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Resource Report - 16 Olympia Community Solar · Resource Report

0:20
Hello and welcome to Resource Report, where we
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share with you important information about local
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nonprofits and resource organizations that support
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the community we share, produced by Pathways
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to Agency. I am your host, Rainmaker. Today's
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guest is Mason Rolph, Executive Director of Olympia
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Community Solar. Here's Mason. I am here with
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Mason Rolph with Olympia Community Solar. How
0:56
are you doing, Mason? Wonderful. It's a beautiful
0:59
July morning in downtown Olympia. So can you
1:03
introduce yourself, your position, and how did
1:06
you come to be here with Olympia Community Solar?
1:10
My name is Mason. I'm Olympia Community Solar's
1:13
executive director. And about six years ago in
1:17
2019, I was one of the founders of this nonprofit.
1:23
We had been working on local climate advocacy
1:27
with the 1631 ballot initiative, which if you
1:32
remember way back in the 2018 election, it was
1:36
a attempt to put a tax on pollution in Washington.
1:40
And it was incredibly outspent. by mostly fossil
1:45
fuel companies, and it ended up not passing.
1:48
And as a bunch of advocates who worked really
1:52
hard on the campaign, we were frustrated and
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decided that instead of this larger nebulous
1:58
policy, we wanted to work on something local
2:01
and tangible. And so a few friends of mine and
2:05
I came together in the living room of our friend's
2:09
house on the west side of Olympia. and talked
2:11
about solar energy and its opportunity. And we
2:16
ended up looking for a place to do our first
2:19
solar project. We found the Hands -On Children's
2:22
Museum as a willing partner. And after some back
2:26
and forth, realized we couldn't really just do
2:30
it as individuals and we needed an organization
2:33
to back the effort and to really add legitimacy
2:37
to it. And so we founded this nonprofit. And
2:41
ever since then, we've grown from that little
2:44
grassroots group to a thriving nonprofit. We
2:48
have four staff and an intern all work on a mission
2:53
to steward an equitable and accessible transition
2:56
to clean energy. And so I often describe ourselves
2:59
as clean energy developers, but we do that in
3:04
a nonprofit forum with an equity focus. And so
3:07
most of the projects we work on are promoting
3:11
energy justice or community resilience. And it's
3:16
just the most fun work that I've ever done. The
3:20
look on your face says it all. You're just beaming.
3:24
I can tell that you're very passionate and love
3:27
this. So what do y 'all do exactly? We have several
3:33
programs. We have a residential program that
3:36
supports homeowners to install solar. It's basically
3:40
a large education campaign to try to get accurate
3:44
information to homeowners and then pair homeowners
3:47
with local and reputable installers. There's
3:50
definitely companies that will go around door
3:54
-knocking solar and selling it above market price.
3:58
or signing people up for financing that they
4:00
don't really need. And so we're trying to get
4:03
ahead of those folks and really work with the
4:06
local reputable companies. So this year, 2025,
4:10
was our fifth annual Solarize program. We started
4:14
it in 2021. And ever since then, each year, we've
4:19
done between 50 and 150. households worth of
4:24
solar through the program. This year is looking
4:27
to be kind of, I think, around 80 households
4:30
signed up. But yeah, our main goal of the program
4:33
is just to help people understand what their
4:36
home's potential is for solar. And so when they
4:38
sign up, they can get a free solar assessment
4:40
from an installer, a free proposal from the installer
4:43
with, you know, no commitment to actually contract,
4:47
just to learn what their home's potential is.
4:50
And I always think that, hey, if you learn what
4:53
the real numbers are and what it means for you.
4:56
That's a success in itself because it's really
4:59
nebulous about what solar can actually do for
5:03
folks if you're not in the industry. Then we
5:06
also do project development support for public,
5:11
tribal, non -profit projects. Those are more
5:15
of the commercial scale, larger the residential
5:17
systems. For those projects, we'll develop the
5:21
project, meaning we'll help the client get everything
5:24
together they need to make a decision on whether
5:27
or not to pursue it, pricing, system information.
5:30
Then we'll identify third -party funding resources
5:33
and help them pursue grants or financing. And
5:37
then our goal eventually is to get to a point
5:40
where they have enough third -party support that
5:43
they can weather the cost of the installation.
5:45
And so most of the organizations we're working
5:47
with are very small, maybe low -income housing,
5:53
a massive budget to spend on solar. And so helping
5:56
them secure grants is really the cue to getting
5:58
projects installed. And then lastly, we have
6:02
them very involved in policy. Washington's solar
6:07
laws were originally adopted in 1998, and they
6:11
haven't changed much since then. And so the residential
6:14
policy needs an update. There's no state policy
6:18
for enabling community solar or shared solar.
6:22
And so, yeah, Washington's falling behind because
6:25
of that. Wow. So for people who aren't familiar,
6:30
talk about what solar panels do. Like, wait,
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how does this actually work? Most solar projects
6:37
are grid connected, meaning if your home is already
6:41
connected to the utility, we'll add solar panels
6:45
on top of that. And then the solar panels will
6:48
be integrated into the utility as well. How does
6:52
that work? Most solar projects we work on are
6:55
grid connected through a policy called net metering.
