Solarize Kearsarge Sparks Great Interest at Launch Event

Over 50 Andover households considering solar

October 21, 2014 • Saved under News
Press release
The launch event for Solarize Kearsarge on October 18 drew approximately 160 attendees from Andover, New London, and Wilmot. Nearly 90 of them signed up to have ReVision Energy do a free evaluation of their home's potential for saving money by generating solar electricity. Photo: Larry Chase
The launch event for Solarize Kearsarge on October 18 drew approximately 160 attendees from Andover, New London, and Wilmot. Nearly 90 of them signed up to have ReVision Energy do a free evaluation of their home’s potential for saving money by generating solar electricity. Photo: Larry Chase

An audience of more than 160, mostly from Andover, New London, and Wilmot, filled Clements Hall on the Colby-Sawyer College campus on October 18 as representatives from Vital Communities, a Vermont-based nonprofit, and ReVision Energy, an Exeter-based installer of solar-electric systems, told them of the benefits – economic and environmental – of owning their own solar electricity-producing installations.

Solarize Kearsarge Holds Open Houses

Solarize Kearsarge will host two open houses at local residences equipped with photovoltaic systems:

  • Saturday, November 1, 10 to 2, at 206 Bridge Road, Andover, home of Steve and Gisela Darling
  • Saturday, November 15, 2 to 4, at 438 Hall Farm Road, New London, home of the Harris family

For more information, and directions, visit VitalCommunities.org/solarize/Kearsarge. As additional open houses are scheduled, they will be posted there.

Of those in attendance, 89 signed up for the free site evaluations offered by ReVision: 51 from Andover, 22 from New London, and 16 from Wilmot. Site evaluations determine the suitability of a property for a solar-electric installation and provide a preliminary estimate of the cost . Property-owners who were unable to attend the October 18 session but are interested in a site evaluation can go to VitalCommunities.org/Solarize/Kearsarge to request one.

The presentations marked the launch of Solarize Kearsarge, a 15-week effort to educate property-owners in Andover, New London, and Wilmot about the advantages of solar-electric (or photovoltaic, or PV) systems for their homes and small businesses.

Speaking for ReVision Energy, solar design specialist Jonathan Gregory described how photovoltaic systems work; their economic and environmental advantages over non-renewable energy sources; the variety of rebates, incentives, and discounts available; various financing opportunities; and the reasons to act during the 15 weeks of the Solarize project.

Among the reasons to act now, Gregory said, is that ReVision is offering a sliding-scale pricing structure that, put simply, will mean that the more residents who sign contracts for system installations between now and the end of January, the greater the installer’s discount for everyone. He offered a table (see below) showing all incentives, rebates, and discounts for a system designed to meet the electricity needs of an average New Hampshire home.

Sarah Simonds, energy program manager at Vital Communities, told the audience of the success of the previous Solarize round, in which 120 property owners across the Vermont-New Hampshire Upper Connecticut Valley signed contracts for photovoltaic system installations on their homes. She added, “We’re delighted to see the size of today’s event and are excited about the momentum being generated, here and in the seven other Upper Valley communities in the current Solarize round.”

Simonds’ and Gregory’s presentations may be viewed on Andover’s cable TV community access channels at times to be determined.

For additional information, and to be kept informed about more coming events, send your name and e-mail address to Larry Chase (Andover) at LBChase@nullaol.com; Bill Spear (New London) at WSpear@nullcolby-sawyer.edu; or Tom Schamberg (Wilmot) at Tom@nullYourPromoSolution.com.

For more information about ReVision Energy, visit ReVisionEnergy.com. For more information about Vital Communities, visit VitalCommunities.org.

This special pricing for the Solarize Kearsarge program comes from a slide shown by ReVision Energy at the October 18 launch event. Assuming that the systems installed average 5kW of capacity, then Tier 1 is the per-watt price for everyone if up to six systems are installed. Tier 2 would be the price if up to 14 systems are installed; Tiers 3 through 5 represent up to 24, 36, and more than 36 systems, respectively. At the launch event, 89 households signed up for a free evaluation of their solar potential (51 of those in Andover!). If just 42% of those households purchase a system during the Solarize Kearsarge, they'll all get the Tier 5 pricing.
This special pricing for the Solarize Kearsarge program comes from a slide shown by ReVision Energy at the October 18 launch event. Assuming that the systems installed average 5kW of capacity, then Tier 1 is the per-watt price for everyone if up to six systems are installed. Tier 2 would be the price if up to 14 systems are installed; Tiers 3 through 5 represent up to 24, 36, and more than 36 systems, respectively. At the launch event, 89 households signed up for a free evaluation of their solar potential (51 of those in Andover!). If just 42% of those households purchase a system during the Solarize Kearsarge, they’ll all get the Tier 5 pricing.