solarize southeast
In 2009, SE Uplift worked with the Mt. Tabor Neighborhood Association and the Energy Trust of Oregon to create the Solarize Portland project. What we came up with was a community education and volume purchasing project for residential solar electricity. Through volunteer outreach people in the neighborhoods of southeast Portland who were interested in installing solar on their home were organized into a group. We got the group up to speed on how solar works and what financial incentives existed. Through a competitive bidding process we selected a contractor that gave the group a significant bulk discount on all the installations.
In the first round of Solarize in 2009, we organized 350 people to go through workshops and get a site assessment. One hundred thirty of those went on to have a solar installation, for a total of 350 kW's installed on the roofs of our community. That's the equivalent of taking 650 cars off the road!
A second round in 2010 resulted in 110 installations, for an additional 350 kW’s of capacity. Spin-off projects in northeast and southwest projects were also successful. In all, 2 megawatts of solar were installed on Portland roofs in 2010 through Solarize Portland projects.
Currently, projects in north and northwest Portland are open for registration. There are also projects in Pendleton, Salem, and Seattle, all using the model created in southeast Portland.