Now that Neighborhood Solar has drawn to a close, I wish to thank all who made this program a success.
First thanks go to Ben Mayer of SunBug Solar and all of SunBug Solar for being willing to be Neighborhood Solar’s installer. A solar program is only as good as its installer, and Neighborhood Solar was lucky enough to have the very, very best.
Next, Neighborhood Solar is truly a neighborhood endeavor and thanks go to Gary Shaw, a LEED architect, who spent hours with me at SunBug headquarters planning the program and picking the equipment. My kitchen cabinet of Katherine Codega and Deb Hopper with open laptops, iPad, and good munchies made the website a possibility. A special thanks to Katherine for her design and maintenance of Neighborhood Solar’s website. She also designed the lay-out for Neighborhood Solar’s cards. And her niece, Kathy Codega, designed our wonderful logo. The enthusiasm and help of these neighbors made this project happen.
Michael Fredrickson and Andy Compagna deserve thanks for hearing the details, offering advice, and having much patience and good humor throughout the program’s inception and duration.
A thank you to Sophia Hecht, who used many community service hours, walked the streets with me, and handed out Neighborhood Solar literature and cards.
To all of my elected officials who supported the program, a big thank you. Special thanks go to All-Town Councilors Aaron Dushku and Tony Palomba, and to Representative Jon Hecht and Senator Will Brownsberger. They tirelessly publicized the program in their email notices and on their websites. In addition, they attended Neighborhood Solar’s public meetings, sent referrals, and made connections.
Thanks to Barbara Ruskin of Sustainable Watertown and Rena Baskin of Belmont-Watertown Local First for all their support and publicizing of Neighborhood Solar.
Thanks to Quinton Zondervan of GreenCambridge and David Lescohier and Mary Dewart of Climate Action Brookline, the neighboring community energy committees that discovered and validated Neighborhood Solar by promoting it on their websites.
Thank you to the many, many residents of Watertown and neighboring communities, who are truly interested, attended meetings or called us, only to discover that their roofs were not solar compatible because of wrong roofing material (slate), wrong axis, or the shade of too many trees.
And a very, very special thanks to all of you who took that leap of faith, brought your time and money to the table, signed up, and committed yourselves to making our environment more sustainable and safe.
Thank you all and a good 2015.
Jocelyn Tager