6:59
That means if your home's already connected to
7:02
the grid, we can add solar panels and the utility
7:05
will facilitate providing you energy when you
7:08
need it, like during the nighttime. When the
7:10
solar panels generate a lot of energy during
7:12
the day, your building will consume that energy
7:14
and you'll purchase less from the utility, saving
7:17
you money. And then at certain times, like very
7:20
sunny summer months, we can produce more than
7:23
what the building needs, in which case that extra
7:26
energy will overflow into the grid and the utility
7:29
provides the homeowner credits for that extra
7:32
electricity. Oh, wow. And that trade of putting
7:36
energy out into the grid and getting a credit
7:39
back is really what makes solar work well here
7:42
in Washington. We'll generate lots of energy
7:45
during... They're four or five really sunny months.
7:48
Earn credits for that energy, and then those
7:51
credits can roll over from month to month to
7:54
future bills, offsetting the cost of winter energy
7:57
when you're not producing as much solar. A solar
8:00
project itself has several important components.
8:04
You have panels, the most visible part of the
8:08
system on your rooftop. They're connected to
8:10
the rooftop through a mounting system that's
8:14
either drilled straight into your roof that's
8:16
an asphalt shingle or clamped onto your standing
8:19
seam metal. The solar panels that we mostly
8:22
use are made in Washington from a brand called
8:25
Silfab. They have a manufacturing plant up in
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Burlington, Washington, and they produce beautiful
8:31
and extremely high quality solar panels. When
8:35
I started working in solar, the solar panels
8:38
we could purchase were rated at 260 watts. That's
8:42
how much energy each panel produces. The ones
8:45
we're using now are 460 watts to... 530. So they've
8:52
almost doubled in capacity in just a couple years,
8:55
producing a lot more energy. Those solar panels
8:58
really are just sitting on the roof. They don't
9:02
have any moving parts. But when photons from
9:05
the sun impact them, it causes electrons in the
9:08
panel to wiggle. And when enough electrons are
9:11
wriggling, it'll create an electrical charge.
9:13
And the solar panels push that electrical charge
9:17
through their wiring. and down into the building,
9:20
into the second main component of a solar array,
9:23
which is the inverter. And the inverter matches
9:26
the solar electricity to the type of electricity
9:29
your home uses, which is inverting from direct
9:33
current to alternating current. From the inverter,
9:36
the electricity can be consumed by your home.
9:38
And so most of the time... It'll just flow into
9:42
whatever's using energy in the home and be consumed
9:45
immediately. If there's not something in your
9:48
home using energy at that time, that's going
9:50
to overflow out into the grid and you can get
9:52
credits. Or if your home's using more energy
9:55
than what you're producing, some of it will come
9:58
from the solar and then the rest of it will come
9:59
from the grid and purchase that extra from the
10:03
utility. So that's the general components. Most
10:06
solar projects don't include batteries. Unless
10:10
someone wants to invest more for resiliency reasons,
10:14
there's not as much of a financial benefit to
10:17
having batteries as there is to solar. But the
10:20
real benefit from batteries comes from being
10:22
able to have energy when the grid goes down.
10:26
Batteries work very similarly to a backup generator
10:28
in that respect. So like the grid going down,
10:32
like the power outage in this area of town, for
10:35
example, and so not having a battery. it's just
10:40
also going to be shut down as well. But if you
10:43
do have a battery and there's a power outage,
10:46
the upgrade goes down, then what? Yeah, your
10:50
home will essentially island itself from the
10:53
grid, become its own little independent microgrid,
10:56
and continue operating. You'll have enough power
11:00
as what's in the battery, and then as soon as
11:04
the solar starts producing again, it can recharge
11:06
your batteries. really just depending on the
11:10
system size, keep you running indefinitely, potentially.
11:16
So yeah, if a solar array doesn't include batteries,
11:19
it's designed just to shut down when the grid
11:22
goes down to prevent anyone working on the grid
11:24
from being electrocuted by the production of
11:27
solar. And so yeah, the main reasons we see folks
11:30
installing batteries is if they live in a place
11:33
that experiences very frequent outages, if it's
11:35
a big disruption to them, or if They're dependent
11:39
on electricity for some reason, like a medical
11:41
reason, or maybe they just have a really full
11:44
freezer that they don't want to have turned on.
11:47
And what about people that are living off -grid?
11:51
Yeah, in that case, you definitely need batteries
11:55
unless you're planning on just consuming all
11:57
of your solar production when it's produced.
12:01
Yeah, and so most off -grid homes need some sort
12:04
of backup power or... You know, they'll rely
12:06
on a different source like propane that they're
12:09
heating, cooling. Yeah. But that is totally possible.
12:13
Like if I decided I want to go live like, you
12:18
know, have my little homestead, a solar panel
12:20
would be a great idea. Absolutely. And that's
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really how the industry started. Solar is just
12:26
so scalable and, you know, it can be installed
12:31
anywhere that the sun shines. It doesn't even
12:34
have to be on a roof. Yeah, yeah. It'd be like
12:37
in your field. Yeah, the ground mount system.
12:40
Okay. Yeah, the solar industry really started
12:43
from, you know, folks that were looking for off
12:46
-grid power solutions, very rural power solutions,
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and has just grown into a huge industry. In Washington,
12:53
solar employs more than 4 ,000, Washington means,
12:57
and I think we're approaching... nearly a gigawatt
13:01
of installed solar, which is enough to power
13:03
100 ,000 homes. But that's still just a very
13:07
small piece of our fuel mix for electricity,
13:10
maybe 1 % or so of Washington's fuel news. Yeah,
13:15
I'll also mention some of the financials of how
13:17
solar panels work. When someone is looking at
13:21
installing solar, they'll see proposals from
13:24
contractors. We always recommend folks get two
13:27
or three different proposals from different companies
13:29
so you can compare. If you're looking for a list
13:34
of good companies, there's resources on the Solar
13:39
Industry Association's website, waseia .org. They
13:47
have a list of member companies that are all
13:49
local reputable installers. And then some utilities
13:52
like Puget Sound Energy also create. lists of
13:56
preferred installers, reputable companies. And
14:00
so once you have a quote, the main things I look
14:02
for are, is the equipment high quality and does
14:06
it come with good warranties? Where solar equipment,
14:10
the standard is to have a 25 -year product warranty,
14:13
meaning if anything fails with the equipment,
14:17
it'll be replaced for free by the manufacturer.
