With the help of Solar United Neighbors, more than 130 area residents so far will be saving on their solar installation by pooling their purchasing power to form solar co-ops in Miami Dade.
Southern Miami-Dade homeowners selected Cutler Bay Solar Solutions and Northern Miami Dade homeowners selected Goldin Solar through competitive bidding processes to install systems for the co-ops’ members.
Organized with the help of The League of Women Voters Miami-Dade and many local partners such as The Green Corridor, Tropical Audubon Society, Rise Up Florida, CLEO Institute, Miami Climate Alliance, Earth Ethics Institute and Miami-Dade College, the collaboration is enabling participating homeowners to install solar panels on their homes at discounted rates.
The participating homeowners worked with local non-profit, Solar United Neighbors to solicit competitive bids from licensed installers on the group’s behalf. The selection committees, made up of co-op members, chose installers they felt had the best experience, warranties capacity and pricing to serve the group.
“Serving on the selection committee was both informative and fun,” said co-op member and Southern Miami -Dade selection committee host, J. Ernest Jutte. “The bid review process was well facilitated, making the job of the selection committee move smoothly and the review process a breeze.
“After the selection committee meeting, I immediately wanted to invite everyone to another get-together to talk solar,” Jutte added.
“I was pleased to find a group of like-minded individuals who were seeking to go solar like I was,” said Mike Olivia, a Northern Miami-Dade selection committee member. “The co-op review process presented the options in such an easy to understand format that made choosing our provider simple.”
Cutler Bay Solar Solutions and Goldin Solar will develop individualized proposals for Southern Miami-Dade and Northern Miami Dade Co-op participants, respectively. Co-op members will review their proposal and sign a contract with their selected installer if they decide to go solar.
“We at Cutler Bay Solar Solutions are excited and proud to once again serve the homeowners Solar United Neighbors and expand solar installations in South Florida,” said Raul Vergara of Cutler Bay Solar Solutions. “Together, we are reaching hundreds of homeowners and helping them on their road to energy independence. We look forward to installing many more Megawatts.”
The co-ops will be open and available to new participants through Dec. 15. All single-family home residents within the areas are eligible to participate. Visit Southern Miami-Dade and Northern Miami Dade Co-op pages to learn more about solar and to sign up to join the group. Joining the co-op is not a commitment to purchase panels.
The Miami co-op’s are the 22 and 23 such groups Solar United Neighbors of Florida has worked with in the past year.
“Working together as a group makes the process so much easier to navigate,” said Jody Finver, Solar United Neighbors Miami-Dade Co-op coordinator. “Participants can rely on each other, and our organization, while saving money on quality systems.”
Comments are closed.