Solar co-ops aim to help homeowners

Groups work to limit costs

If the recent battle over “smart solar” got you thinking about installing a rooftop solar energy system at your home, here’s one way to get detailed information, including prices, with no pressure to buy.

Two solar purchasing cooperatives recently formed in Broward County, both to educate residents about the nuts and bolts of going solar, and to find out what kind of pricing can be obtained by combining members’ purchasing power.

Kay Sommers, senior natural resources specialist at Broward County’s Environmental and Consumer Protection Division, decided to start the co-ops after learning about a similar program in Orange County.

Sommers contacted a Washington, D.C., organization, Community Power Network, which has helped organize and oversee 84 coops in six states, including two in Orange County and co-ops in Tampa, Sarasota and on the Space Coast. About 1,600 systems have been installed through the co-ops, according to Ben Delman, Community Power Network communications director.

The county used $30,000 in federal grant money earmarked for solar education and outreach through the county-managed Go SOLAR Florida partnership to hire a Florida offshoot of the Community Power Network, called FL SUN, to create the co-ops. The contract calls for FL SUN to hold informational meetings for interested residents, solicit proposals from solar providers, analyze the proposals, help the co-op select a provider, and then monitor the installation progress.

By soliciting bids through a co-op, typical homeowners can pay up to 20 percent less than if they bought a system on their own, Delman and Sommers said.

“By bringing interested customers together, we can help companies offer better prices because their acquisition costs are lower — they can buy materials and solar panels from their suppliers at lower bulk prices,” Delman said.

Bulk permit applications also helps installers save money, he said.

Beyond pricing, FL SUN will help to “make sure the installer is responsive to needs and concerns and does what they say they are going to do,” Delman said. “We work with co-op members and installers to make sure questions are addressed.”

Any solar installer is invited to submit bids, Delman said.

Information sessions were held for interested residents on the east and west sides of the county on Feb. 6 and 7.

Two more sessions are scheduled in early March:

For east side residents (east of S.R. 7), March 6 at 7 p.m., Art Serve, 1350 E. Sunrise Blvd., Fort Lauderdale

For west side residents (west of S.R. 7), March 7 at 7 p.m., Broward County Government Center West, Hearing Room A1/A2, 1 N. University Dr., Plantation.

Participants are asked to RSVP at the appropriate website, either www.flsun.org/eastbroward or www.flsun.org/ west-broward. On the site, prospective members owners are asked to provide details that will help FL SUN determine whether their properties are good candidates for solar.

So far, about two dozen homeowners have joined the east side co-op and a dozen have joined the west side co-op, Delman said. Organizers are hoping to sign up 50 homeowners in each, Sommer said.

Joining one of the co-ops doesn’t obligate anyone to buy a solar system. While the aim of the co-op is to negotiate bulk pricing, each member will be free to work out their own terms with the chosen installer, Delman said.