What we’ve been working on in 2014

Hello Friend of Seeds for the Sol!!!

In an effort to keep our valuable supporters in the loop, here is some of what we’ve been working on:

• Teaming up with Habitat for Humanity! Solar is the best of both worlds – affordable and sustainable! Help Habitat for Humanity put solar panels on two habitat homes in Corvallis. To do this we are running a Razoo crowd funding campaign with tax-deductible donations to help raise money to put solar on two habitat homes. This fundraiser is from November 1st to December 15th and is a great chance to help out two families and support solar all at the same time. To donate go here.
• Developing a Fundraising campaign. Donations give us the freedom to help more people in our outreach and afford us the opportunity to help households in a variety of financial situations. Donated funds never spend out! Your donations are recaptured in the tax credits and are recycled.

What’s Happening Now:

Currently we have 6 installations completed with 4 more being completed before the turn of the year and 6 more in the process! Not to mention two Habitat for Humanity homes!! If all 16 are completed by the end of the year that means 51 kilowatts of solar installed, which is 64,000 kilowatts of energy saved and 112,000 pounds of carbon out of the atmosphere!

Upcoming Events:

• Seeds for the Sol presentation for Kiwanis at the Corvallis Aquatic Center, Nov 6 at 7am.
• Seeds for the Sol presentation at UUFC on Nov. 23rd after the second service.
• Check out our display at Citizens Bank through Nov. 14th!!

Meet our installers!

• Kirk Bailey from Abundant Solar 541-231-8072
• Matthew Henderson from Benton Electric Solar 541-979-9122

Some important terms that we use :

• Sun Buddy: Teams up with a sun harvester to put solar panels on the sun harvester’s house.
• Sun Harvester: With the help of a sun buddy, sun harvesters help build a more green community by putting solar panels on their house.
• Wealth Sharing: Sociologists are finding that our brains are hard-wired to share. Sharing is a survival instinct and the reason why humans seek community. Seeds for the Sol believes we have the capacity to share our way beyond climate change.

Some Fun Facts about Solar!!!

• The history of solar power can be traced back to the 7th Century B.C. During this time, magnifying glasses used the sun’s rays to make fire.
• The cost of solar panels has fallen approximately 100 times since 1977, and solar panels today are about half the price they were in 2008.

An interview with one of our Sun Harvesters!
What got you interested in solar?
I’ve been interested in solar for a long time. I remember back in middle school I would take apart solar powered calculators. I would try to use them to charge batteries or power lights, but they were never powerful enough. When my wife and I got engaged in 2008, I started on a project to build solar panels from scratch. I used large sheets of Plexiglas, and solar cells from Evergreen solar. Because the panels were hand built, they couldn’t be connected to a household circuit, so I built a mobile battery box with a charge controller, an inverter to power household appliances, and six deep cycle lead-acid batteries to hold a charge.
The system ended up working fine, but the panels developed a problem with condensation. Still, during our wedding in a park, the system powered our PA and music systems.

What prevented you from pursuing solar in the past?
The cost to entry for solar panels has always been their biggest drawback. Sure, with current rebates and incentives the payback is less than four years, but the upfront cost hasn’t been an easy barrier to jump. It’s a strange position to be in – you have to spend money to save money, and the earlier the better. Seeds for the Sol is the only organization that takes away that barrier to entry.

We are currently building a house in Corvallis. We feel very fortunate that we have this opportunity, but we didn’t have the upfront capital to include solar. We knew that we would eventually save up enough money to invest in a solar electric system, so when we drew up plans for the house we made sure to set aside a section of our south-facing roof for solar panels.

How did you get involved with Seeds for the Sol?
I am a member of the Corvallis Electric Vehicle Club. Back in 2010, I built an electric scooter. It has a range of about 40 miles, gets the equivalent of 600 MPG, and costs about half a penny per mile. In the club I met quite a few other people from around Corvallis who also own electric vehicles, and many of them are passionate about alternative energy. I met Walt Eager, my future Sun Buddy, there. We talked about solar energy and he let us know about this amazing program.

What has the experience been like?
The experience has been very good. Our Sun Buddy, Walt, was very helpful in explaining the program and got us interested in it. Our interview for the solar loan with Julie was a very smooth process. We appreciate Julie and Walt’s dedication to helping us reach one of our lifelong goals of being more energy independent.