Solar Electricity

Bi-partisan sun endorses both green parties in upcoming special election to reduce CO₂ emissions and lower the cost of electricity!

By Derek Girling
HelioPower Solar Energy Consultant

Whether you’re a Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Independent or Tea Partier, our sun graciously shines on you almost each and every day. However in this year’s election, the sun has come out and publicly endorsed the green parties – both of them!

Who are these two green parties? Well there’s the Green in Your Wallet Green Party and there’s the Green Planet Green Party. The Green Planet Green Party has always been a favorite of the sun and now the Green in Your Wallet Green Party has got the sun’s vote, too!

Installing solar panels is one of the best things you can do to significantly reduce you and your family’s carbon footprint. Your solar array will eliminate literally tens of thousands of pounds of CO2 over its life. As more and more homes and businesses go solar, less dirty oil and coal-fired generation facilities will be built and brought online.

Even if you believe man-made climate change is a hoax, it is common sense to realize that cutting airborne pollutants is good for our planet. As Judy Bonds of Appalachian Voices and Coal River Mountain Watch says, “breathing clean air and drinking clean water shouldn’t be a luxury, but a birthright!” We owe it to our kids and our kid’s kids to do everything possible to clean up the mess our industrialized society has made and get this clean up going as soon as possible. Solar panels are like a great big broom with which to start sweeping!

The Green in Your Wallet Green Party members are the original solar skeptics. They understand the environmental benefits, but have been waiting for solar to be a sound investment as well. Their wait is over. Early adopters of solar gave the solar industry a great jumpstart and helped drive down costs to the lowest ever. Whether you purchase your solar power system outright or utilize one of the several great residential solar financing options or a power purchase agreement to buy green energy, solar will start showing you a financial returns right away.

So while our political parties may split hairs with each other over who has our best interests at heart, when it comes to which party our sun supports, it’s a landslide for the green parties – both of them!

Contact Derek Girling at DGirling@HelioPower.com.

By Charles Curley
HelioPower Solar Energy Consultant
 
Recently I was able to have HelioPower install solar on my home in Escondido, CA. It was a great opportunity for me to take advantage of the SunRun Power Purchase agreement offered by HelioPower for residential

HelioPower solar installation at Curley Residence in Escondido, CA

customers in California. 
 
As a solar energy consultant, I had heard from one of my customers that his local utility’s smart meter did not have the capability of crediting him for the excess electricity generated by his solar power system.  Armed with the data from his solar power system monitoring program, this customer was able to go back to his gas and electric company and successfully garner a credit for his electricity overproduction.
 
Soon after the installation of my solar power system was complete, the moment arrived to “flip the switch.” Even though my local utility had not changed the meter on my home system back to a gear driven model, I was too excited to wait and activated the system. 
 
Immediately I could tell my solar power system was producing more electricity than my household needed and thus was sending electricity back to the power company.  Watching the meter, it became apparent that not only was I not being credited for my solar generated electricity, but the number of kilowatt hours charged on the digital meter was actually increasing.

SunPower inverter at Curley Residence

Calling the utility, I was told that not only was my solar power system giving them free green electricity, but I was being charged for it as well.  The explanation was the “not-so-smart” meter could not discern the direction of the electrical current, so it charged for everything going through it.  It was charging me for current going in and out of my home!
 
In the end, it was a lesson well learned.  As a solar energy consultant, I would rather go through this experience to help my customers avoid a similar situation. The moral of the story is make sure your meter is changed back to a manual meter before you fire up your new solar power system. 
 
A final note:  Smart meters are projected to have upgraded software by the end of the year to add the capability of crediting customers for electrical overproduction.
 
For more information contact Charles Curley at CCurley@HelioPower.com

HelioPower and 1BOG will offer free solar information, including a solar webinar on Thursday, October 22 at 7:00 p.m. PT. To sign up visit: http://solarcoachellavalley.1bog.org/faqs-and-webinar/.

HelioPower's Scott Gordon will be representing the company. Scott has led very successful solar webinars for 1BOG in the company's previous solar San Diego campaign. He has been quoted extensively in the Coachella Valley press about this current solar community discount program.  

