Lincoln, two other towns choose installers for Solarize program

Volunteers from Lincoln, Wayland, and Sudbury have selected SolarFlair Energy, Inc. to offer solar photovoltaic and New England Solar Hot Water for solar thermal and solar hot water options.

The move comes as part of the three towns’ participation in the state’s Solarize Mass program whereby residents can get lower pricing from an approved vendor of residential rooftop solar installations. The program helps consumers by keeping costs lower, ensuring that installations are of high quality, and offering ongoing support and troubleshooting.

Residents are encouraged to join SolarFlair and New England Solar Hot Water for an information session on Saturday, July 29 at 4 p.m. at Bemis Hall. Participants will learn more about how to determine whether their homes are suitable for solar, how they might qualify for financing and incentives, and how to sign up for a visit with the installer, and how to get a no-cost solar and home energy assessment. There will also be two other information sessions:

• Tuesday, July 25 at 7 p.m. at the Wayland High School Auditorium (264 Old Connecticut Path, Wayland)
• Wednesday, July 26 at 7 p.m. at the Goodnow Library in Sudbury (21 Concord Rd., Sudbury)

More than 20 installers submitted proposals to Solarize 2017 in the three towns. Proposals were reviewed by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC), representatives of the towns’ energy committees and volunteers, and municipal representatives. Selection criteria included installer experience, locality, product and systems quality, equipment and installation warranties and pricing.

In addition to finding a vendor for solar photovoltaic, the three towns were also selected to initiate a pilot project, Solarize Plus, for solar hot water. Unlike solar photovoltaic, which converts direct sunlight to electricity, solar hot water transfers heat from the atmosphere directly to a hot water tank in your home. This technology can be more forgiving of shadier rooftops and/or smaller roof footprints that may not be suitable to accommodate solar photovoltaic. Currently, 0% financing is available for solar hot water through MassSave.

A February survey of Lincoln residents indicated strong interest in exploring investments in residential solar options. More on those results can be found here. To learn more about Solarize for Lincoln, Sudbury, and Wayland, visit the Solarize Mass website.