Rochester Area Interfaith Climate Action
Become a site member
Check out our social media!
Community Solar
​
Community solar enables individuals, small businesses, and/or non-profit organizations to receive direct benefits, similar to on-site solar installations. Subscribers to a community solar project receive credits on their bill for their portion of the energy produced by the community solar system. Benefits of Community Solar:
​
-
Support Clean Energy-play an active role in displacing the need for fossil fuels that are a major source of greenhouse gas emissions and other toxic pollutants
-
Cut Energy Costs- Lower your monthly electric payments with community solar credits applied directly to your utility bill.
-
No installation Required- Zero upfront costs, no siting requirements, non-profits, renters, homeowners or small businesses with an electric bill in your name can participate​
-
Energize Your Local Economy-Support your neighbors by helping to create jobs in construction, engineering, maintenance, and development
Getting started is easy!
RAICA has partnered with Ampion power who has worked with:
-
Over 40 Houses of Worship/Religious Institutions generate over 4GWh of renewable electricity annually
-
Over 107 individual congregant household to add another 5GWh annually
That's like taking more than 450 cars off the road each year so far -- you can join to be part of the solution!
​
Click here to request an info session at your House of Worship
​
For Houses of Worship (HoW) or Institutions
Sign up your house of worship to save on utility bills and earn donations.
To sign up your facility go to https://ampion.net/RAICA/
​
Then to get a campaign started for congregants to sign up just contact Jim Tappon or call
(866) 244-7294
​
Downloadable resources for engaging your HoW
also see and share experiences on our member best practices forum
​
For households or small businesses
Signing up your household is easy just use this link to bring up a list of participating houses of worship*, then select your house of worship and follow the link to the appropriate sign up screen for that House of Worship
Each member that signs up will generate a donation for their house of worship or religious institution (in addition to saving on your utility bills, supporting local solar energy and supporting RAICA)
​
*If you don't see your house of worship simply select the general link under Unaffiliated
How Community Solar Works
1. Ampion assigns you a share of the local community solar farm based on your energy usage.
​
2. Each month, solar credits are generated on your behalf and applied directly to your RG&E bill
​
3. You purchase the solar credits at a discount, saving you up to 10% on your total electricity costs
​
4. Once connected, you can view your solar production, cost savings, and environmental impact with Ampion Energy’s online platform
​
Your discount is locked in for as long as you participate. You can cancel anytime with no cancellation fee
This short video from NYSERDA is a great tutorial on Community Solar
“As pastor of a church that takes stewardship and creation care seriously, I’m happy to have us be part of a program that encourages production of more clean, renewable energy – and lets our members save a bit on their bills at the same time. This is a real win-win solution for us,” says Pastor Steve Gretz of Greece Baptist Church.
​
**Options for community solar outside the REG&E service area (view service area map) can be provided by BlueRock Solar, Inc. through their Western New York solar farm and Ithaca-area solar farm. For information and to register go to:
https://bluerockenergy.com/grandislandsolar/ in the National Grid service area or https://bluerockenergy.com/solarfarm/ for NYSEG customers