Sign-up Deadline Extended, Additional Webinar Offered for Sarasota Solar Co-op

December 7, 2020 – Sarasota

Sarasota County residents looking to install solar panels will now have until Friday, Dec. 18, to sign up for free for the Sarasota County Solar Co-op . 

Members of the solar co-op will receive a group discount on their system installation, as well as guidance throughout the process from Solar United Neighbors (SUN), the nonprofit group behind the co-op. 

SUN will host a free educational webinar about rooftop solar and the co-op, on Tuesday, December 15, at 6:00 p.m. ET.   

Fifty individuals have joined the solar co-op since it launched in September. They have received educational information from SUN about rooftop solar technology, financing, and state and federal incentives for solar homeowners.

“With the federal tax credit slated to end after 2021, time is of the essence for homeowners to go solar,” said Julia Herbst, Gulf Coast program coordinator for SUN. “Thankfully,” Herbst added, “everyone can maintain their health and safety throughout this process, with online webinars, virtual site visits, masks and distancing.”

The federal solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC) is set to decrease from 26% in 2020 to 22% in 2021. It will end for homeowners in 2022, unless Congress intervenes. SUN is a proponent of the Moving Forward Act, a bill in front of the Senate that includes an extension of the ITC. “The ITC has helped so many homeowners afford the investment in solar energy,” said Herbst. “We want it extended for that reason, and for the role solar can play in our nation’s recovery from the pandemic.”

The Sarasota County Solar Co-op is free to join. Region Solar will install systems for the co-op members. The co-op is funded with a grant from the Gulf Coast Community Foundation. Co-op partners include: Sarasota County, the City of Sarasota, League of Women Voters of Sarasota County, Sierra Club Manatee-Sarasota Group, Suncoast Climate Justice Coalition, Sarasota Community Radio (96.5 WSLR), the Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota County, the Peace Education & Action Center, and the Unitarian Universalist Church of Sarasota. 

Sarasota County residents can learn more at the webinar Tuesday, December 15, at 6:00 p.m. ET, and signupto join the co-op at solarunitedneighbors.org/sarasota.