Excerpts from recent press quotes from Scott include the following information from The Desert Sun:  

That means a 4 kilowatt system, about 20 panels, will have a net cost of about $10,857, after state rebates and the federal tax credit for solar energy, said Scott Gordon, HelioPower's vice president for residential sales.

The package will also include computer monitoring of the system so any maintenance problems are detected quickly, Gordon said.

For Coachella Valley residents, the break-even point for such a system could range from five years to 12 years, depending on their energy use and their power provider, Gordon said. Southern California Edison customers, who pay tiered rates, would get a quicker return on their investment than east valley residents in the Imperial Irrigation District service area, who pay lower rates, he said.

Governor Schwarzenegger signed two major solar initiatives yesterday, AB 920 and SB 32 which continue California’s drive toward a Million Solar Roofs and create more Incentives to go solar.

"Californians have two more reasons to go solar tonight. Governor Schwarzenegger signed two popular

Porsche Solar Install in Ontario, CA by HelioPower

solar bills designed to give consumers added incentive to invest in a solar roof and help the state achieve its aggressive clean energy goals," said the press statement at Environment California. 

AB 920, authored by Assembly member Jared Huffman (D-Marin) and sponsored by Environment California, radically changes the dynamic between consumer and utility by requiring utility companies to write a check to their customers for surplus solar electricity generated on an annual basis. Previously, under the state’s net metering law, utility companies were allowed to receive surplus solar electricity from their customers for free. AB 920 requires the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to set a rate at which utility companies shall compensate solar customers whenever a solar system generates more electricity than a home or business uses in a given year. 

“Instead of writing a check to your utility company, you’ll be getting a check back,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, clean energy advocate with Environment California which sponsored the legislation. “Changing the dynamic between utility and customer is key to encouraging more people to invest in solar power while also maximizing conservation and energy efficiency.”

AB 920 was supported by numerous groups and people around the state including the Sierra Club, Union of Concerned Scientists, NRDC, Planning and Conservation League and many more. It was also embraced by officials such as the San Diego Board of Supervisors.

“As we work towards increasing our energy independence and promoting renewable energy resources, this bill will encourage more people to invest in renewable energy,” said Assembly member Jared Huffman, author of the bill. “This goes a long ways towards California meeting its goal of the Million Solar Roofs initiative under SB1 and clean air standards established under AB 32, as well as ensuring that consumers get a fair return on their investment.”

SB 32, authored by Gloria Negrete McLeod (D-Chino) and sponsored by the California Solar Energy Industry Association, establishes a new feed-in-tariff program for the state. A feed-in-tariff policy requires utility companies to purchase solar electricity at a set rate over a twenty-year period. It has the potential to incentivize massive solar installations on large, unused spaces, such as parking lots and warehouses. This program has been used with much success in places like Germany.

“Watch out. California is about to give Germany a run for the money,” said Del Chiaro. “Every warehouse roof, every parking lot, every unused sunny space can now become a mini-power plant generating pollution free solar electricity all while making money for the property owner.”

“Solar feed in tariffs have given many commercial property owners in other parts of the world strong financial reasons to go solar,” said Steve LoRusso, Vice President, Sales for HelioPower.  “With these bills California property owners now have more reasons than ever to consider a solar power generation system as a cost effective, even now profitable, component of facility development. We look forward to working with more property owners to go solar with these incentives in place.”

HelioPower client, James Price, made local news in Lompoc this weekend.  His ground mount solar power system was on display in the city's first ever, "Central Coast Solar Tour."  The tour, part of the national effort to showcase solar power systems, featured four solar power systems in the Lompoc and Santa Maria

area.

Covering the event, Lompoc News writer Glenn Wallace, posted this article, "Residents look to solar energy for savings" featuring Price's solar experience and savings record.

In August 2008 something funny began happening to Jim Price’s electric meter — it started going backward.

“There it goes — tic, tic, tic,” Price said watching the digital display flash an arrow to the left instead of the right.