14:21
And then also looking at the contractor's workmanship
14:25
warranty, meaning if the contractor messes anything
14:28
up when they're doing the installation, the industry
14:31
standard is for 10 years that they'll come back
14:34
and fix that for free. We'll also look at the
14:36
cost of the system, the overall cost of, you
14:41
know, how much can be a work, but also a unit
14:43
price, which is the cost per watt of solar installed.
14:48
So for example, if someone's installing five
14:51
kilowatt system, that's 5 ,000 watts, and we
14:55
could divide the total cost of the system by
14:57
that 5 ,000 watts and come up with the unit price.
15:00
Right now in Washington, good residential unit
15:03
price is about $2 .60 for a watt. Another way
15:07
to say that would be $2 ,600 for a kilowatt.
15:11
So for 5 kilowatts, you do 5 times 2 ,600, and
15:16
that's your system price. In addition to the
15:20
equipment, the warranties, the pricing, I always
15:23
look at the production estimate. The installer
15:27
will show you how much your system's anticipated
15:30
to produce, and that has a very tangible value.
15:34
And so you could take the production estimate,
15:37
which will say something like 5 ,000 kilowatt
15:40
hours or 10 ,000 kilowatt hours per year, and
15:43
multiply that by how much you pay for electricity.
15:47
you can see very tangibly how much that energy
15:49
is worth. Right now for Puget Sound energy customers,
15:53
for residential customers, the cost of electricity
15:56
is around 16 cents per kilowatt hour, and it's
15:59
getting more extensive. And so that's a big value.
16:02
When I'm planning long term, I'm looking at,
16:04
you know, what is that value going to be over
16:07
the next 25 years? We did some work to estimate
16:11
how much a homeowner pays for energy over 25
16:14
years in Washington. And we came up with about
16:17
$60 ,000. So if you can imagine, you know, just
16:23
residing in an average home for the next 25 years,
16:28
I'm going to pay $60 ,000 plus in electricity
16:31
costs, assuming prices rise gradually. And so
16:35
when you consider that, the cost upfront of a
16:38
solar installation is really your investment
16:40
in offsetting that $60 ,000 plus energy cost.
16:45
The good news is solar usually doesn't cost that
16:48
much and has a very good return. For most households,
16:51
the price varies depending on how many panels
16:54
you get and your benefit varies on how much solar
16:58
exposure you have. But on average, we see homeowners
17:01
get a return of about 2 .5 times their investment
17:06
over the lifetime of the system and compare that
17:09
to other household appliances. Like a stove or
17:12
an HVAC unit, you know, that's not generating
17:15
money for your household. So it's quite an interesting
17:18
technology. How? Yeah. Thank you for explaining
17:22
all of that. That's good. So you've mentioned
17:34
briefly earlier your different projects. Can
17:37
you talk about the different projects a little
17:39
more deeply? Starting with our residential program,
17:43
Solar Rives, several years ago, we had a lot
17:47
of people reaching out to us because we had done
17:50
several very visible projects in the community
17:52
asking about residential solar. And we didn't
17:55
have a very good answer at first. We didn't really
17:58
see a role for us in the residential industry.
18:01
But very quickly, we heard stories about people
18:06
working with installers who were using very cheap
18:09
equipment or... that would get them to sign up
18:12
for long -term financing, but not good rates.
18:16
High -pressure sales tactics, door -to -door
18:19
sales. ..... gave solar a bad rap. Yeah, and
18:23
you might have even seen it yourself on social
18:26
media of like, get solar for free on your home.
18:29
I've seen it. Green Solar USA. But ads and stuff,
18:32
yeah. And all of that stuff that's going on.
18:35
And those are these like larger corporate conglomerates
18:39
that... just try to sell solar virtually or door
18:42
-to -door. Compared to that, the local guys hardly
18:45
ever will do door -to -door sales. They're often
18:49
way too busy to even need to do that sort of
18:52
thing. And so we realized pretty quickly that
18:55
there's this consumer protection issue, that
18:57
it's a new technology. Almost everyone purchasing
19:01
solar is a first -time customer, and there's
19:04
a big chance that they could get sucked in by
19:07
one of these ads. So we started Solarize, and
19:11
the idea was we'll start by going out and finding
19:14
reputable companies that are willing to give
19:17
us a group price, a better -than -market -rate
19:20
price on their solar. They'll guarantee certain
19:23
types of equipment, and then we'll do a large
19:25
educational campaign to teach homeowners about
19:29
how solar works, the incentives around solar,
19:32
that sort of thing, and get them signed up for
19:34
site assessments and quotes from those. reputable
19:38
contractors. And so this year, you know, using
19:42
2025 as an example, way back last October, we
19:49
issued a request for proposal to installers.
