Solar Energy

HelioPower Offers Upcoming Community Solar Events starting Tuesday, August 17

Are you curious if solar will help your family budget?  Maybe you've gone solar and would like your friends and family to enjoy the same benefits you are getting from solar? If yes is the answer for either question then we'd like to invite you to one of our upcoming solar community events.

Our solar community events are designed to be no-pressure, informational

The Needham's in Murrieta watch their meter spin backwards as solar by HelioPower cuts their electric bill.

style meetings.  They will give you, your friends and family members a chance to learn how solar works and if it can help you reduce or eliminate your electric bill.  As our utility bills continue to rise, freeing up the money spent on electricity can help your family's budget and return financial benefits for years to come.

Free community events will be conducted for solar information in San Diego, solar in Corona, solar in Redlands, solar in Valley Center and The Frontier Projects event for solar in Rancho Cucamonga. You can find out about the specific programs available in your region and if solar can assist you in reducing or eliminating your rising electric bill.

To reserve your seat at a solar community event near you click here or call us directly at 1 87-SOLAR-888.

One solar customer's story

From the Needhams’ in Murrieta, HelioPower solar power customers since 2006: Over the past few years we have been seeing our energy bills rise as much as 30% annually with no end in sight. Having always had a passion for energy conservation, we thought it was time to take action. When we heard about the state solar rebate that covers one third of the cost, the $2,000 federal tax credit (is now 30% no cap), and the instant increase in our property value… we figured that even at our age it was worth the investment.

After researching solar providers, we found HelioPower provided the best solar panels on the market and offered the lowest price. The installation was a treat for us. They were the most efficient and neatest installers we have ever seen in action. There was never any mess at the end of the day and it took a short 3 days to install. The panels blend nicely into our roof and if we did not brag about it so much, we doubt our neighbors would ever notice.

About six weeks later we received our rebate check from the state. Our panels were turned on April 19th, 2006 and we have not paid for electricity since. We LOVE to watch the meter run backward, especially with all the heat this past summer. We would recommend HelioPower to anyone interested in Solar Power.

Bill and Peggy Needham

Solar Home in Murrieta, CA

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.

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.

The September issue of National Geographic has a terrific set of articles on solar. "Plugging Into the Sun. Sunlight bathes us in far more energy than we could ever need—if we could just catch enough"  by George Johnson is an in-depth look at the capabilities of solar to light up the world, historic and scientific information and why Europe is so far ahead of the U.S. "Can Solar Save Us?" by Chris Carroll is an essay worth visiting. The articles are supplemented by an excellent photo gallery and several renewable energy graphs.

Excerpts:
With a new administration in Washington promising to take on global warming and loosen the grip of foreign oil, solar energy finally may be coming of age. Last year oil prices spiked to more than $140 a barrel before plunging along with the economy—a reminder of the dangers of tying the future to something as unpredictable as oil. Washington, confronting the worst recession since the 1930s, is underwriting massive projects to overhaul the country's infrastructure, including its energy supply. In his inaugural address President Barack Obama promised to "harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories." His 2010 budget called for doubling the country's renewable energy capacity in three years. Wind turbines and biofuels will be important contributors. But no form of energy is more abundant than the sun.

"If we talk about geothermal or wind, all these other sources of renewable energy are limited in their quantity," Eicke Weber, director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, in Freiburg, Germany, told me last fall. "The total power needs of the humans on Earth is approximately 16 terawatts," he said. (A terawatt is a trillion watts.) "In the year 2020 it is expected to grow to 20 terawatts. The sunshine on the solid part of the Earth is 120,000 terawatts. From this perspective, energy from the sun is virtually unlimited."

“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.

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.

In its webinar this week for solar power system buyers in San Diego, 1BOG, One Block Off the Grid, marketing director, Brad Burton, was joined by Scott Gordon, Director of Sales at HelioPower. The webinar gave participants an opportunity to review information and pricing related to the Solar San Diego discount pricing program currently being offered by 1BOG. 

The webinar is available in its entirety by clicking here.

"I very much enjoyed presenting the 1BOG Solar San Diego program with Brad Burton. As Brad mentions during the webinar, at $6.09/dc watt the Solar San Diego campaign pricing is by far the best 1BOG has negotiated to date," said Scott Gordon.  

"This means unprecedented savings when you purchase your solar power system through the program," Gordon continued.   "I liken this to the Costco Car Program. When you buy a car through Costco, a magic book appears from under the salesman’s desk at the auto dealership. Because Costco did all of the negotiating ahead of time, you experience a pleasant non-haggle purchase experience without having to get multiple quotes from multiple dealers. In a similar fashion, the 1BOG campaign saves consumers time and money by simplifying the solar power system purchase process for the public at large. Of course, those hoping to see the greatest savings will act before SDGE’s rebate drops from $1.90 to $1.55 per watt."

From The San Diego Union Tribune, May 31, 2009, staff writer Onell R. Soto:  "Power to the people. One Block Off the Grid uses community activism to build networks of solar energy systems so homeowners can get volume discounts. "

Excerpts, for full article click here.

The renovation, the insulation and the new kitchen all helped, but Meg Goldfeather couldn't get her 1926 University Heights bungalow to save enough power.

She can't stand looking at her three-digit utility bills, knowing she could generate her own electricity using solar panels on her roof.

But cost has been an obstacle. So when Goldfeather's electrician suggested she look at something called One Block Off the Grid, she was interested.

“The minute I read it, I thought, this is absolutely it,” Goldfeather said. “Community effort, lower price.”

One Block Off the Grid, or 1bog.org, is a campaign that groups together people interested in buying solar power so they can get volume discounts. It is run by Virgance, a San Francisco company that uses activism campaigns to bring about social change while also making money.

After requesting proposals from local solar installers (in San Diego), Virgance enlisted groSolar and HelioPower, two companies whose prices – $6.09 a watt – impress longtime advocates of the technology.

“I might have to sign up,” said Bill Powers, an electrical engineer who is looking to expand his own solar energy system. He said many of the region's power problems, such as reliability and prices, would be alleviated if more people put the systems on their roofs.

Per watt, these installations would be less expensive than the massive systems installed on warehouse roofs just two years ago, in part because solar panel prices are dropping, Powers said.
The campaign now under way comes as a worldwide economic slump pushes solar panel prices down and government subsidies make systems more affordable.

A typical household system provides about 3,000 to 5,000 watts at peak production. Its size is determined by how much power a household uses in a month, with the goal being to replace the most expensive electricity.

Residential systems typically cost $7 to $9 per watt, said Irene Stillings, executive director of the Center for Sustainable Energy, which tracks state rebates for such installations.