August 18, 2009

one block off the grid

I just learned about an organization that is making solar power even more accessible to home owners. I've wanted to get solar for awhile, but since we're on a economy budget at the moment, it hasn't been feasible. Such a shame, because right when there are great incentives and rebates, we can't afford the system!

But One Block Off the Grid has a few options to help with that. They group people in a neighborhood together for a group purchase, bringing bulk discounts. They also have payment plans!

Here's some info from their website:

"1BOG (One Block Off the Grid) organizes big groups of people together who want to get solar energy, and gets them a discount.
Homeowners looking to buy solar panels face a few problems:
  • It’s expensive
  • It’s complicated
  • They don’t know which installer they should trust.
1BOG organizes people in a community to go through the process together. This approach has several benefits:
  • An organized community can buy solar in bulk, so 1BOG negotiates with installers to get impressive discounts for each homeowner in the collective.
  • We make the process much more simple and painless, as well as use our deep solar energy expertise to educate consumers throughout the process.
  • We offer safety in numbers, and unlike the installers themselves, our interests are always aligned with yours."

I'm going to call for more information. I know others in my neighborhood are looking at them too, so I might as well see what the estimate is. Maybe they can make my dream come true!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Solar might be cheaper than you think. Be sure to check out the federal and state incentives for solar power (federal is a 30% tax credit for the price of the system). By refinancing our mortgage to pay off our home equity loan and include the cost of a PV system we will add 5 about years to our present mortgage duration but at a montly payment less than we're paying now - and that doesn't include the $10,000 - $17,200 (depends if the state incentives are put back in the budget) we'll get back at tax time.

sometimes things just work out right.

Lisa said...

I think my neighbors already think I'm nuts and they don't know half of what I'm doing. :)

I would be happy if my neighbor could just quit littering.

But this is a cool idea!