Solar Panels Coming to Crown Heights

I'm getting involved in a community-based solar power initiative called Here Comes Solar. Here Comes Solar helps homeowners in NYC form a group of their neighbors to all go solar together and receive a group discount and an easier installation process. As an initiative of Solar One, a non-profit organization, the Here Comes Solar staff can educate homeowners about solar energy, help determine whether homes are suitable for solar, and work with our group to solicit proposals from pre-approved installers and select the best option. Their first few groups in Brooklyn have received a discount of over 20% off the average price of solar installations!


Our projects will actually be even more affordable because homeowners who live in the nationally registered historic district can take advantage of the historic homeowner rehabilitation tax credit in addition to federal, state, and local tax credits for solar energy systems, which combined cover 95% of the cost of a solar installation! Many of these solar tax credits are set to expire in the next 2 years, so now is the perfect time for us to explore solar. An example of solar savings and pricing with all of these tax credits is available at this link.



So far, we have interest from 7 homeowners in Crown Heights North, and I hope we can work together with the Crown Heights North Association to get more people involved. The larger the group, the bigger the group discount we are likely to receive.


For more information on Here Comes Solar, please check out this recent article on the experience of previous Here Comes Solar participants in Brooklyn: http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20150513/park-slope/how-grassroots-efforts-are-making-solar-energy-more-affordable-nyc. Their website is herecomessolar.nyc. A homeowner in Crown Heights North actually already participated in Here Comes Solar's second solar group, which was mainly Lefferts Gardens residents.