Bainbridge Solar Collective Newsletter

This monthly newsletter is from the Bainbridge Solar Collective - we are a community-based group with one mission: to accelerate and expand the installation of solar panels and battery storage systems across Bainbridge Island. As wildfires rage across North America, the argument for clean energy has never been more compelling. Let’s build a sustainable, resilient, and energy-independent island! If this email was forwarded to you, please sign up HERE.

The Solarize Bainbridge Island campaign officially wrapped up on July 31. The results speak for themselves:

• 200+ people attended the workshops.
• 351 signed up for free solar assessments.
• 31 contracts were signed for installations.
• 280 kWs - that's how much solar energy these new systems will eventually generate every year.

This is really good stuff — impressive by any measure.

The program was a collaboration between the City of Bainbridge Island, Olympia Community Solar, Blossom Solar, and Northwest Electric & Solar. We are especially grateful to COBI Climate Manager Laura Rÿser and Ben Silesky of OCS, who drove the effort from start to finish. And thanks to everyone in the community who participated.

Solar is not a passing fad on Bainbridge Island. Hundreds of our neighbors are asking questions about it right now; many are actively pursuing it. This isn't abstract theorizing or partisan policymaking. Solarize Bainbridge is exactly what our Climate Action Plan looks like in practice.

The Bainbridge Solar Collective was formed to help carry this excellent momentum forward. Onward.

EVENT: ☀️ SOLAR TOURS: NEIGHBORS TALKING, MORE TO COME IN SEPTEMBER

On July 18, the Bainbridge Solar Collective hosted its second Solar Tour, opening a handful of homes to islanders curious about the nitty-gritty details of solar. Participants met owners, saw real systems up close, and got their questions answered by fellow residents: Would you do it again? What do you wish you'd known? And what did it actually cost, all in?

We are taking a pause in August to regroup and think about how to make the tours even more useful going forward. Look for updates in September.

The plug-in solar story continues to evolve. Since our last update, Bright Saver — a California-based nonprofit — made a notable move: it is now selling balcony solar kits at cost with no markup. A $29 annual membership unlocks a 180-watt kit for $285 or a 360-watt kit for $414. Bright Saver's co-founder Cora Stryker puts it plainly: "Only a nonprofit like ours will ever give up our margins completely to pass along to consumers the savings from clean energy." The kits hang on a balcony rail, fence, or wall, and plug into a standard outdoor outlet; they come with a built-in microinverter and a smartphone monitoring app.

The Bainbridge Solar Collective has ordered one — and we are awaiting delivery. We plan to demo it at community events this fall so islanders can see plug-in solar up close (and before legislation here in Washington catches up). Watch this space for more details.

The Bainbridge Solar Collective is partnering with Housing Resources Bainbridge to help tell the stories of what HRB is doing to bring solar to affordable housing projects on the island. HRB has been celebrating the opening of the newly completed Ericksen Community. The building already has a solar array, which came online last month. It is an impressive installation, covering nearly the entire rooftop at the corner of Ericksen Avenue NE and Knechtel Way NE.

Now HRB wants to repeat this achievement at Finch Green, its next affordable housing project, which is just getting underway. Finch Green grew out of a partnership between HRB and Bethany Lutheran Church, whose congregation donated the land for the initiative. The Bainbridge Solar Collective is going to follow that effort — the grant applications, the fundraising, the setbacks and breakthroughs — and report back in future issues. Think of it as Hard Knocks, but with nonprofits instead of undrafted tight ends and grant applications instead of two-a-days. Stay tuned.

• MONTHY DOSE OF CLIMATE HOPE - WITH BILL MCKIBBON
  Wednesday, August 12, 1:00 pm PST
  Online Event Hosted by Climate Action Now - Registration Required
  One of our most insightful and determined advocates for solar; his recent book Here Comes the Sun is out in paperback next week.

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PAST ISSUES

• Solarize Bainbridge Delivers — and the Solar Tours Have Begun
  2 July 2026 | Issue 5
  Topics: Solarize Bainbridge | Solar Tour 2 | Grace Episcopal | Updates: Balcony Solar | Cascadia Solar
  
• Last Workshop, First Solar Tour — Bainbridge Solar Stays Hot
  3 June 2026 | Issue 4
  Topics: Solarize Bainbridge | Ribbon Cutting at St Barnabas | First Solar Tour | Plug-In or Balcony Solar | A&R Solar

• Bainbridge Keeps Going Solar
  5 May 2026 | Issue 3
  Topics: Solarize Bainbridge | Bainbridge Couple Installed a Battery | Economics of Solar + EVs (Part 2) | Launch of Gridzo | Sunergy Systems
  
• Solar Momentum on Bainbridge
  9 April 2026 | Issue 2
  Topics: Solarize Bainbridge | Bethany Lutheran: Solar + Batteries | Economics of Solar + EVs (Part 1) | Net Metering | Blossom Solar | Northwest Electric & Solar
  
• Bainbridge Goes Solar: Be Part of It!
  2 March 2026 | Issue 1
  Topics: Welcome from Bainbridge Solar Collective | Bainbridge Public Library | Data on Solar Progress | ETIPP | Solarize Bainbridge | Power Trip Energy

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Ⓒ 2026 Bainbridge Solar Collective