Occasionally the display flashes all zeroes, indicating he is using less energy than the backyard solar panel system is actually pumping into the electrical grid, to be used by his neighbors and local businesses. His energy bills — they used to be more than $120 a month — sport more zeros.

Price’s house was just one of five around Lompoc partaking in the National Solar Tour on Saturday.

Jim Riggens, an Air Force retiree and self-described environmentalist, helped bring the tour to Lompoc, and to five other sites in Santa Maria, as part of the nonprofit American Solar Energy Society (ASES) national education and publicity campaign.

Riggens is trying to get his neighbors to consider solar energy.

“What struck me was why, in a place where you have so much sunshine, how few roofs have solar panels?” Riggens asked.

One of the biggest misconceptions most home owners seem to have is that a solar panel system is too exotic or prohibitively expensive, Riggens said.

“It’s very common for builders. It’s off the shelf. It’s not in a laboratory, and it’s not experimental,” Riggens said.

And as for the money? Riggens just points to Price.

Installing the 4,400-watt, solar panel system in his back yard cost $34,531, Price said. However, after last year’s city and state rebates, and a $2,000 tax credit from the federal government, his final cost became $19,250.

“Yes, there is an investment, but in the long term, he’s flattened down his energy costs,” Riggens said.

On average, Riggens and two of the solar panel installation experts on the tour all said current rebates and tax credits have improved, and the panels now cost less. Within seven to 10 years most systems finish paying for themselves. Since the systems have no moveable parts, they are expected to easily function without major repair for 25 years, meaning quite a few years of profit for people such as Price.

According to Riggens, there is also a property tax exemption for home value increases based on improvements such as a solar panel system.

“So it’s a better return on your investment than redoing that kitchen with granite countertops.”

On top of the money saved, Riggens said there was also the thousands of pounds of carbon emissions home owners could be saving the environment as well.

“There’s two types of people who put in a system,” said Mary Kammer, Lompoc’s utility conservation coordinator. “Those who want to be green, and those who want to beat the system.”

Whichever their motives, so far there are 15 residential solar panel systems installed in the city, with another two in the process.

Lompoc is one of the few cities in California to actually buy electricity back, so Price and anyone else with a bigger system and smaller usage will be receiving a check at the end of the year for generating more than he uses, according to Kammer.

Lompoc Councilwoman Cecilia Martner was on hand at the Price house to learn more about solar power herself. She praised him for “having the vision to move ahead with something like this.”

“The sun is right there, and it’s free,” said Martner.

“Nature provides us with all these things, and all we need to do is make use of them,” Price added.

A home on Moonglow Avenue in Vandenberg Village represents what Riggens called a holistic approach to green design.

The owner, who asked that his name be withheld, said he and his wife had designed the home to include many energy-efficient features, including 100 percent energy generation from his panels, as well as a solar-powered hot water heater and heating system. The couple also had the house plumbed to use shower and sink “greywater” for irrigation.

“We decided to go ‘green’ now because of what might be coming up with energy prices,” said Keith, the Moonglow owner.

Riggens said he plans on having the solar tour become an annual event, and eventually hopes to extend it to include from Santa Barbara to San Luis Obispo.

For more information about solar power, or to find solar installation firms in the area, visit www.ases.org.

For more information and additional photos of the Price solar install, click here.

A recent Harris Poll shows only 1 in 10 Americans knows much about the source(s) of their electricity. While Congress debates the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, much education is needed to enhance public knowledge, understanding and interest in various sources of electrical power, their associated benefits and risks and the value of becoming more energy efficient.

According to a Reuters report the poll said, "When it comes to renewable sources of energy and natural gas, the public overwhelmingly indicates that the benefit of the source outweigh the risks. At least two-thirds of Americans believe that when used, the benefits of solar (82%), wind/turbine (78%), hydroelectric (water) (73%) and natural gas (66%)outweigh any risks associated with the different sources.

Coal, which provides approximately half (49%) of electrical power production in the United States and is the most heavily used source of energy, is perceived differently. Two in five Americans (42%) say the risks of using coal outweigh the benefits while 36% believe the benefits outweigh the risks.

