Sackville group pushes bulk purchase of solar panels

A group in Sackville is inviting people from across the province to get together to contribute to saving the environment and save some money through a bulk purchase of solar panels.

Amanda Marlin is the executive director of EOS Eco-Energy, a not-for-profit environmental group based in Sackville that promotes renewable energy. 

"There seem to be two main barriers to people who are interested in solar, they need more information, they need more knowledge and understanding about how the technology works and also price is a barrier," said Marlin.

"It's a big up-front cost even though you'll save over the long term, so to do the bulk purchase we'll be able to save people a little bit of money."

Woody Thompson entered the renewable energy business 12 years ago when he started Fundy Solar. 

"Prices have come down exponentially, like this panel that I'll sell now for $250 to $280, when I started the business would have been easily over $1,000," he said.

He's offering a discount of 12 per cent of the purchase of a solar panel if the group can get enough people to commit to buying 15 kilowatts worth of panels.

"If we can do this in large numbers then you have an economy of scale that comes in and then I don't have to spend as much time going to people's houses explaining to people how the system works, basically selling the system and then I can give them a break on the cost of the system," said Thompson.

Panels must be ordered before Aug. 18 and installed before the end of the year to qualified for the group rate.