Solar

Ronald McDonald House Charities of San Diego, Canadian Solar Inc. ("the Company," "Canadian Solar" or "we") (Nasdaq: CSIQ), one of the world's largest solar companies, and HelioPower, a leading solar power engineering and installation firm, announced today  a new 116kW roof-mount photovoltaic (PV) solar electric system at the Ronald McDonald House of San Diego at 2929 Children’s Way in San Diego. This is the first Ronald McDonald House in California to use solar energy to help power the House that supports families with seriously ill children in local hospitals.

Ronald McDonald House of San Diego will serve more than 20,000 families this year alone, and the solar electric installation will help offset the electrical needs of the families with clean energy. This month, the House celebrates the one-year anniversary of its 47-bedroom House for overnight guests and its Family Care Center, which serves as a day-time refuge for anyone with a child in a San Diego hospital.

“The Ronald McDonald House ensures families in San Diego receive the necessities they need as they care for their sick child , and we are so pleased to be able to provide our high-quality modules to this pivotal community facility,” said Mike Miskovsky, U.S. general manager of Canadian Solar, Inc. “Through its leadership in California implementing a renewable energy solution, the Ronald McDonald House of San Diego will reap significant financial savings while contributing to environmental sustainability for years to come.”

The Ronald McDonald House of San Diego solar electric system will produce

an average of 147,846 kilowatt hours (kW/h) per year. The environmental offset is equivalent to curtailing the release of 151,420 pounds of carbon dioxide each year, or planting 554 new trees and sequestering the carbon dioxide over their lifetime.

The solar installation was designed and constructed by HelioPower and financed by Helio Micro Utility, and consists of 518 Canadian Solar CS6P-220P polycrystalline modules. These modules are among the top-ranked in the industry in PV USA (PTC) ratings, which are quickly becoming universally accepted standards for measuring real-world module energy production and performance.  PV Powered, Inc., an Advanced Energy company, supplied the 100kW inverter. Canadian Solar, HelioPower and PV Powered all donated price reductions to benefit the charity.

“Ronald McDonald House decided to pursue solar energy to create a healthy and sustainable environment for the children and families we serve, and to help greatly offset power costs,” said Bill Lennartz, president and CEO of Ronald McDonald House of San Diego. “Our partners have been vital to our success as a resource to families in some of the most challenging times of their lives, and we are excited to now be producing clean solar energy to help us provide care to even more families.”

The solar installation is part of the Ronald McDonald House of San Diego’s pursuit of U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. The House was built according to strict green building standards, using a combination of high-efficiency mechanical systems and envelope and lighting design; it uses 17.5 percent less energy than a typical building in California. Materials used to create the building contain significant amounts of recycled content, and the building provides recycling collection stations to all house guests and employees.

“This is the first Ronald MacDonald House in California to go solar,” said Steve LoRusso, vice president of commercial sales at HelioPower. “Working with our affiliate company, Helio Micro Utility, we developed the critical solar financing structure that worked for them as a nonprofit entity and supported their green building goals.”

“Ronald McDonald House of San Diego makes life easier and more comfortable for many families in need. We are honored to be a part of helping so many people by providing our inverter, with its field-proven reliability and uptime, to this important solar installation” said Erick Petersen, VP of Sales and Marketing at PV Powered.

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.

Join HelioPower and over 1 billion people in 190 countries for this year's 40th anniversary celebration of Earth Day on Thursday, April 22.

This year's theme, "Power the Earth Day Movement," is a clear call to action for solar enthusiasts.

What better way to "power" Earth Day 2010 than by going solar?

HelioPower is here to help you go solar for Earth Day.  We're offering a "free flowers"* Earth day bookmark to remind you that this is the year to get involved with the largest secular civic event on the planet.  We are making going solar easy by offering great solar financing, with the SunRun program that makes it possible for you to go solar for as little as $1,000.**

There are three ways you can request your 40th anniversary Earth Day bookmark: call us at 1-87-SOLAR-888, send us your address via email or visit the HelioPower booth at selected Earth Day events. 

