The Arizona Solar Challenge Returns

SmartPower Relaunches Ground-Breaking Residential Solar Program in The Grand Canyon State

PHOENIX, ARIZONA, USA, March 8, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Arizona Solar Challenge has returned to Arizona! From 2011 to 2015, the Arizona Solar Challenge helped make Arizona the nation’s residential solar leader. Working in Communities from Buckeye to Glendale; from Yuma to Flagstaff the Arizona Solar Challenge set the trend for Arizona’s solar future. And now, it’s being relaunched statewide!

SmartPower, the nation’s leading non-profit marketing organization dedicated to promoting clean energy and energy efficiency is relaunching The Arizona Solar Challenge (http://azsolarchallenge.wee.green )with support from The Leon Lowenstein Foundation and the residential solar loan company, Dividend Finance. Together, working with local communities, local partners and organization, The Arizona Solar Challenge will challenge communities to go solar as part of Arizona’s commitment to be “Carbon-Free by 2050”.

“Arizona Public Service and The Arizona Corporation Commission helped us launch the original Arizona Solar Challenge,” said Brian F. Keane, President of SmartPower. “And now both of them have committed to going carbon free by 2050. We can think of no better way to aid in this effort than to challenge our Arizona communities to join the Arizona Solar Challenge and help Arizona reach this important goal!”

The Arizona Solar Challenge utilizes a community-based “group buying” program that has been tested and perfected across the nation. Indeed, SmartPower has undertaken or assisted in managing solar campaigns in over 25 states and thousands of communities from coast to coast – and even in New Delhi, India. Research performed by Yale University and New York University’s Stern School of Business has proven that SmartPower’s solar campaigns can increase demand for residential solar by 1000% on average in each community.

SmartPower uses a simple, tested and proven model to overcome historic barriers to residential solar adoption. This approach includes working with municipalities, the utility, community groups and “solar ambassadors” to educate residents on the benefits of going solar. Customized town-specific websites remove the complexity of the purchasing process, making it easier for customers to understand how to move forward. Financial savings are further enhanced by battery storage and “zero money down” finance options.

"Solar is good for all our communities and it’s good for Arizona," said Eric White, CEO of Dividend Finance, one of the partners and underwriters of the Arizona Solar Challenge. “The Arizona Solar Challenge is a natural fit for us to participate. With the momentum in Arizona to be Carbon Free by 2050, solar will a huge part of that solution. We are proud and excited to be a part of the team.”

As the Arizona Solar Challenge launches, The Reveille Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Phoenix has become one of the first entities to embrace its goals.

“The Reveille Foundation works with Arizona’s underserved communities including our military veterans and Native Americans,” said Steve Yamamori, President of The Reveille Foundation. “We are excited to work with the Arizona Solar Challenge because these are some of very best of Arizona’s communities – and the communities who are most in need of solar power.”

As the Arizona Solar Challenge launches, communities across the state will begin to take up “the challenge”. Already the City of Buckeye is considering once again becoming an Arizona Solar leader – as it was in 2012 when the City first competed in the Arizona Solar Challenge.

To see if your home is right for solar, please visit http://www.azsolarchallenge.wee.green. For more information on how your community can join The Arizona Solar Challenge, contact Bob Wall at bwall@smartpower.org.

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About SmartPower:

SmartPower is the nation’s leading non-profit marketing organization dedicated to promoting clean, renewable energy and energy efficiency. We help Americans make smart energy choices. Indeed, we’ve been named the nation’s “Best Non-Profit Marketing Firm” for the past three years as a result of our high visibility, high impact on-the-ground community campaigns that deliver measurable energy reductions and strong customer satisfaction. Our award-winning “Solarize” campaigns have been credited with installing over $100m worth of residential solar in a three-year span. In fact, we’ve been credited with perfecting the peer-to-peer outreach – even during the Covid-19 Pandemic – that is required to encourage customers to go solar.

Bob Wall
SmartPower
+1 443-510-0976
bwall@smartpower.org