19:51
We got nearly 20 proposals from different installers,
19:55
we selected 10 of them. And then we signed agreements
19:59
with each company, guaranteeing prices, guaranteeing
20:02
their equipment, and also guaranteeing certain
20:06
treatment of customers like not selling to folks
20:09
that are super shaded or not selling to folks
20:11
that have an old roof. That sort of thing. And then
20:15
on March, we opened the campaign publicly and
20:19
around the campaign area, which included Thurston,
20:22
Mason, Lewis, but also the Whatcom, Bellingham
20:26
area, Island County, the Whidbey area, Skagit
20:30
County, and then about half of King County in
20:34
Seattle. It was a huge campaign this year. We
20:37
did almost 25 in -person public workshops, a
20:42
lot of them with municipal partners, so they
20:45
were often in libraries or town halls. We did
20:48
an online webinar. We did ads and media campaigns,
20:52
all focused around getting educational content
20:57
to homeowners and having them learn about their
21:00
potential. So the result was about 800 homes
21:03
signed up for the program to get assessments.
21:06
About 90 % of those completed their assessment,
21:10
which was amazing. And then so far, we've had
21:14
about 80 customers sign their installation contract
21:18
and a whole lot more, you know, they have their
21:21
proposed land and are considering it. So that's
21:25
a huge success. And it will bring our Solarize
21:28
total to... over 400 over the past five years
21:32
feels really great. And we know, you know, not
21:36
only that those systems are getting installed,
21:38
but they're getting installed by quality workmanship.
21:43
They're getting installed with really good equipment,
21:46
and they're getting installed at a lower than
21:48
market rate price, which seems like a win -win.
21:51
And through all that work, we've developed really
21:54
great relationships with the solar installers.
21:58
Yeah, like I said, plenty applied for the campaign
22:00
this year, and it was really hard to say no to
22:03
a lot of them because they're great companies.
22:06
So yeah, past residential solar, we also do the
22:09
commercial development. And so this falls into
22:13
two categories that I think of. We want to develop
22:19
solar arrays that promote... economic justice.
22:22
And the way to do that is to reduce someone's
22:25
energy burden. Have you heard the term energy
22:27
burden before? Not really, actually. Energy burden,
22:31
or we could be more specific and say electric
22:34
burden, refers to how much of someone's income
22:37
that they spend on energy each year. And so for
22:41
an average household, it might be 2%, 3%, way
22:44
less than that if you're wealthy. But for a low
22:47
income household, it can be as high as 15%. of..you're
22:52
paying one -sixth of your income to the utility
22:55
company for services. And that's a huge burden
22:58
and definitely disproportionately affects folks
23:01
with lower incomes. So definitely you're a retired
23:05
person on Medicaid or even someone who just is
23:10
starting out being a new adult, just burdened
23:13
by energy bills. So we've worked with a lot of
23:16
housing providers on installing solar on their...
23:20
publicly or non -profit owned low -income housing.
23:23
In those cases, let me give one of my favorite
23:27
examples, which is a project we did just this
23:29
past year, working with Homes First, a local
23:33
non -profit. They had a building donated to them
23:36
by the city of Tumwater, and they renovated it
23:39
into a sober home, an Oxford house. It'll house
23:43
six people when it opens. And we were able to
23:49
secure grant to install solar there. The solar
23:52
installation is expected to save the household
23:55
about 33 hundred ($3,300) a year on energy, and that'll escalate
24:00
over time as the energy gets more expensive.
24:02
But I just like to think of like $3 ,300 that
24:06
just doesn't have to be paid to a utility company.
24:09
It's like literally the possibilities are endless
24:13
of what you could use that $3 ,300 for, especially
24:16
if you're in a position where you're recovering
24:19
from addiction or you're recovering from houselessness.
24:23
And so that part of the work is definitely my
24:26
favorite. And I'll just say, you know, most folks
24:29
look at solar as a climate solution or maybe
24:33
just a tool for reducing emissions or a way to
24:35
be green. But in this aspect, it can be a vehicle
24:40
for economic justice in addition to a climate
24:43
solution. And I find that so cool. In other cases,
24:48
we'll do projects that benefit the service provider
24:51
themselves. So Homes First, again, we installed
24:55
solar on their office. And so that reduces
24:58
the nonprofit's operating costs and allow them
25:01
to focus more of their funding on their residents.
25:04
Another example is Quixote Village. Quixote is
25:08
a 30 tiny home community in West Olympia. They
25:14
started out as a tent village that turned into
25:17
a non -profit and built infrastructure to house
25:20
folks permanently. And the community spends more
25:23
than $40 ,000 a year on electricity. Through
25:26
multiple grants and multiple years worth of engineering
25:30
and design, we were able to install solar on
25:34
all 30 of the tiny homes and on their little
25:38
community building and reduce that energy bill
25:41
by about half. And so we saw not only the nonprofit
25:46
had more funding to spend on their residents,
25:48
they also, the tiny homes are staying cooler
25:52
because they have panels shielding their root
25:54
troughs from the hot sun. And the village residents
25:58
experience a very tangible sense of pride. A
26:02
lot of times solar is seen as something that's
26:05
only, you know, available to wealthy homeowners.
26:08
And so I particularly remember the celebration
26:12
that was held for the ribbon cutting. And a bunch
26:16
of the residents came out and spoke about their
26:18
experience with installers and their experience
26:20
living with the solar. And it was really true
26:23
and inspiring. Yeah, it's wonderful. Yeah. And
26:26
I guess the last point I'll make is about resiliency.
26:30
And we've had the opportunity just to work on
26:33
a few solar plus battery storage. community -scale
26:38
projects. And so we got to partner with the city
26:42
of Yelm to install solar in a battery at the
26:45
Yelm Community Center, right smack dab in the
26:48
middle of Yelm. It is their farmer's market.
