Originally published, 2014 Maryland Solar Tour guide by Emily Stiever.
Over the last year more than 500 homeowners from the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia area have organized themselves into solar co-ops to go solar together and save money! Working with local non-profit Community Power Network (CPN), the co-op members leverage their collective buying power and get technical expertise from CPN in order to achieve dramatic savings on installation costs and make the process easier.
How does a solar co-op work?
Homeowners organize themselves into a group and developed a list of factors that are important to them when selecting a solar installer. CPN then solicits completive bids from area installers and provides technical expertise to assist the group as they select a single installer to complete all of the co-op’s installations.
Who is involved in organizing solar co-ops?
Neighbors and community members from all over the DMV are forming solar co-ops. For example, Fran Toler is a small business owner and is participating in the Hyattsville/Mt. Rainier Solar Co-op. She had first hand experience with how daunting the process of installing solar power on her home can be:
“I have been interested in solar energy for decades, but in the last 5-6 years, I felt like, with the tax incentives, I should be able to make it work. Nonetheless, on several different occasions I contacted companies, solicited bids, and each time got stalled in the process,” Fran explains.
Fran highlighted a number of advantages to working with a group purchase solar co-op model that CPN facilitates.
“One, I got to work with friendly helpful people who explained the technical aspects and guided me through the process, but weren’t trying to sell me anything. Two, I got to efficiently and painlessly compare complex bids from multiple companies. Three, I got an astonishingly fantastic price break, reducing the need for financing. I love getting a bargain!”
As a small business owner herself, Fran also appreciates the important role the large scale of such solar co-ops can play in creating work and jobs for area solar installers.
“As a small business owner, I understand how difficult it can be to build capacity and a great reputation. These bulk purchases should allow a smaller company who might be ready to take the next step into larger contracts work with a group that isn’t expecting the same level of efficiency and expertise that a government or corporate contract would.”
She also noted the positive business impact that building a strong reputation with third party consumer advocacy groups such as CPN and CPN’s state programs: DC SUN, MD SUN, and VA SUN.
CPN has helped community members form 15 solar co-ops in Washington, D.C., and several more in Maryland and Virginia.
Edible landscaping is a specialized form of gardening where your average, everyday ornamental plants are replaced with a variety of plants that have some food use. This style of landscaping has been gaining popularity in recent years as issues of resource conservation and sustainable living are becoming more visible and popular.
20 years working throughout North and South America to promote edible and ecological landscape design. In Nicaragua his non-profit organization Project Bona Fide (
Inspired by the natural flow of the landscape, Ecologia works integrates its designs into the surroundings with Fibonacci inspired spirals, tiered rain gardens, dry stack stone terraces, earthen ovens and permeable drives and walkways. Ecologia is also famously responsible for the edible woodland garden at Frederick restaurant Volt where Chef Bryan Voltaggio can be be seen gathering herbs for his acclaimed culinary creations.
Another approach to edible landscaping is the idea of a “food forest.” A food forest imitates the natural arrangement of a forest where multiple species of plants grow together symbiotically in close quarters. Rather than leaving a single fruit tree to defend itself in a sea of grass, the food forest approach produces a dense arrangement of edible plants and also allows the different species to build their own intimate and complimentary ecology.
Founder Michael Judd is also a lover of all things fungal and promotes the use of fungus to speed up habitat recover and building more fertile soil for projects. Using wood chips colonized by Wine Cap mushrooms to boost the growth of other plants can also provide a harvest of mushrooms to compliment the other plant species.
Using crowdsource funding through Kickstarter. com, Michael is publishing his first book, “
Between food forests, permeable paths, edible landscaping, sustainable henhouses, holistic equine property design and charitable work in Central America, Michael Judd, Ecologia and Project Bona Fide are providing a wide range of services for Maryland locals and the world at large.