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Phippenadams Solar helped Whatley’s New England Wildflower Association go green.
Prime photo courtesy Northeast Solar

Greening the Valley

Florence couple helps nonprofits go solar

By Debbie Gardner

debbieg@thereminder.com

They are waiting for their 32nd solar project to be turned on, with at least three more already in the pipeline. Despite the economic downturn of COVID-19, there are no plans to suspend work already permitted and underway.

Morey Phippen and Brian Adams of Florence are vivid examples of how it's possible to make a difference in the world, one project at a time. The married couple, who both retired within the past seven years, has parlayed an inheritance into a visionary business dedicated to helping Valley nonprofits go greener and save money.

"Both of us are obsessed with climate change and really felt that it is the driving issue of our time, and the need to address sustainability and on site solar was crucial to getting climate change under control:' Adams told Prime about the couple's passion for environmental issues.

Seeing a need and filling it

Phippen, who had spent her career working in reproductive health, first with Family Planning and later with Tapestry, said the couple's 40 years living and raising a family in the Valley had made them aware of many non-profit agencies "doing incredible work with many people" throughout the area. She added the couple had supported several of these agencies over the years and "thought it would be great if these non profits could get it together to put solar on their roofs" as the cost savings on their energy bills could free up money to help them serve clients.

The stumbling block to such a move for most non profits, she explained, is the upfront cost of installing solar. That's where she and Adams came up with a way to help.

"When both our sets of parents died, we were left with a large sum of money that we felt could be put to use to help folks in the community and organizations in the community whose interests, mission and passions we embraced:' Adams said of the business, Phippenadams Solar, he and his wife founded in 2016.

Already vested in the environment

The solar business concept was a natural fit for Adams, who had spent the last 21 years before retirement as a professor of Environmental Science at Greenfield Community College (GCC).

"When I taught at GCC, I helped initiate a renewable energy/energy efficiency associate's degree:' Adams said, adding that a number of the graduates of this program went on to form their own renewable energy companies, one of which was Northeast Solar. Phippenadams Solar has partnered with them to do their work.

"Brian knew these people from teaching [them] in his classroom, and they went into business for themselves:' Phippen said. She noted that Greg Garrison, one of the co-owners of Northeast Solar when the couple began exploring their business concept in 2015, told them he had also "thought of the idea on his own:' She added, "He thought [helping non profits] was the greatest idea in the world:' Adams said after extensive research, the couple decided "it made sense for us to form a for-profit corporation and LLC" because under that business model they could "take advantage of the tax benefits that come with solar installation" - something the non profits they were working with could not - and reinvest the incentives they receive in order to do solar work for more non profits.

"The way it works, we put the solar up at no cost to the nonprofit organization [and] we initiate a [six year) purchase power agreement where they pay us yearly at a reduced rate and amount per kilowatt hour produced by the solar panels:' Adams said.That rate is guaranteed to be less than the nonprofit would pay for power to National Grid or another electric company. The type of panels Phippenadams installs are maintenance free photovoltaic, guaranteed for 25 years.

"At six years we give them the panels as a gift so they can take advantage of the savings" of using solar power, Phippen said. The only caveat is that the nonprofit organization must own the roof on their building to be eligible for an installation.

A concept takes off

Phippenadams Solar's first install was for a nonprofit they knew well the Northampton Survival Center. "I've been a volunteer there for seven years, since my retirement:' Phippen said, "Before that, when our kids were in high school they worked there, and we've contributed to them for many years."

She said they approached the center's director, Heidi Nortonsmith, with their idea of installing solar panels to help nonprofits go green and save money and "she was willing to be the guinea pig."

Phippenadams Solar - working with Northeast Solar -did their first installation, a 9.3 kilowatt system on the roof of the Northampton Survival Center in the fall of 2016.

After that first install, Phippen said they were impatient to rollout their concept, but found acceptance was slow, often taking months to get approval from the boards of directors even with nonprofits where the couple was recognized and known. "In the beginning people were skeptical;' Adams said.

The following year Phippenadams Solar installed solar for four non profits, Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA). Mass. Audubon at Arcadia, The Peace Development Fund and the Grove Street Inn homeless shelter. In 2018, they did 17 installations.

By 2019, nonprofits were beginning to call them, the couple said.

“For many of these organizations, the small ones, they just can’t come up with the money [to go solar],” Adams said. “It’s nice to be able to step in and get that solar up. It’s very exciting for them, for their clients, for the community.”

Praise for the project

Phippen praised the work of another graduate of the GCC renewable energy associate’s degree, Rusty Ingold-Smith, an employee of Northeast Solar who has been instrumental in helping Phippenadams Solar get the permits necessary to do installs on many local nonprofits.

“He is the one who has gone to countless board of directors meetings, zoning board and planning board and historic commission meetings, trying to make it all work,” Phippen said. “Without a business partner who has bent over backwards, putting the time in, this would never have worked.”

Ingold-Smith had equally high praise for Phippen and Adams.

“Morey and Brian are selflessly determined to empower local non-profits by energizing these unique donation projects.” he said. “Northeast Solar is enormously proud to be connected to these projects. It helps fulfill our mission of creating local jobs, keeping energy dollars local, and helping solar be equitable to those in Western Massachusetts. There are usually insurmountable barriers for non-profits to go solar, but Morey and Brian are resilient and steadfast in their efforts. We are thrilled to be working with such generous folks.”

Non-profits that have benefitted from the work of Phippenadams Solar, such as the Wood Museum of Springfield History, which received its solar installation in December of 2019, have similar praise for the couple's work.

“We are deeply grateful to Morey and Brian for making it possible for the Museums to go solar and help combat climate change,” said Kay Simpson, president and CEO of the Springfield Museums. “The Wood Museum of Springfield History celebrates innovation, ingenuity, and resilience - we are especially thankful during these disruptive times to innovative thinkers like Morey and Brian who move our communities forward with generous, collaborative efforts.”

Phippen had equal praise for the Springfield Museums, which is committed to “putting up signs to say how the system works [and] how much money they saved.

“It’s very important to get this message out to the public,” she said.

The mission of Phippenadams Solar has already transcended their work in the Valley. Phippen said they contributed an article about helping nonprofits go green to a publication called “SolarToday,” and shortly after publication, got an inquiry.

“A woman in New Haven read about it and she came up for lunch” to talk about our program, Phippen said.

The woman is now exploring how to start her own program helping non-profits install solar energy.

“This is the kind of thing we would like to snowball out,” she shared. “We would be delighted to talk to additional people who have resources interested in starting their own LLC.”

Email smolts123@yahoo.com for info about starting a solar LLC.