Patrick Dost
attended the April meeting, was selected after the steering committee vetted four other solar construction companies. After being selected, Creative Solar made a presentation before the Carrollton City Council. “This is a great community that we think a lot of people could benefit directly from solar energy,” Russell Seifert, CEO of Creative Solar USA, told the council members. Councilman Rory Wojcik was particularly strong in his support of Solarize CarrolltonCarroll and its efforts to get residents and businesses interested in solar power.
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The best part is that you won’t just be contributing clean energy to your house and the grid, but in the long run, you will be saving money. — Hannes Gerhardt, director of the Center for Sustainability at the University of West Georgia.
Leia Hollingsworth
“This is not just an example of a group of people coming together for a good cause, but really this is people coming together to reduce the price of solar within our community to an affordable cost,” said Wojcik. “This will be an investment to individuals, organizations, and businesses.” The University of West Georgia is also committed to partnering with the community to foster a mutual interest in sustainable energy. “The Solarize Carrollton-Carroll initiative allows us to work with local residents, business partners, students, and our faculty and staff, as we build a vision for a more sustainable future,” said Brendan Bowen, UWG Campus Planning and Facilities Associate vice president. Gerhardt said that as director of sustainability at UWG, he has been interested in solar power for a long time. It’s Gerhardt’s conviction that solar needs to be a much larger part of the energy plans in the 21st century to realize the goals of clean energy and energy independence. “The great thing about expanding solar is that households can be a driving force,” he said. “In Germany, most of their significant solar capacity comes from rooftop solar panels. With Solarize Carroll, we are offering residents right here a chance to adopt solar for their homes and businesses.” Gerhardt said that as the price for the solar system installation goes down, more people can participate. In the end, Gerhardt said, Solarize-Carroll offers significant savings for anyone that wants to be a part of the energy solution by going solar.
44 West Georgia Living July-August 2018
“The best part is that you won’t just be contributing clean energy to your house