November 20 - Kirk Hafner realizes he's taking a risk with his solar project. South Sound Solar works with nonprofits and other housing providers in the area, but Quixote Village presents unique challenges.
Covering a village of 30 small houses and one large public building with a single solar energy system was an unprecedented feat, all at the equivalent of $30,000 in utility bills.
On Friday, Nov. 18, Hafner joined other housing leaders at Quixote Village on Mottman Road in Olympia to celebrate the successful connection of 31 solar panels to the grid.
Home Village provides permanent housing to the homeless. Quixote Communities is a non-profit organization founded in 2013.
Hafner choked up as he spoke to the small crowd, saying he believed the project would be successful.
"It took about two years from when we said, 'This is a journey,' to when he put it online," she said. "Even in cloudy weather there was generation, so we're doing well."
The project was funded in part by a $78,000 grant from the City of Olympia, as well as grants from PSE, the Squaxin Island Tribe and the Tides Foundation.
Each cottage has four solar panels and the community building has 86 units, bringing the total to 206. Each home is home to one person and their home produces one kilowatt of energy. In total, the system produces 66 kilowatts of energy.
Equipping the city with solar panels will save the city about $551,000 over the next 40 years and reduce carbon emissions by 58,000 pounds of carbon dioxide, according to a news release from Olympia Community Solar. This is equivalent to planting 705 trees or not driving 106,000 kilometers per year. Panels are manufactured in Washington state.
Olympia Community Solar's Mason Rolfe said the group started two years ago to learn how clean energy could be used to improve the quality of life for residents of Quixote Village.
He said they were initially surprised by the scale of the project, even though overall it was the smallest project the nonprofit had ever done. According to him, a system of solar panels with 31 different arrays is unheard of.
"But instead of being dissuaded, we turned to one of the world's oldest fairy tales and the city's namesake, Don Quixote, and as Miguel de Cervantes wrote, 'Madness is perhaps too practical,'" Rolf said.
Puget Sound Energy's Shannon Glenn said PSE has awarded more than $3 million to nonprofits and solar projects in the past four years. He said they are happy to provide financial support to projects that help those most in need in society.
Olympia Community Development Grant Program Specialist Anastasia Everett said the city is committed to reducing carbon emissions and promoting clean, renewable energy efforts. He said they are investing in the fight against climate change and this is not their last solar project.
Village Executive Colleen Carmichael said she and other board members do what they can to benefit the community.
"That's why we're here, that's what drives all of our decisions and our desire to do better," Carmichael said. "When other people in the community come together and celebrate this idea with us, it means more to us and the people we serve than you can imagine."
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