Page 25 - BusinessWest September 1, 2025

Solar >>Continued from page 22
around $0.32 per kilowatt hour and ris-
ing about 3% annually. But solar costs
are around $0.133 per kilowatt over
the system’s 25-year lifespan — approxi-
mately 58% cheaper than the current
utility rate.
“It’s especially important to build
solar energy on your homes or your
businesses because then your energy
costs are locked in,” Peterkin added.
“You’re not subject to increasing rates.”
As a workers’ cooperative, he
explained, about 30 PV Squared
employees own the company together.
“And the mission that we share —
which is that we share the success
together — has driven us to grow and
increase employment priorities in the
renewable energy sector and share
the success with as many people as
possible,” he said, while helping cli-
ents ranging from homeowners to
factories to nonprofits like the Food
Bank of Western Massachusetts, for
which it recently completed a major
project.
“With this recent legislation and
recent treasury guidelines, there are
definitely challenges that make it
harder for regular people to achieve
energy independence,” Peterkin told
BusinessWest. “But the core of it is
still so strong. We’re optimistic about
our business because people need to
lower their energy costs, and this is
the cheapest and best way to do it. So
we see a bright future ahead.”
Shine On
Northeast Solar performs mostly
residential work, with a few commer-
cial projects mixed in. And Garrison
noted that Massachusetts homeown-
ers can still take advantage of a $1,000
state tax credit.
“The state has also maintained,
with the utilities, a net metering policy.
That’s where, if you export your power,
you get that credit back to your bill.
That’s an important part of solar. If you
didn’t have that way of storing those
energy dollars so you could use them
later, solar would be a lot different.”
While incentives have no doubt
drawn many customers to the solar
side, Garrison said he relies on educat-
ing them with the savings figures.
“It’s going to take a while, and we’re
going to have to go through that curve
of education. But when you put solar
on your roof of your home, you are fix-
ing the cost of your electricity going
forward. We call it the levelized cost of
energy. You don’t have to worry about
the fluctuations in energy, and you
increase the home value right off the
bat by putting solar on it.
“We try to get people to understand
that they have an option to control their
own energy, and solar is the cheapest
form of energy you can buy,” he added
before waxing philosophical about the
power of the sun.
“It really is a simple technology that
people just don’t fully understand. All
the energy that we use on this planet,
every bit of it, from the oil, gas, and
everything else, all of it is derived from
the sun. Without that power plant we
have out there, we wouldn’t have any of
it, because oil was created by the origi-
nal plants. We’re just cutting out the
middle.” BW
Energy >>Continued from page 24
with Holyoke’s sustainability goals,
but also position the city as a model
for green municipal operations across
Massachusetts.
“I appreciate Kristin’s kind thoughts
about our work to change the narra-
tive,” Garcia said. “That is exactly my
greatest hope, every day, for Holyoke,
for all our people — to change past per-
ceptions and narratives. This industrial
city is again being known as a place of
so many possibilities.”
Representatives of the Northeast
Renewable Energy Coalition visited
Holyoke in early August to tour the city
and learn more about these projects
and initiatives.
“This nomination is an unequivocal
testament to every Holyoke resident’s
shared commitment to a stronger
future,” Garcia said. BW
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