMENT FORM." If you filled out an interest survey for us some time ago, thank you. That was helpful to us in developing our program. But now, to enroll you should complete our "Enrollment Form." You will be able to complete most of it off the top of your head, but one crucial piece of documentation that you will need if you're considering solar electric (PV) is a recent bill from your supplier. From that, you will be able to give a good approximation of your electricity use, and later on your installer will need a copy of that statement when they submit your information to NYSERDA for approval of your system. 
 
Public Workshop #3 in Brooktondale had the largest turnout yet, with about 50 attendees! Great questions from the audience and informative presentations by Joe Sliker from Renovus and Rory Root from Solar Liberty. We're down to our last three public workshops. You only need attend one, but you're welcome to attend as many as you'd like!

Solar Liberty is offering our program a base price of $3.75/W, 32% below last year’s average price of solar PV in Tompkins County ($5.5/W). In addition, if the Danby, Caroline, and Dryden communities achieve a combined total of 200 kW of installed PV (about 30-40 homes and businesses), the tiered pricing incentive will drop the price further to as little as $3.05 per Watt. Combined with the federal and state tax credits and New York’s NYSERDA rebate, the finals costs of these solar PV systems can be as little as about $3000 for a 5 kW system. Leasing, low-interest loan offerings, and additional incentive grants are also available. With payments less than the value of the electricity you will be generating, you can have clean renewable energy and start saving money immediately by going solar today!  Come to one of our final workshops. Don’t miss this opportunity!  Program enrollment ends June 15th!

Sat, May 18, 10-12 am, Caroline Town Hall (map)
Tues, May 21, 7-9 pm, Danby Town Hall
Wed, May 29, 7-9 pm, Danby Fire Hall

or see our Calendar of Events

How does Solarize work? It's pretty simple...
1. We've selected NYSERDA-qualified solar professionals for our program in a competitive bid process, and...

2. Now were working to educate our community about the benefits of going solar, and the options being offered by our chosen installers. Our public workshops are key here, and we hope these will inspire a spontaneous "buzz" in our communities that will build to get the word out. Of course our crack team of 20 citizen volunteers is working tirelessly to support this initiative, and let their friends and neighbors know about this sensible solution to home-grown energy! If you thought going solar was beyond your reach, we urge you to come to a workshop. We think you'll change your mind!

Once you've informed yourself about the advantages and affordability of solar and want to move forward, the next step is enrollment, which will give us the essential information to begin installer evaluation of your site and your energy usage. For solar electric, you will want a recent utility statement to give us a good idea of your usage. We will then forward your information to the appropriate installer(s) and you will be in line for a site assessment and development of a project proposal for you. You are under no obligation at this point: your commitment to solar only  comes when you approve and sign a contract with the installing firm.

When you agree to contract for a solar energy system, your installer will prepare and submit the paperwork to NYSERDA (New York State Energy and Research Development Authority - hence, the acronym!) for approval of your system and your NYSERDA incentive (refunded directly to the installer). The NYSERDA review takes about 4-6 weeks.

When the installer receives NYSERDA approval, installation of your system will begin!

Link to your Town
Caroline
Danby
Dryden

Other 2013 New York
Solarize Campaigns

Solarize New York
Madison County
Genesee County

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This  campaign has been launched entirely by volunteer effort!  Expenses exist for printing, communications, community meetings, and a project manager. Please consider donating to help this exciting program develop to its full potential.

Finlo Solar Powers installing 12.6 kW Photovoltaic Array on New Caroline Annex buillding April 2010