Edmonds Lutheran Church will receive a free solar photovoltaic system to generate renewable energy for their facility if 50 homes in Edmonds, Lynnwood, and Mountlake Terrace purchase a solar energy system through the Solarize South County campaign.
Here are the details from the Solarize South County announcement:
Solarize South County is a program of Northwest Sustainable Energy for Economic Development (Northwest SEED), Snohomish PUD, and South County neighbors with the purpose of accelerating solar energy awareness and installations through a group purchase of solar electric systems at a discounted price. Participants in the program attend a free public workshop to learn how solar energy works in South Snohomish County and to qualify for a free site assessment for their home or small business. South County resident volunteers competitively bid and selected A&R Solar as the program’s solar installation team.
If 50 program participants move forward with a solar installation on their own home or small business, A&R Solar will donate and install the solar electric system for ELC. In the event the community is unable to register 50 program participants, A&R Solar will donate a smaller system to the church, and/or assist with the purchase of a larger one.
“Donating a system is our way of saying ‘thanks’ and giving back to a community that supported us, while also raising awareness to the fact that solar works in western Washington,” says Dave Kozin of A&R Solar. “By setting aside a small portion of the profit from each project, each customer is essentially investing in an asset that will pay dividends to the community down the road.”
ELC was selected by the Solarize South County Community Coalition, a volunteer group of individuals who led the award selection process. The competitive application process took into account the suitability of the facility to generate solar electricity on site and to serve as a public educational tool.
Rev. Dr. Julie Josund, pastor at Edmonds Lutheran Church shared her joy for being a recipient for the Solarize South County donation: “We believe the caring for God’s creation goes hand-in-hand with Christian faith. Having solar panels on our church actively visible is a perfect way to get the word out about renewable energy options to many people. We are thrilled to have this partnership with the campaign and look forward to a fruitful collaboration in sharing the benefits of solar energy to our friends and neighbors in Edmonds.”
The donated solar electric system will be rated as close to 5 kilowatts (kW) as possible and will include equipment and labor required for a rooftop installation. The award of a 5 kW solar installation is approximately a $20,000 value for the installation and an additional value of up to $1,250 per year in electricity savings and Washington State production incentive payments.
Registration for Solarize South County is open to residents who live in the 98020, 98026, 98037, 98036, 98043 zip codes and within Snohomish PUD service territory. The last scheduled free educational workshop will be held on Sept. 23 but another session may be added. For more information and to pre-register for a workshop, visit www.solarizewa.org.
So what’s the price per watt for the Solarize program ?
This is a bad idea. Churches don’t deserve special treatment from public institutions. The PUD is one.
If you think I’m wrong, perhaps you could explain why the Lutherans get stuff when the Catholics, the Protestants and the Orthodox Greeks are all at least as deserving. Then there is the Buddhists, the Jews, the Shintos and the Muslims. All have a claim on public largess if the Lutherans do. And the complete list of sects is really very, very long. Talk about a can of worms.
It is not the PUD that is providing the special treatment to the Church it is the solar installation company that is using this challenge to encourage more people to sign up and to give something back to the community.