So What?

With limited knowledge and interest in the topic, as the debate over the Energy bill rages on, public opinion can be based on incomplete or inaccurate information about the various sources of energy and their perceived benefits and risks. Significant room exists to educate the public on the pros and cons of
each source of energy, including factors such as; current and future use of each source, reliability, cost, environmental impacts and ways to become more energy efficient. Much work is needed by Congress, energy companies and communities to engage consumers in the dialogue around this new energy economy.

“We’ve never seen solar module prices so low. With the rebates still relatively high and the federal tax credit at 30%, there’s never been a better time to go solar,” said Scott Gordon, Vice President of Residential Sales at HelioPower.

According to a Yahoo! Finance report yesterday, August 10, “Technology, Tenacity Drive Down Solar Power Costs,” solar photovoltaic (PV) technology has changed little since the energy crisis of the 1970s, but it's finally getting cheaper.

The report goes on to say:  Large-scale rollouts of solar farms in Europe in the past few years have virtually commoditized PV as an energy source, and huge installations on the way in the United States and China will cement that process.

Edison International (NYSE: eix) subsidiary Southern California Edison got the go-ahead last month from California's energy regulators to build and manage 250 megawatts of solar power generation and contract for another 250 MW from outside developers within the next five years, making it the largest solar PV program ever undertaken.

Independent solar industry consultants Solarbuzz estimates that worldwide solar PV installation hit almost 6,000 MW in 2008, nearly double the 3,000 MW of 2007.”

In its August review of solar photovoltaic modules, Solarbuzz states “This month we have good news for solar electricity consumers and also for the solar industry.

The first area of excitement for PV end-customers is the rapid fall in solar module prices. The August 2009 survey set two records – the largest number of price declines in one month and for the magnitude of the monthly decline in both the US and European price indices.

There were 176 price declines this month. In the eight years of this survey, there has never been anything close to this number of moves in a single month. The previous high was 126 declines in May of this year. In past times when prices were rising, the largest number of price rises in a single month was 142, back in August 2005.”

More from the Yahoo! Finance report: The economic downturn has lead to a collapse in the price of silicon, a key ingredient in the making of solar cells, and short-term drop in demand for modules.

State-level renewable portfolio standards (RPS) have mandated that an increasing amount of renewable energy be generated. There is also a national RPS-like mandate currently in the Markey-Waxman energy bill making its way through Congress. And an array of tax credits and renewable energy mandates have also subsidized solar PV to bring its cost per kilowatt hour more in line with that of "brown" power, usually coal-fired in the U.S.

Finally, the efficiency of the solar cells themselves has improved. Early this year, researchers at Germany's Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems created a solar PV cell that's 41.4% efficient, beating the record held by the Colorado-based National Renewable Energy Laboratory by almost percent.

The cost of solar energy production on a kilowatt-hour (kwh) basis, with all government subsidies netted out, has dropped 8 percent from a peak of 22.04 cents/kwh in January 2002 to 20.40 cents/kwh in July 2009.

That efficiency is trickling down the supply chain to customers.

Solarbuzz estimates that the "customer price" of an average, flat-roof-installed, 500-kilowatt solar energy system – a size typically used by an industrial user that includes the panels, inverter and grid connection hardware – dropped by 0.7 percent alone from June 2009 to July 2009, to about $2.4 million.

Manufacturers and installers of solar modules are looking for new ways to decrease costs, lower prices and attract customers, at a time of rising demand; that race for profit could be seen at the second annual Intersolar 2009 trade show, was held in mid-July in San Francisco.

In addition to silicon ingot, wafer and solar cells makers like Canadian Solar, (NASDAQ: csiq) there were firms like Applied Materials (NASDAQ: amat ) and Alcatel (: aclu), which are intent on squeezing efficiency out of the process of making solar PV modules.

All of these gains in efficiency could see solar energy reach the key goal of parity with coal within the next few years.

Right now, consumers, businesses and community building owners can purchase solar power systems at an all time low.

