On Friday, the Carrboro-based nonprofit TABLE hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the installation of solar panels on their building at 311 E. Main St. in Carrboro. The project, spearheaded by the UNC student-run nonprofit SolarEquity, was completed last week after a year of development. 
Around 50 members of SolarEquity and TABLE, as well as East Chapel Hill Rotary Club and Southern Energy Management, gathered at the ceremony to celebrate their partnership in the project. 
SolarEquity handles the upfront cost of solar installation and solar panels for low-income communities. They had approached TABLE with the idea of installing an 18-panel, 10-kilowatt system of solar panels that are now atop the organization’s building. TABLE is dedicated to providing healthy food to children in Orange County, serving about 1,200 children a week. Now with the solar installation, the nonprofit will be able to save on electricity and better serve the community, Ashton Tippins, executive director of TABLE, said. 
The Friday event began with speeches from leaders of SolarEquity, TABLE and the East Chapel Hill Rotary Club, followed by the ribbon cutting.
Caroline White, president of SolarEquity and UNC senior, spoke about the project and SolarEquity’s mission in her introduction of the ceremony.
“We provide solar to low income housing or community organizations like TABLE here,” she said. “Because at the end of the day, these organizations are the ones that benefit the most from solar power.” 
By partnering with the East Chapel Hill Rotary Club on the project, SolarEquity was able to provide TABLE with the solar panels, which will save the organization $59,000 in utility bills — equivalent to 40,000 more meals TABLE can provide to kids in the Orange County area, White said. 
One of SolarEquity’s largest fundraising efforts took place last November during their Solar Strides 5K run, which raised $25,000 for the project.
Vice President of SolarEquity Aaron Applegate spoke next during the ribbon-cutting event about the process of the project coming together and the enthusiasm reflected in the partnership with TABLE.
“I vividly remember sending the first email to TABLE, trying to judge their willingness to be a part of the project,” he said. “I was very much struck by their enthusiasm. They responded within a few hours.” 
Applegate said the Rotary Club had been very supportive throughout the process. He also thanked Blue Ridge Power, who donated the 18 panels for the project. 
“This installation represents hours of planning and coordination, and just overall it represents our belief that solar power should be for everyone,” Applegate said. 
Tippins expressed her gratitude for SolarEquity’s working on the project “seamlessly and flawlessly”, and the impact it will have on the community, as TABLE’s work providing food and nutrition education allows kids the opportunity to discover what foods they like, gain access to nutritional resources and succeed in other areas of their lives, from school to relationships. 
”It’s more than just a meal,” she said.
TABLE recently installed an industrial refrigerator that would allow them to provide fresh fruits and vegetables for children who depend on them. With the solar panels addition, they will now be saving the additional cost associated with the refrigerator, and can instead refocus the money back into the community. 
After the speeches concluded, the event was moved outside TABLE’s building, where leaders and members of the organizations cut the ribbon, commemorating the completion of the solar panel installation. 
“It really is a wonderful, wonderful thing to see this community impact being made,” White said. “And it really is one of the most important community impacts because of how it trickles down.”
@DTHCityState | [email protected]

source