26:51
It's a hot and cold weather shelter. And then
26:56
it's also an emergency response center for larger
26:59
-scale disasters. And so by installing the batteries
27:02
there, that building can be independent from
27:05
the grid during outages. and support the community
27:08
in times of need. And I really hope and dream
27:12
for a time when we have buildings and systems
27:15
like that in every community, whether it's on
27:19
the local church or a fire department, places
27:22
where people can go when, you know, there's literally
27:25
no light in the community. And we've seen, you
27:29
know, just in the past few weeks, really, of
27:32
these sort of community scale disasters happening.
27:36
in Texas or fires down south. And so that's been
27:39
really inspirational as well as I will say those
27:43
larger battery systems take a lot more time and
27:46
effort and engineering and funding. They are
27:49
not cheap. But thankfully, with some of the state
27:52
grants we've worked on, the state has realized
27:54
the value of those sorts of systems and has provided
27:58
them for that sort of stuff. I will say like
28:02
private businesses. We do a lot less work with
28:07
those folks, but we could at least connect you
28:11
with the resources and the people you need to
28:13
pursue solar or batteries or EV chargers or heat
28:20
pumps because the electric transition is not
28:28
just limited to solar. In the big picture of
28:32
the next 15 or so years, as the state's clean
28:36
energy transformation happens, it involves transitioning
28:41
gas appliances to electric. I'm thinking heating
28:46
systems, water heaters, stoves, all transitioning
28:52
to electric, which will increase the amount of
28:56
electric load there is on the grid. That's also
29:00
compounded by all the new buildings and things
29:04
that use electricity being built. Another thing
29:07
that will add load to the grid is our EVs and
29:11
having more electric vehicles. And so while that
29:15
all is happening and increasing load, we also
29:18
need efficiency to offset some of that demand
29:22
and new production from solar to offset that
29:26
demand. If I was a homeowner myself on a renter,
29:31
I might start by looking at, can I transition
29:36
my gas appliance for electricity? Can I reduce
29:39
my electric consumption through efficiency? And
29:42
then once those steps are done, and I have a
29:45
clearer picture of my cost transition and efficiency
29:49
consumption of my building, then I would put
29:53
that solar as the way to offset that remain consumption.
29:57
Oh, wow. Awesome. That's really good to know
30:01
all of that. And your work with tribal communities?
30:14
Yeah, we've had a great relationship with the
30:18
Nisqually tribe, worked on several different
30:20
projects. If you've driven through Nisqually
30:24
on your way to Down recently. You'll notice right
30:27
across from the casino, there's a big solar array
30:31
at their market buildings. And then in some of
30:34
the communities, they're building for elders
30:37
housing. There's solar on each of those housing
30:40
units now. And then our biggest project working
30:42
with the tribe was on federal EPA grant. The
30:47
grant funded our work to develop a priority climate
30:50
action plan, which was identifying some of the
30:54
highest sources of pollution around the reservation
30:57
and creating a plan for reducing those. So mostly
31:01
the plan involved heat pumps, so transitioning
31:05
from propane to heat pump heating and cooling,
31:08
energy efficiency measures like air sealing,
31:12
insulation, LEDs, and a whole lot of solar to
31:17
produce the cost and improve the efficiency.
31:21
produce emissions for this hustle. Super excited
31:24
that the plan was funded by the EPA and the tribe
31:27
received more than $5 million to implement some
31:30
of that work. Wow, that's awesome. It was definitely
31:35
creating a climate climate that was a new experience
31:39
for me. And it definitely forced me out of my
31:42
normal comfort zone. And so I really enjoyed
31:45
it. Wonderful, wonderful. And so what is the
32:00
process to get panels? Yeah, so for a homeowner,
32:04
the first step would be to collect some information
32:07
about your home. A new -ish or good condition
32:10
roof is the first priority. If your roof is old
32:14
or needing replacement, it's best to wait until
32:16
you replace your roof before installing solar.
32:19
Installing solar on a very old roof kind of strands
32:22
the asset up there. And when you come to replace
32:26
your roof, you'll have to remove the solar array,
32:28
replace the roof, replace the solar array. So
32:31
best to install on your roofs. And then we collect
32:36
a copy of your electric bill to see how much
32:39
energy you consume. And we collect a photo or
32:43
take a look at your electrical service panel
32:46
to see what sort of electrical infrastructure
32:49
is in your home. So with that information, how
32:51
old your roof is, how much energy you use. what
32:54
sort of electrical panels in your home you can
32:56
seek proposals from installers. Again, definitely
32:59
recommend seeking multiple proposals. And then
33:03
it comes down to deciding if the proposals make
33:07
sense for you. I will say solar quotes are incredibly
33:11
modifiable. And so if the proposal is too costly
33:15
for you, you can always take away panels. If
33:18
you want to produce more energy, you can have
33:19
panels. You can move panels around on your roof
33:22
based on how they look or where you get the most
33:25
sunlight. So very modifiable. Yeah, and then
33:28
that really brings you to the financial question,
33:30
Can I afford to install solar? Will it make a
33:33
long -term sense for me? There's financing options.
33:37
So if you have a mortgage, it's usually the best
33:40
financial idea to just wrap the cost of the solar
33:44
into your mortgage if your bank allows that.
33:46
If that's not an option, there's several credit
33:49
unions like Puget Sound Cooperative Credit Union
33:52
that have Green Lending programs to fund solar.
33:56
Yeah, for a larger commercial building, I definitely
34:01
recommend reaching out to a team like ours and
34:04
we'll help put together that sort of information.
