NORTHFIELD — Solar Up Northfield, an ad-hoc group dedicated to increasing the town’s use of solar energy, will hold tours of solar-powered Northfield homes today and Sunday to teach residents about installing solar panels.
“We want to give everybody the (knowledge) they need to install solar,” said Emily Koester, a member of Solar Up Northfield. “We realize that it’s a daunting proposition for some people who think, ‘Where do I start?’”
Nine Northfield homes with varying solar systems will be open for free tours, which will begin at the solar array behind Green Trees Gallery, located at 105 Main St. Information will be available there from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. both days.
“We’ll have a list of all the people whose homes are available to view on Saturday and Sunday, along with a map of where the homes are,” Koester explained.
Residents are asked to go to the homes promptly on the hour for the start of the tours at 10 and 11 a.m., and 1 and 2 p.m.
Solar Up Northfield has its beginnings back in March, when Koester, Susan O’Connor, Lynn Hansell, Hughes Pack and Jinx Hastings, all Northfield residents, came together to fight the Kinder Morgan pipeline.
“It was fighting the pipeline … that was really the catalyst,” Koester said, adding that the five shared a common desire to keep fossil fuels in the ground.
“We thought, ‘We can’t just be saying no, no, no,’ because people need energy,” she continued. Once Kinder Morgan withdrew its application for the pipeline, the group decided to turn efforts toward encouraging solar power, a more environmentally friendly energy source.
“We wanted to tell (Northfield residents), ‘Well, this is something that you can do,’” Koester said.
The group originally wanted to join forces with the town of Warwick to submit applications for state grants that would specifically fund solar installation, Koester said. However, the five members found the process complicated, and turned instead to encouraging individuals to install their own solar panels.
Based on a survey that was distributed to Northfield residents, Koester said the townspeople are clearly interested.
“We’ve had 25 families express interest in installing solar based on the survey,” she said.
Hansell, Pack and Hastings, who all have solar power in their own homes, are responsible for tours of their houses over the weekend. Guests get the chance to see roof-mounted and pole-mounted systems, and ask questions about how much installation costs and what the homeowners are saving on their electricity bills.
Solar Up Northfield also has two other events on the horizon.
On July 14 at Dickinson Memorial Library, Peter Talmage, a former member of the Northfield Energy Committee, will present his talk “Taming Your Energy Beast,” about strategies for reducing your energy consumption. The talk will begin at 7 p.m.
Then, on July 28 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., representatives from various solar companies in the Pioneer Valley will come together for a solar fair in the meeting room of Town Hall. They will share information about the steps for installing solar, its costs and the incentives.
For more information about the events, or to get involved with Solar Up Northfield, contact Koester by email at emily2peru@yahoo.com.