As of April 21, 2015, Solarize Harrisonburg had succeeded in gathering 66 contracts for residential photovoltaic solar panel installations through Sigora Solar with over half having been installed.
This was cause for a celebration which is step number 9 in the solar coop process. Wednesday evening, May 13, found many of the Solarize Harrisonburg members gathered at Clementine’s Ruby’s Lounge to socialize over appetizers provided by Sigora Solar, view photos of the installations and offer appreciation for the individuals and groups involved in the project’s success.
VA SUN’s program director Aaron Sutch handed out awards to:
- Dave Pruett for his excellent outreach work through his Huffington Post article, The Great Transition, which appeared on March 19, 2015
- Bishop Dansby for his policy work promoting solar energy
- Zach Nyce and Brian O’Dell of the Harrisonburg Electric Commission with additional recognition of Jason Burch with the Shenandoah Valley Electric Coop
- Joy Loving for her amazing local leadership
- The City of Harrisonburg for becoming a Solar City
- The Climate Action Alliance of the Valley for their partnership:
As our on the ground organization partner of the year for their excellent work in making Solarize Harrisonburg our most successful Virginia Solar Co-op to date. They prove that a small, passionate group of people are capable of empowering others to act locally while making a global impact. For this we recognize CAAV on this day Wednesday, May 13, 2015.
Finally Aaron announced plans to launch a second round of Solarize Harrisonburg in August 2015! More here.
VASUN Communications Manager Ben Delman wrote about this in his May 20 post to the VASUN website here: Solarize Harrisonburg Builds on Success to Start New Group
The Daily News-Record’s Elaina Sauber covered this project in an article published on June 20, 2015: ‘Solarize Harrisonburg’ Shines Bright
Climate Action Alliance of the Valley 