Reported from Green Inc.: "Feed-in Tariffs for Solar Continue To Spread"

Variations on the policy that jumpstarted Germany’s decade-long boom in rooftop solar systems are taking root in more cities in the United States.

The policy, called a feed-in tariff, offers small-scale producers of solar energy long-term contracts (usually at above-market rates) for the electricity they sell. Last week, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, which serves 1.4 million people, approved a feed-in tariff that allows homeowners with solar panels a chance to sign up for 10, 15 or 20 years of guaranteed payments. The policy will take effect next January. The city of Gainesville, Fla., adopted a feed-in tariff this spring, as did Vermont. Washington state also has such a policy, and Hawaii is currently considering one.

While feed-in tariffs are most closely associated with solar photovoltaic panels, utilities managing the programs in Vermont and Sacramento will also pay a set price for electricity generated from other renewable sources, like wind.

The Sacramento program is open to homeowners who are not participating in another program, called net metering, which allows anyone whose system is producing more electricity than they need to sell the excess back to the utility, thus reducing their electric bill. But once their bill falls to zero, the homeowner gets no more money from the system.

Jon Bertolino, a spokesman for the Sacramento utility, said that customers with land to spare had been asking whether, if they put up small solar farms, the utility would buy the excess electricity.

As long as they are not part of the net-metering program and not seeking the $2.80$1.90- to $2.20-per-watt ratepayer subsidy for their new panels under the state’s “Million Solar Roofs” program, Mr. Bertolino said, small generators can sell their power to S.M.U.D. The rates would depend on the time of day the power is generated, ranging from a low of 5 or 6 cents a kilowatt-hour to 30 cents on a hot summer afternoon; the size of eligible systems is capped at 5 megawatts (and the program overall has a 100-megawatt cap).

For full story, click here.

Bob's Big Boy in Burbank is a marvelous example of creatively installing solar power panels on a historic building. This building is registered as a California Point of Historical Interest, and is the oldest remaining Bob's in the United States. It was designed by well known Los Angeles architect, Wayne McAllister, and built in 1949. For more information on the architecture, go to the wikipedia entry for Bobs, here.

The solar power system is in two installations. One is on the carport and the other on an adjacent building housing a Starbucks. The solar power system, engineered by HelioPower, includes Canadian Solar photovoltaic modules.

Here is a video of the installation:

Bob's Big Boy – Going Solar from SportShorts on Vimeo.

HelioPower, a leading solar power design and installation firm in California and Nevada, has signed the first solar power project in the 1BOG solar group purchase program in San Diego.  One Block Off the Grid (1BOG) launched its solar San Diego campaign on May 18, securing a discounted price of $6.09 per DC watt for its members.

“We’re proud to announce we’ve already sold several 1BOG systems in north San Diego County, having signed our first contract on June 1,” said Scott Gordon, Director of Sales for HelioPower. “1BOG has negotiated an incredible installation price for its San Diego participants and people are taking advantage of it. Those who hope to get the best deal will act before San Diego Gas & Electric’s solar power rebate drops next month.”

HelioPower was chosen along with groSolar to install the solar San Diego systems priced through the 1BOG program.  HelioPower is working in the northern San Diego area with groSolar installing projects in the central San Diego region.  1BOG has successfully launched statewide group solar purchasing programs in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Sonoma County.  Outside California it has active campaigns in New Orleans, La. and Denver, Colo. Upcoming community programs are launching in Phoenix, Ariz., Sacramento, Calif. and Washington, D.C.

“The pricing from HelioPower was the lowest we’ve seen in any of our group purchase campaigns run thus far,” said Dave Llorens, 1BOG General Manager. “We were impressed by HelioPower’s request for proposal response,” he continued, “We also look for companies who truly embrace environmental awareness in their operations.  We inspected the HelioPower southern California offices and warehouse, and saw how they run their business and green their supply chain.  We were excited to see their attention to even small details like pre-removing boxes from panels to ensure they are recycled.  It made our decision easy.”

More information on the San Diego campaign can be found at:
http://solarsandiego.1bog.org.