Hear more from Geoff and Michelle Greenfield

• “I’m a JOBS & CLIMATE voter ” – Geoff Greenfield with Neighbor to Neighbor: Your Vote. Your Voice.
• “Take Action!” – Michelle Greenfield with Neighbor to Neighbor: Your Vote. Your Voice.

Sue Righi is a Solar Customer from back in 2014. She started her solar journey with a tour of the Greenfield’s home in 2013, an annual event put on by Green Energy Ohio. She was impressed by their commitment to make the changes they did and be willing to share that in such an open way with the public. “I was paying attention for years to ways of minimizing one’s carbon footprint years before I got serious enough to get my array.” Sue says

In late 2013, Sue got the ball rolling on a solar installation of her own. She made the move to get a solar array installed on the roof of her home in rural Vinton County.

Her motivation for going solar?

It was her concern for the planet, all the species on earth, especially her son and his friends.

What specific feature did she like most about her solar purchase?

Sue says: “It works! I’m really not a techie so the finer points were immaterial to me.”

What has been the best part of having a solar powered home so far?

“Not using coal-based electricity. Also, people who come here – workers and friends – ask about them. People who have grown up here and probably do not consider themselves tree-huggers are interested in going solar.”

We notice the demographics of solar shoppers changing, too. Like Sue says, it’s not just the tree-huggers who are solar customers anymore. Due to the drop in pricing over the years, the economics and payback on residential solar energy systems have improved. This change makes solar appealing to individuals interested in a good financial investment.

What Obstacles Did Sue Face Installing solar?

Sue’s array was built with string inverters, which means that her production is only as good as the lowest producing panel in the series. So, if one panel is shaded, it brings down the performance of the system. When Third Sun installed Sue’s array, string inverters were the best the market offered.

Now, solar systems are installed with one power optimizer for each panel, which means that panels are optimized individually. When installed today with power optimizers, the production of one panel does not affect the others in the string.

While module level optimizers prevent the old problem of losing the output of an entire string when a module gets shaded, shade is still an important factor in good solar design. While the array should be in full sun during the most powerful 10-4 window, shade after that point by trees or other roof obstructions are not detrimental to the systems performance.

We are proud to announce the donation of a ground-mounted solar array to local non-profit, Women for Recovery, of Athens, Ohio.

Third Sun Solar has partnered with Women for Recovery of Athens, Ohio, to provide clean energy to the Serenity Grove Women’s Recovery House. The addition of a solar array to the Serenity Grove facility will greatly reduce the nonprofit’s utility costs for the next two decades or more.

CEO and co-founder, Michelle Greenfield says:

“As a company committed to the flourishing of our community, we are proud to support this organization’s critical mission”.

Third Sun began the installation of a ground-mounted solar array on September 8th 2020. The 22 panel, 7.4 kW array will provide an estimated 40% of electricity to the Women’s Recovery House.

Annually, the greenhouse gas emissions avoided by Serenity Grove will be equivalent to:

• Charging 865,816 cell phones
• Driving the perimeter of the United States 1.5 times
• Recycling 289 bags of waste instead of landfilling

The Partnership

As a non-profit struggling to navigate the effects of the pandemic, Women for Recovery can immediately use the monetary savings from their electric bills to help with ongoing operating costs.

In addition, the longer term savings will enable many other options with expanded programming.

“We believe that partnering with Women for Recovery in this way will not just reduce the overhead costs for this mission-driven non-profit, but will bring needed attention to solar and help us to further accelerate the shift to clean energy that is catching on in the Midwest,” said Greenfield.

In speaking about the launch of the Women’s Recovery House, Executive Director Betsy Anderson says

“It’s really been a collaboration with individuals and partner organizations. I don’t know if all communities are this way, but Athens has supported us remarkably.” She went on to note that the solar array will help offset operating costs for the nonprofit, but she says, “the longer term impact is, in addition to our commitment to recovery and helping women rebuild their lives, an ongoing commitment to our community, to our environment and to our planet. To reduce the amount of fossil fuels we use, and demonstrate that to our residents, staff, board and community – that is invaluable.”

Employees at Third Sun Solar are excited about this partnership.

In the past, the company has partnered with national nonprofit Habitat for Humanity. This time, Third Sun Solar is excited to partner with a different local non-profit providing meaningful services women in Athens County.

“Part of our responsibility as a certified B Corp is to actively seek ways to promote social and environmental support of our community,” Greenfield said. “Helping provide affordable and sustainable housing while educating people on how easy it is to attain energy independence is a great fit for our mission-driven company, and our team is really looking forward to it.”

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About Women for Recovery

Women for Recovery offers residential transitional living in a safe, secure and sober environment to women dedicated to recovery. Founded by women in Athens, Ohio, in 2016 and located just outside the city of Athens, the house can accommodate up to six women in a safe, secure, and sober environment. At Serenity Grove, women can establish healthy community connections, develop a new career, seek reunification with their children, learn personal finance and self-care skills, and be caringly guided in the practice of an individual program of recovery with the eventual goal of transitioning back into independent living free from the use of drugs and alcohol.

Contact: Betsy Anderson, Executive Director, [email protected]

Watch a short clip of the install here: