Solarize Program Offers Federal and State Incentives, Educational Workshops and Tier Pricing

Solarize CT is offered by the Connecticut Green Bank, formerly known as the Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority (CEFIA). The goal of the program is to increase residential solar throughout Connecticut by leveraging group discounts on a town by town basis through a pre-selected installer for each town who agrees to a fixed schedule of costs to reduce the cost of solar. It includes a tiered pricing structure for each town so the more residents in a town that sign up, the lower the cost for everyone in that town who installs solar during the town’s program.

The Town of New Canaan has been selected to participate in Solarize CT. New Canaan joins 14 other communities in Phase 5 of Solarize CT with the goal of more than doubling the amount of solar currently in New Canaan over the 18-week program. Each New Canaan resident that installs solar during the program will also earn points toward New Canaan receiving a free solar installation on one of the town’s buildings; with the more residential installations in New Canaan, the greater number of points for the town.

“CT Green Bank is extremely proud of what we have been able to achieve through the Solarize CT program. We continue to see our financing tools and the Solarize CT model bringing down the cost of solar and making it affordable for more and more homeowners throughout Connecticut”, stated Bryan Garcia, President and CEO of the CT Green Bank. “We expect to achieve similar success as we begin the next phase of this innovative program with the participation of New Canaan’s leaders and their dedicated volunteers.”

New Canaan’s First Selectman Robert Mallozzi added: “I’m very excited that New Canaan will be participating in a worthwhile program such as Solarize CT. This is a great opportunity for the residents of New Canaan to be proactive in controlling their present and future energy costs. I plan on having an evaluation done on my home to see if the Solar option would be beneficial to me and my family.”

Rob Malozzi asked JoAnne Kennedy, a member of the town’s Utilities Commission, to be the coordinator for the New Canaan program. She is joined by Howard Freeman and Heather Lauver as the New Canaan Solarize CT team. Over the last several weeks, the team worked with CT Green Bank and SmartPower ( the nation’s leading nonprofit marketing firm dedicated to promoting clean energy and energy efficiency) to review proposals from a variety of solar installers and then interviewed them. This week CT Green Bank announced the formal selection of PurePoint Energy as the solar installer for New Canaan.

PurePoint Energy is locally based in Norwalk and has done most of its work in Connecticut and has done a number of innovative installations. PurePoint will offer a range of installation options with competitive pricing negotiated in the interview process.

Solarize New Canaan will officially kick off the New Canaan program with a solar workshop on December 2nd at 7:00 PM in the Wagner Room, at New Canaan High School, 11 Farm Rd. Residents who are interested in learning more about Solarize New Canaan are urged to attend. According to JoAnne Kennedy, “The kickoff workshop will explain how the Solarize CT program works and how it can benefit individual homeowners and the town, as well as the federal and state financial incentives for residential solar installations. In addition, PurePoint will explain what they will offer to New Canaan residents. We will also have ample time for questions.”

Howard Freeman, chairman of the town Utility Commission and a member of the Solarize New Canaan team, commented, “We urge residents that are even vaguely interested in Solar PV to come to this workshop to take advantage of the expertise and residents in the room who have direct experience with Solar PV.” He added that the effectiveness of solar has already been demonstrated as comments from residents indicate. Rob Fryer, who has had a home solar installation for two years says: “The cost of solar panels continues to fall which, together with state and federal rebates, makes the economics of going solar quite attractive. Effectively you can buy many years of electric power with one up-front payment.” Heather Lauver, also a member of the New Canaan Solarize team added, “I wish our family had this program when we installed our system. Even without this significant upfront discount, we’ve reduced our total energy costs 86% and have no electricity bill most of the year.

The following representatives will be on hand at the December 2 kickoff session : Bob Wall, the Associate Director of CT Green Bank for Outreach; Bernie Pelletier of SmartPower (Community Outreach); David Neaderland (President), Tom Wemyss (Vice-President) and Gary Buchanan (Marketing Manager) of PurePoint; First Selectman Rob Mallozzi, III and Second Selectman Beth Jones; and JoAnne Kennedy, Howard Freeman and Heather Lauver, the Solarize CT Solar Ambassadors for New Canaan The Conservation Commission, the League of Woman Voters, NCHS Environmental Club and other groups – including residents that have already installed solar – will also be on hand to demonstrate their support.