Meeting in downtown Harrisonburg to form new solar co-op

Local conservation and climate action groups are pushing for more solar power in the Valley.

Wednesday at the Massanutten Regional Library, they hosted a solar power education group, VA Sun, to help educate the community about the Mountain and Valley Solar Co-Op.

Local solar users said joining together is a great way to cut costs and make going solar easier.

"Solar energy and other alternative energies are increasing in popularity. The price of them is coming way down, and working with Virginia Sun or some co-op of that nature, just makes it very easy for the homeowner to get into it," Art Fovargue said.

Fovargue said he enjoys using solar energy so much, he is opening up his home for an open house Saturday for others to see how a solar system works.

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5 p.m.

Tonight, a meeting in Harrisonburg to talk about solar panels, co-ops, and how a community can come together to get more people on board the solar train.

At 6, a meeting at the Massanutten Regional Library in downtown Harrisonburg to work on forming a brand new solar co-op.

The Mountain and Valley Solar Co-Op has folks from Rockbridge, Highland, Augusta, and Rockingham counties coming together to try to make a solar push here in the Valley.

Tonight's meeting is all about teaching people more about solar, and the idea of working together.

"The idea is that they walk away with a really good understanding of the way solar works, so they are an informed consumer and they can decide if its a good fit for them, and then ultimately grow the group. Our goal is to really help as many people go solar as possible," said Aaron Sutch, the Virginia Sun Program Director which is a sponsor of the Co-Op.