Our Story
OC Goes Solar grew from a discussion between three sustainability-minded neighbors in 2016. Despite the increasing affordability of rooftop solar, few homes in our neighborhood of University Hills, Irvine (a community of 4,000 mostly UCI families) had gone solar. We discovered that many homeowners were unwilling to tackle the complex and daunting task of determining what they needed to know about solar energy to adopt it. We decided to do something about that.
We banded together to bring reliable information to our neighbors, secure a group discount, and simplify the process of going solar.
We invited neighbors to one of our living rooms for an educational solar workshop in the first year. The following year, we solicited proposals from local contractors and secured a discount accessible to the whole group. More than seventy neighbors would go solar through that first solar drive, and we received overwhelmingly positive feedback from our community members.
One of the first University Hills solar workshops.
We have now successfully completed four solar drives with pre-screened local contractors. Our last two drives were expanded to include homeowners all over Orange County.
To date, over 600 homeowners have purchased rooftop solar through our process. Many say that our program made the process much easier, less stressful, and more affordable than it otherwise would have been — and that they would not have purchased solar panels if not for the program.
There are several avenues of involvement available to neighbors. Some serve on the committee that interviews and selects contractors. Others attend informational meetings. And others sign up to be included in the drive, knowing that their contractor options and group discount have been carefully considered by neighbors who have their best interests in mind.
What started as an informal group of neighbors grew into a formal 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in 2019. If you have questions or want to participate in our next drive, email us. We’d love to help you and your neighbors go solar.
Interested in organizing your own neighborhoods? We can support and guide you.