34:07
Larger buildings, sometimes you need to do a
34:12
review of the structure to make sure it can host
34:14
the weight of solar. Commercial solar projects
34:17
can have some more complicating details that
34:20
you need to figure out. And then a lot of times
34:23
when we're working on those public non -profit
34:25
tribal projects, once we have the proposal, then
34:29
the big question turns into where can we find
34:31
third -party funding for the system? And so we
34:35
publish a whole list of grants on our website,
34:37
but the big ones we work on are Puget Sound Energy's
34:40
Solar Grants program. The Washington State University
34:44
Energy Program's Community Solar Expansion, which
34:48
is low -income focused grants, and the Washington
34:52
Department of Commerce Energy Program, which
34:55
has a bunch of different funding categories,
34:57
but in the past they've done low -income grants,
35:01
solar plus storage grants, resiliency studies,
35:04
community decarbonization grants, which are a
35:07
lot of the time gas transition money... getting
35:11
off gas appliances onto electric. Yeah, and so
35:15
we we have a list of funding and financing resources
35:18
on our web page that folks want to learn more
35:20
Yeah! And so people are not going directly to
35:25
you guys, what they're doing is they're going
35:28
to the other solar companies that y 'all work
35:31
with is that how that works? Yeah when Solarize
35:35
is open uh which we usually run it from March
35:38
through the end of June system on our website
35:42
to sign folks up. Now that it's July and Solarize
35:46
is over, it's more working back with the installer.
35:49
Okay, so during the open time, then people can
35:52
go direct it to you guys. Okay, that's an important
35:56
clarification. Thank you. You talked about some legislative
36:10
policies. Are you currently actively working
36:15
on legislative policy change right now? Yeah,
36:21
we are in several respects. The first big one
36:26
is the future of net metering. Right now, our
36:30
net metering policy gives us a one -for -one
36:34
trade that you put a kilowatt hour onto the grid.
36:37
You get a credit for a kilowatt hour. You know,
36:40
we put a dollar's worth of energy into the grid.
36:42
You get a credit for a dollar's worth. And opponents
36:45
to net metering will say that that's an unfair
36:47
trade, that there's other costs associated with
36:50
the grid that aren't accounted for in that trade.
36:53
How much that cost is or, you know, why it's
36:57
unfair is not clear. There's no real good data
37:02
on how much solar would pass the grid in Washington.
37:06
And so it's kind of, you know, at this point,
37:08
just kind of a smear against solar that has
37:11
prevented us from expanding net metering. And
37:14
so to try to solve that argument, the state legislature
37:19
funded about a million dollars into the Washington
37:23
Academy of Sciences to do a value of solar study.
37:29
So they're trying to figure out, you know, if
37:31
we have the free resource from the sun, that
37:35
produces a resource with the value of electricity,
37:39
how do we place a value on that electricity?
37:42
How much is it worth? Well, in other states like
37:46
California where this has happened, the result
37:50
has been a devaluation of solar. So it went from
37:55
a retail rate of a one -for -one trade down to,
37:59
I think, half to one trade. You have to put two
38:03
kilowatt hours out to get the value of one that
38:05
you purchased from the utility. And so, yeah, hopefully
38:09
the study will come out with a good result. It's
38:11
expected to be finished second quarter of 2026.
38:16
And then that will inform how the legislature
38:20
moves forward with the net metering policy in
38:24
maybe the 2027 session. So we might have a new
38:28
bill then. So that's one of the big ones going
38:31
on. I think, you know, regardless of the outcome
38:34
of the study, it'll result in a fight at the
38:37
legislature. If it says solar is less valuable,
38:41
then all the installers will fight tooth and
38:43
nail to try to retain value. Literally our product,
38:47
you know. If the study says it's worth more,
38:51
then the utility companies will fight tooth and
38:55
nail to prevent it from reflecting that true
38:57
value. So either way, there's a fight coming.
38:59
And I'd say if folks want to get involved with
39:02
that, say you have a solar array where you want
39:04
a solar array and you care about that sort of
39:06
thing, the Washington Solar Energy Industry Association
39:10
is the place to get involved. WASEIA.org. They have
39:14
opportunities for individuals to purchase a form
39:20
and membership or just sign up for the newsletter
39:22
and get updates about legislative efforts. What
39:26
was the name of that again? It's WASEIA. The Washington
39:29
Solar Energy Industry Association, WASIA .org.
39:33
WASIA represents about 50 local solar companies
39:37
and manufacturers around the state. Yeah, other policy
39:51
issues going on, there's proposals to incentivize
39:55
battery storage. Right now, there's not a real
39:59
financial incentive other than maybe a utility
40:02
program or two to install batteries. In places
40:06
where they have time of use electric grates,
40:09
people will charge and discharge their batteries
40:12
to earn money from different electric grates.
40:16
And then there's a real value to utilities for
40:20
installing batteries. If they can access batteries
40:22
virtually, they can treat the batteries like
40:25
a dispatchable power plant. Imagine if you're
40:29
low on electricity to the grid and you could
40:32
send out a signal to 50 homes to all just charge
40:34
their batteries into the grid at once and make
40:37
up that difference. Escalating that to 5 ,000
40:40
homes or 50 ,000 homes of batteries, that's a
40:42
huge capacity of energy. And the same thing could
40:45
be used for charging those batteries during times
40:48
when you have too much electricity on the grid.
