Solar power helping local Habitat homeowners save money

WINCHESTER — Last February, Kelly Good’s electric bill was $187 — the highest it had ever been since she moved into her Winchester home. This February, the bill was $41 — a 78% decrease from a year ago.

She isn’t switching off the lights more or taking shorter showers. Solar panels are making the difference.

“Long story short, it’s really been a blessing,” the single mother of two said, standing on her front porch Wednesday morning. “It’s saved me a lot of money.”

Solar panels are continuing to pop up on local affordable homes, like Good’s, in a program through the nonprofit Blue Ridge Habitat for Humanity that was announced in Winchester almost a year ago.

Five Winchester homes previously built by Blue Ridge Habitat have been fully retrofitted with solar panels in the past year, six more houses in the city are almost done and three in nearby Strasburg will be complete by June, according to Jonathan Lantz-Trissel, Habitat for Humanity Virginia’s solar project manager.

“For sure, it means immediate savings [for homeowners],” said Lantz-Trissel. “Saving right away without money up front, which is important for lower-income families who don’t have that capital.”

Solar power is the cheapest form of energy generation available, he said. According to his estimates, most homeowners end up saving about $40 to $50 per month on electricity, even with the “small lease amount” that they’re paying to fund equipment installation.

Good’s house in Winchester’s North End is the first home she’s owned. Moving out of an apartment, where utilities were included in the monthly rent, and into a house with a mortgage and bills was nerve-wracking at first.

But since getting solar power last April, the savings in the Winchester native’s electric bills have “freed up a lot of money to focus on other things,” Good said. Even when there are rainy days with little sun, like Wednesday, Good has not observed any correlated upticks in her bills.

She thanked Blue Ridge Habitat for the opportunity.

Blue Ridge Habitat is part of the worldwide Habitat for Humanity organization that helps low-income families build affordable homes, revitalizes neighborhoods and works with the aging population to improve their quality of life, among other endeavors.

When it comes to the solar project, Virginia, through the statewide Habitat for Humanity, was the first in the country to participate in the program, Lantz-Trissel said. Sixty Virginia homes have been involved so far.

The organizations involved aim to keep the effort rolling, expanding to more homes and more places, he added.

The initiative was launched by Jeff Heie, who founded GiveSolar, then partnered with Habitat for a more far-reaching effect.

Other organizations, too, have been pivotal to the project’s growth. A donation by the American Institute of Architects has funded the bulk of the material costs. Mountain View, or MTV, Solar of Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, has been the boots-on-the-ground construction crew — and very generous about it, agreed Lantz-Trissel and Good.

“Solar panels are magical, but also the partnerships are magical,” said Lantz-Trissel. “It takes a community, but it’s great to get them on a home.”