Solar Power

Solar power is just one component of a much broader City effort to address greenhouse gas impacts of both government operations and our local residents. At the end of 2022, Mercer Island had 242 known solar installations on homes, businesses, schools, churches, and at the City's Community and Event Center, with about 2250 kilowatts of combined capacity (equivalent to a large 220-foot-tall commercial wind turbine). These range in size from just a few kilowatts to some giant rooftop arrays at Northwood Elementary and Islander Middle School, producing 100 kilowatts each! View latest solar map.

In this part of Washington, 1 kilowatt of solar capacity creates about 1,000 kilowatt-hours of clean, green electricity each year, even when it is partly cloudy. So Mercer Island is currently producing about 2,250,000 kilowatt-hours annually. Since about 1/3 of Mercer Island's electricity (from PSE) is still created by burning coal, our solar energy helps prevent the pollution from over 1,764,000 pounds of coal annually.

Are you installing solar? Visit our simple solar power permitting page today.

Mercer Island is a Northwest Solar Community, working to promote solar energy and bring down the soft costs associated with installing rooftop solar electricity. This is part of a nationwide Department of Energy effort to make solar energy more accessible.

Solarize Mercer Island v2 - 2018 Residential Solar Installation Campaign

45 new installations achieved! In 2018, a dedicated group of community volunteers (Sustainable Mercer Island) interested in clean energy worked with the City and Spark Northwest to launch a second Solarize Mercer Island campaign with a pre-selected installer (Sphere Solar Energy). Our previous Solarize campaign in 2014 led to almost 50 new installations; this time our goal was to match or exceed that number -- see our final tally below...

If you have been contemplating rooftop solar, NOW is the time to act:

Community Solar Proposal - 2015-2018

Based on the significant interest generated by the 2014 Solarize program (see below), the City has researched another clean energy project that would lower the Island's carbon footprint and offer a way for even more residents to support solar. A large solar installation proposed for the roof of City Hall is getting closer to becoming a reality, and interest is building among Islanders.

Solarize Mercer Island v1 - 2014 Residential Solar Installation Campaign

47 new solar installations achieved! The City appreciates receiving grant funding that made this program possible from the WA Dept of Commerce (Northwest Solar Communities), the King Conservation District, and Puget Sound Energy (PSE).

In the summer of 2014, the City partnered with regional non-profit group Spark Northwest (known at the time as Northwest SEED) to launch a mass solar installation initiative on Mercer Island, along with help from committed citizen volunteers.

Community Center Solar Array and Supporters

City-Owned Solar Installation - 2013

In July 2013, crews activated the first City-owned solar power project on the Island. Built entirely with grant money from Puget Sound Energy (PSE) and citizen donations, the 22-panel demonstration installation located at the Mercer Island Community and Event Center will produce approximately 4450 kilowatt hours of electricity per year, using solar panels and electrical inverters made in Washington State.