40:51
The same could be done with electric vehicles
40:53
and using them as, you know, battery packs for
40:57
the grid. So those sorts of policies are coming,
41:00
but haven't passed the legislature yet. Not quite
41:06
fully baked yet. Another one that's been falling
41:09
over for many years and our team has had a big
41:12
role in is Community Solar policy. Community
41:17
Solar is the solution for everyone who can't
41:20
install solar on their homes. So you build a
41:24
single solar array that's connected straight
41:27
to the grids. You'd sell electricity to the utility,
41:30
and then the utility would disperse the benefits
41:33
of that onto the electric bills of everyone who's
41:36
subscribed to the project. And so rather than
41:39
having it on your home, you would just see on
41:41
your electric bill a charge for your subscription,
41:45
a credit for how much you benefited from your
41:48
subscription, and it's all just packaged right
41:50
there on the energy bill. That's a really good
41:53
idea. It's a great idea! And it's the fastest
41:56
growing subsection of the industry because it
42:00
addresses this huge portion of the market. I'd
42:03
actually say most people can't install rooftop
42:07
solar, whether they're a renter, multifamily
42:10
housing, they live in the woods, maybe they have
42:13
an old roof, maybe they can't afford a rooftop
42:15
system. There's a ton of reasons why rooftop
42:18
solar might not work for some people. And Community
42:21
Solar solves all of those problems. Here in Washington,
42:26
there's a few utilities that have started their
42:30
own Community Solar programs. I really love the
42:34
Vancouver Utility, Clark PUD's Community Solar
42:38
program. Puget Sound Energy has a small community
42:42
solar program. Last time I checked, it was fully
42:45
subscribed, so there weren't subscriptions available.
42:49
But the true industry growth will come from when
42:53
the legislature enables Community Solar through
42:56
policy. And so the policy proposal that we've
43:00
put forward in the past couple of years would
43:03
allow community groups or non -utility entities
43:07
to build Community Solar and then access the
43:12
utility's crediting system to get the benefits
43:14
to customers. And the crediting piece is really
43:18
the key that makes community silver work is putting
43:21
it right on people's electric bills. It'll also
43:25
direct the state utility regulator to figure
43:29
out a value for those credits. So rather than
43:33
having the legislature just assign a value, the
43:38
regulator would go through a huge procedure to
43:41
figure out a fair value and update it over time.
43:44
And then the result hopefully would be that Companies
43:48
could register to do business as a Community
43:50
Solar company. They could build projects and
43:53
offer subscriptions to customers. Those customers
43:56
could sign up for subscriptions and see a net
44:00
financial benefit from them, meaning their credit
44:02
is more valuable than their cost to participate.
44:05
And that threshold of realizing real financial
44:09
benefit hasn't really been crossed by the small
44:13
utility programs we've seen so far. So Washington
44:16
right now has maybe 20 megawatts or so of community
44:21
solar installed. That's maybe 2 ,000 households
44:26
worth of community solar compared to states that
44:29
are leading the country like New York that have
44:32
more than 100 times that much installed. And
44:36
that's because those states have passed policies
44:39
and have had programs started through state regulation.
44:45
So, yeah, our biggest, you know, barrier has
44:49
been, I'd say, education of like teaching lawmakers
44:53
what Community Solar is and trying to combat
44:57
misinformation about solar. And then, you know,
45:02
coming up against the barrier of these very large
45:05
and powerful electric monopolies that don't want
45:08
to have anyone else encroach on their monopoly
45:11
by owning electric generators. So, yeah, that's
45:16
kind of an uphill fight, but we have improved
45:20
our policy every year and brought more people
45:23
into the polls and fighting for the policy every
45:25
year and making progress. Right on. How can people
45:38
get involved? Do you have volunteer options?
45:42
How can people donate? Sponsorships? That's a
45:46
great question. For the policy work that we do,
45:52
having advocates that are willing to show up
45:55
during the legislative session and advocate for
45:59
solar is a huge help. We have a legislative webpage.
46:05
on our website, OlySol.org, where folks can
46:10
get involved there. For more general, just supporting
46:14
the nonprofit, we do have volunteer opportunities
46:16
to perform education and outreach. One that's
46:20
coming up is we'll be at the Hands -On Children's
46:23
Museum on July 26th for Solar Days. It's their
46:27
annual solar -themed event. And so we'll be there
46:33
teaching... mostly little kids about how solar
46:36
works through little solar toy cars and solar
46:40
crickets and, you know, cute little solar toys.
46:43
Well, that sounds fun. Yeah. And so we'll hang
46:46
out at the museum all day playing with solar
46:49
toys and teaching kids about them. And so, you
46:53
know, welcome folks to visit the museum on that
46:55
day with their kids or come and join us to volunteer.
47:00
We definitely are supported by philanthropy.
47:04
And so we participate in Give Local each year through
47:07
the Community Foundation. And then if folks want
47:12
to support our work directly, there's a Giving
47:15
page on our website. And then we invite businesses
47:19
to sponsor our team at different levels. And
47:23
so those sponsorships can get a business featured
47:28
on our website, featured in our social media,
47:31
even... speaking opportunity at our annual meeting,
47:35
which takes place every January. And so, yeah,
47:39
that's some of the events that are coming up
47:42
that I'd love folks to consider getting involved
47:45
is July 26th of the Children's Museum. In
47:48
October, there will be the annual Solar Summit,
47:52
which is Washington's one and only Solar Conference.
47:57
It'll take place October 24th at the South Seattle
48:01
Community College. That event is sponsored by
48:05
another non -profit called Solar Washington or
48:08
solarwa.org. And then in January of next year,
48:14
we'll host our team's annual meeting. We bring
48:18
our community together for an annual celebration
48:21
just to celebrate the previous year's work and
48:25
to talk about what we're looking forward to for
48:28
the next year. We always make it just a big party.
