The Cleveland Solar Cooperative is offering a new, six-week Solar School class that’s open to the public.
The course will be held from June 17 through July 22 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at The Love Project Community Clubhouse,11713 Buckeye Rd., in Cleveland. The deadline to sign up is Friday, June 13. Light food and beverages will be provided and the class is free. All are welcome, including high school students. This course is intended for those curious about solar and helping their community find alternatives to fossil fuel-based energy. The class is the first of its kind run by the Cleveland Solar Cooperative.
Participants do not need to have any knowledge of solar power before taking the class. Craig Ickler, energy democracy organizer at Cleveland Owns, says, “We’re envisioning this class as a way to answer the question many of us have had walking around our neighborhoods – would this empty lot, church roof or parking lot be a good place for a solar array?”
The Cleveland Solar Cooperative says that students who complete the class will leave with a deep understanding of how solar power works, learn how to use technology that helps determine if a building has strong solar potential or not, understand current Ohio government policy on the topic and how to choose buildings that will benefit from new solar arrays. Participants will help brainstorm new site locations and an educational unit will cover how to approach and talk to building owners about solar installations. The class will also teach students how to calculate both financing for and revenue from a new solar installation. Participants are not required to be Cleveland Solar Cooperative (CSC) members, but CSC expects to gain a list of new potential solar projects from the course.
The Cleveland Solar Coop is a cooperative business working for a just transition from fossil fuel-based energy to renewable energy. Anyone who lives in Ohio is eligible to join the coop, all that’s needed is a $20 one-time payment. Members invest in new solar installation projects in the Cleveland area in $50 increments. The coop works to put solar on commercial, school or religious buildings. Cleveland Solar Cooperative owns the solar arrays, and members make returns on their investments. Building occupants where the solar arrays are built sign a power purchase agreement with Cleveland Solar Cooperative and benefit from largely reduced electricity costs. Cleveland Solar Cooperative leaders say the arrangement is ideal for building occupants who cannot afford to install solar on their own roofs but want to benefit from green energy.
To date, the Cooperative has two projects that are not yet off the ground, but have signed initial agreements with partners. The organization is actively working to add to both its project profile and partner list. The Cleveland Solar Cooperative was founded in 2020 and Cleveland Owns was involved in incubating CSC.
Cleveland Solar Coop is different from Solar United Neighbors’ Solar Co-ops, which help homeowners buy solar in bulk from one installer/ distributor at a discount. Cleveland Solar Coop does not work on single-family residential buildings.
Solar power is a clean, renewable energy source. According to the Ohio Public Utilities Commission, 47% of Ohio’s energy comes from natural gas. After gas, coal is used to generate energy at 24% and nuclear at 17%. Renewable energy makes up less than 9% of Ohio’s electricity profile and solar is 1.5% overall. Although Northeast Ohio is often cloudy, the sun shines every day and even on cloudy days, photovoltaic cells generate electricity without causing pollution. While the sun does not shine at night, solar power can be saved in batteries for the darker hours. Burning and extracting natural gas and coal produce greenhouse gases, according to MIT’s Climate Portal, that cause climate change, generate air pollution and negatively impact landscapes and wildlife habitats where extraction occurs. Additionally, solar can be built nearly anywhere and the Cleveland Solar Coop is working to broaden its reach.
Ickler also says, “Building community-owned solar is just the tip of the iceberg for us. We believe that through community-ownership, we can build the economic, political and people-power we need to transform our energy system.”
Beyond education and solar installation, the Cleveland Solar Cooperative strongly believes in the democratization of energy. This means that a group of people decides where new green energy projects are installed, not only those who can afford them. Solar energy is not ideal for every building, but anyone in Ohio can help support the solar projects that CSC builds. Members help both finance and choose the projects. The institution empowers its members to get involved in these green energy projects even if their own residence, school, faith institution, or place of work cannot/ will not have a solar installation, which breaks financial and location barriers for involvement.
Learn more at the Cleveland Solar Cooperative website and follow the group on Facebook and Instagram.
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