Orange County’s Future Shines Brighter Together … Connecting Residents with Affordable Solar – Orange County Government, Florida

Orange County, Fla. — Orange County is excited to announce another opportunity to help residents “go solar” by joining with the City of Orlando and Solar United Neighbors to provide another Solar Co-op.

The nonprofit group Solar United Neighbors announced the launch of the 2021 Orange County Solar Co-op on Earth Day, April 22.  The co-op is free to join and open to all homeowners and business owners in the County.  Together, co-op members will learn about solar energy and leverage their numbers to ensure each member receives competitive pricing and a quality solar installation.

The co-op will be the 8^th such project held in Orange County, resulting in more than 355 installations on homes and small businesses. In addition to providing support and savings for residents to go solar, the co-ops have also stimulated over $8.3 million in local economic activity.

“It is my vision to build a community of the future that includes clean, reliable energy that is accessible,” said Orange County Mayor Jerry L. Demings. “We continue to help bring solar co-ops to our community, and help residents power their homes with the sun plus learn about solar energy.”

Mayor Demings pointed out that in partnership with the Orlando Utilities Commission and Duke Energy, renewable energy projects are thriving in Central Florida.  In fact, our community was recognized as a top-ranked county for installed solar on the grid in 2020. Increasing solar energy and storage in our region’s energy portfolio is a critical step along the difficult, but necessary path to achieve 100 % clean and renewable energy.

Joining a co-op does not obligate members to purchase panels. The exact price of a Photovoltaic (PV) system is dependent on homeowners’ preference in system size and their home’s energy consumption. Homeowners have the option to install the size PV system that fits their budget.

After a competitive bidding process facilitated by Solar United Neighbors, co-op members will select a single solar company to complete the installations. Joining the co-op does not obligate members to purchase solar. Instead, members will have the option to individually purchase panels and electric vehicle chargers based on the installer’s group rate.

Solar United Neighbors will host several free information sessions to educate community members about solar energy and the co-op. Individuals interested in going solar can sign up for the co-op or one of the upcoming information sessions at the co-op web page.

A free informational webinar is planned for Wednesday, June 16, 6:00 p.m.

Learn more, register for a webinar, and join the solar co-op at solarunitedneighbors.org/orange

Solar Co-op Partners