>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.
The project is based on the Solarize Anchorage project launched in 2017. The first Solarize campaign started as a grassroots effort in Portland, Oregon to help break financial and logistical barriers to utilizing solar power. Since the publication of the first Solarize Guidebook in 2011, dozens of communities, companies, and contractors across the U.S. have launched their own versions of a neighborhood collective solar purchasing program.
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.
Interested members of the community are invited to the kick-off event which will be held at Soldotna Library, Thursday, January 30, 5:30 to 7 p.m. Attendees are invited to ask installers questions, talk with people who’ve already gone solar, learn more about Solarize, and sign up to participate. For more information, contact Ben Boettger at beboettg@gmail.com.