The cooperative solar purchasing campaign Solarize the Kenai has chosen Midnight Sun Solar as the installer that will bring discounted solar power systems to its participants. Until August 1, Midnight Sun will be offering solar installation at a special Solarize rate to home and business owners in Soldotna, Kenai, Nikiski, Sterling, Kasilof, and Clam Gulch.
At the end of February, Solarize the Kenai pooled the buying power of 65 prospective solar customers by inviting local solar installation businesses to a competitive selection process for one to serve them all in Summer 2020. Having a set of predetermined customers lowers an installer’s marketing and logistics cost, letting them offer services for less. The competition between installers also incentivizes discounts.
Depending on how many kilowatts of solar individual building owners order, as well as the total ordered by all participating building owners, Midnight Sun could install solar at prices from $3-per-watt to $2.70-per-watt. Alaska’s average price of solar is $3.13-per-watt, according to SolarReviews.com.
Scott Waterman of Solarize the Kenai explains the options available to those looking to take advantage of an installation and go solar: “There’s basically three different types of solar systems. There’s grid-tied, which generally is the type of system that we’re mostly going to see with this Solarize The Kenai project. That’s where you’re using the grid as your battery. There’s no batteries in your house and if the power goes down on the grid, your solar power also goes down. There’s a standalone system where you don’t have any wires coming to your house – all of your batteries and inverters are your property, your system, you have to maintain it. The cost is considerably higher. And the third system is what we call a hybrid system where you may have some batteries, you may have some switching gear that will switch power back and forth between the grid and the solar system.”
According to the U.S. Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs, despite significant geographic and seasonal variation in the amount of sunlight in Alaska, the state’s solar resource is comparable to that of Germany, which leads the world in solar installations.
Solarize the Kenai is a citizen-led project that brings people together to receive significant group discounts on installing solar panels on their homes and businesses, including a 26% federal tax credit only available through 2020.