48:31
to celebrate all the staff and the board. And
48:35
so this past year, we held it at Heritage Distillery
48:39
in Tumwater. I'm not sure where we'll be holding
48:43
it this year, but we'll publish information in
48:46
our newsletter and on our social media channels,
48:48
which are at Olympia Solar on Facebook, Instagram,
48:54
LinkedIn, or online at our website, OlySol
48:58
.org. And on that website, you had resources.
49:02
Yeah, great resources on our website. We have
49:06
an educational page, which has a bunch of different
49:09
resources for folks looking to purchase solar,
49:12
like how to select an installer, or five things
49:15
to know when you want to install solar. On our
49:19
Solarize page, we have a webinar, which is an
49:23
online recording of our workshops. So that's the entire Homeowner
49:30
-based educational content we provide in our
49:32
workshops. We also have the list of funding and
49:36
financing resources, the grants that are available.
49:40
Another resource I'll recommend is a really cool
49:43
tool called Google Sunroof. It's a Google Maps
49:48
solar exposure overlay. And so they take Google
49:53
Maps and they find rooftops on there and then
49:56
they can show how much sunlight is it. hitting
49:58
that rooftop. Oh, interesting. So a good first
50:02
step, if you're not sure if your home gets enough
50:05
sun for solar, is to type your address into Google
50:08
Sunroof and it'll show you. I think they've mapped
50:12
most urban areas, some rural areas, not everywhere
50:17
yet. So if you're super out in the boondocks,
50:19
you might not be in there, but it'll show you
50:22
a very clear picture of the rooftop with a sunlight.
50:27
radiance overlay showing how much sunlight hits the
50:30
roof. How do people contact you? Just send
50:42
us an email at info at OlySol.org That's O
50:47
-L -Y -S -O -L dot O -R -G You can also call
50:52
us at 360 -481- 4020. We also have a contact form on
51:01
our website that folks can fill out if they want
51:04
to get in touch. You mentioned some different
51:14
areas like Yelm and Seattle that you've worked
51:18
in. Do you go down to Lewis County? Yeah. We can
51:22
definitely do projects in... Lewis, for our development
51:26
work, we work anywhere in the state. Most of
51:29
that stuff that we can do virtually. So yeah,
51:33
any project anywhere in the state, we'll work with them.
51:44
Yeah, I'll just say there's lots of opportunities
51:47
in the solar industry. On the solar industry,
51:51
a lot of folks may think of it as, just maybe
51:55
some rooftop installers, but it's a huge industry.
52:00
We have, you know, entry -level folks that install
52:06
solar on the roof as apprentices, office managers,
52:10
accountants, truck drivers. In the more skilled
52:16
labor, folks pursuing their electrician's licenses
52:20
are becoming O1 or O2 electricians. Electrical
52:25
engineers that design systems, project managers
52:29
that manage the procurement and timing of projects,
52:36
and they'll apply for the permits associated
52:38
with systems and do all the paperwork. Even warehouse
52:45
managers to manage their equipment when it's
52:48
in the installer's warehouse.. so definitely recommend,
52:53
on WASEIA's webpage there's a job posting board
52:57
or just to reach out to installers in your area
53:01
seeing if they have positions. My first job in
53:04
the industry was as an intern for a solar company
53:08
and it just gave me a foot in the door and a little
53:13
bit of experience that I needed to start out
53:16
to do our own business. And so highly recommend
53:20
that. Here in Thurston County, some of the companies
53:25
we work with are South Sound Solar, Sunset Air,
53:28
Artisan Electric, Sunergy, Solterra Solar, and
53:35
I could go on, but that's a good start. Wonderful, yeah. Is there anything else you would like to share?
53:52
Yeah, so really ever since I was a kid, I've been really
53:57
interested in solar. Like, it seems almost magical
54:02
to me that you could produce electricity just
54:07
by having something sit out in the sunlight.
54:10
It almost seems, you know, like the electricity
54:12
is just coming out of thin air, right? And so, I'm so grateful that that curiosity has manifested into a job
54:22
and a career for myself. And I really enjoy getting
54:28
to teach people about how solar works, the ins
54:34
and outs, and really helping folks understand
54:37
that clean energy can be accessible to them and
54:41
that the benefits of clean energy are immense
54:44
and bountiful. And so I'm just really grateful.
54:50
Grateful to the support we're seeing from the
54:52
Olympia and Thurston County community to do this
54:55
work. Thank you so much, Mason. Cheers. Thank
55:00
you. This interview with Mason has been amazing.
55:11
I didn't realize how much I didn't know about
55:14
solar energy. If you would like to find out more
55:17
or how to get involved, visit olysol.org or
55:24
you can call 360 -481 -4020. You can also email
55:33
Mason and his team at info at olysol .org. That's
55:50
it for today's resource report produced by Pathways
55:53
to Agency. At Pathways to Agency, we are driven
55:56
by the belief that everyone should have the tools
55:59
and support to achieve their goals and thrive
56:02
in their communities. Our mission is to bridge
56:05
the gaps in understanding, accessibility, and
56:08
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56:11
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56:15
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56:19
Report offers information about existing and
56:22
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56:25
Find out more at pathwaystoagency.org. KAOS
56:30
Radio is not responsible or liable for any views
56:33
or opinions expressed in the interviews conducted
56:37
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56:40
for listening.