The town of Franklin and the Adirondack North Country Association invite residents and business owners in the Tri-Lakes area to take part in a Community Solar NY program that will make investing in solar power easier and more affordable.

Solarize the Tri-Lakes provides free solar assessments to those who are interested. Residents and businesses who sign up for solar power installations through this program will be able to take advantage of group discount rates at below-market prices. New York currently offers incentives for solar installation, but those will end in 2016.

The goal of Solarize the Tri-Lakes is to get a critical mass of area homes and businesses to install solar and thereby obtain competitive pricing, lowering the cost.

The program will officially kick off with information sessions on Wednesday in Tupper Lake and Thursday in Saranac Lake, a film screening in Saranac Lake and a solar home tour in the Vermontville area. Sign-up opportunities for the program will be available at each event.

The program will last through the summer.

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority selected ANCA to assist these communities in implementing this approach to increasing solar power generation in the region. ANCA chose to base its Solarize operations in the town of Franklin, Canton and Akwesasne, reaching out from each to the surrounding areas.

To learn more about the Solarize program, contact Jennifer Perry, ANCA’s energy program coordinator, at 518-891-6200 or jperry@adirondack.org, or visit www.solarizetrilakes.com or Solarizetrilakes on Facebook.