Montgomery County solar co-op opens to help residents go solar together, get a discount

Neighbors in Montgomery County have formed a solar co-op to save money and make going solar easier, while building a network of solar supporters. The Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection, the cities of Takoma Park and Rockville, along with MD SUN are the co-op sponsors.

The co-op is seeking members and will host information meetings May 31 at 7 p.m. at the Takoma Park Community Center (7500 Maple Avenue) and June 9 at 7 p.m. at Rockville City Hall (111 Maryland Avenue) to educate the community about solar and the co-op process.

Montgomery County residents interested in joining the co-op can sign up at www.mdsun.org/montgomery. Joining the co-op is not a commitment to purchase panels. Once the group is large enough, MD SUN will help the co-op solicit competitive bids from area solar installers.

Co-op members will select a single company to complete all of the installations. They will then have the option to purchase panels individually based on the installer’s group rate. By going solar as a group and choosing a single installer, each participant generally saves up to 20% off the cost of their system.