Our "free flowers for Earth Day"  bookmark includes seeded paper embedded with a handful of annual and perennial wildflowers.  Directions are included to plant the paper.  In a short time you'll enjoy free flowers from HelioPower.  By going solar for Earth Day 2010 you'll celebrate green electricity for a lifetime!

Happy Earth Day from your solar energy team at HelioPower!
 
*While supplies last. Bookmark can only be mailed to residents of the U.S. Please allow 2-4 weeks delivery. Flower results not guaranteed.
 
**California residents only. Restrictions apply.

By Derek Girling,
HelioPower Solar Energy Consultant

In the early 20th century, America’s largely rural population was transfixed by an exciting new technology – the automobile. For most of mankind’s history, people either walked or rode horses, carts or wagons to get from point A to B. The invention of trains and streetcars enabled long distance travel and people could now move about easily within growing urban areas. But travelling from your family farm in Greenville to the market in Mudville was still either a hoof or heels proposition.

Henry Ford’s invention of assembly line production of the venerable Model T brought personal transportation to the masses and expanded mankind’s footprint geometrically across the globe. The implications of this transportation revolution a century ago are dramatically evident today.

How does this relate to solar energy?

Until now, and for the vast majority of people, electrical energy generation has been in someone else’s hands – the local utility. Weekend engineers and survivalists have pieced together their own homegrown solar arrays for over a decade, but recently, and for the first time in history, you can easily and economically generate much of your home’s energy. Yes, most businesses and homes are still dependent on their utility for energy from the grid when the sun’s not shining, but even cars are confined to roads and dependant on gas stations. Harnessing solar energy has brought man an unprecedented level of energy independence, especially in rural areas. Water pumps, lighting and refrigeration have been freed from the shackles of a mass produced energy system.

Those early transportation pioneers overcame their unfamiliarity with this new technology. The first people to buy Ford’s cars didn’t have a father or uncle they could turn to with experience buying cars. They surely didn’t think of cars as being almost disposable either! Within a short time, and no doubt driven by necessity, these new drivers were experts on repairing flat tires and plugging leaky radiators. New industries servicing the auto industry sprang up overnight. America’s and the world’s industrialized economies were on the move.

HelioPower solar installation

Today’s solar pioneers are also addressing their unfamiliarity with this new technology. They diligently educate themselves online about mono vs. polycrystalline efficiencies, optimum tilts and azimuths, and minimizing shading issues while pensively calculating when to jump in and commit to having their own solar power system installed. Fortunately, solar energy systems have virtually no moving parts and are relatively maintenance-free. New service and manufacturing industries including solar financing (not unlike GMAC!), system maintenance and low-energy use fixtures are emerging. Commercial and residential solar system installations have grown from thousands to hundreds of thousands and soon millions within just the last decade.

There is, however, a crucial difference between the personal transportation revolution and the solar energy revolution that cannot be overstated. Although the mass production of the automobile has freed mankind in many respects, automobiles are directly responsible for significant worldwide environmental destruction. Large swaths of the planet have been paved for roads and parking lots. Fuel sources and refineries pollute our lands and waterways. Emissions from hundreds of millions of internal combustion engines choke our skies. Renewable energy sources like solar offer the only hope of breaking carbon-based fuel’s grip on our planet’s health. Today’s solar pioneers are the first responders in the healing of the planet!

This solar revolution promises, at the very least, to slow the rate of global environmental degradation and may be the killer app that turns the tide on the general adoption of renewable energy sources and generation technologies. Ironically, these solar energy arrays will be fueling our plug-in electric vehicles – the equivalent of a Model T and a gas pump on your homestead. A century from now, we may look back on today’s rooftop arrays and be reminded of those pioneering farmers, their trucks laden with the fruits of their labors, smiling as they thank Henry Ford for saving their feet from that long walk to Mudville!

Contact Derek Girling at DGirling@HelioPower.com

Guidelines for communicating the solar aspect of a green marketing program

By Glenna Wiseman, Vice President, Marketing, HelioPower

At HelioPower we help our clients tell their solar story.  We work with commercial, community and utility clients creating communication programs to herald their new solar power installation.   Our efforts help them weave the aspects of a solar installation into an overall green marketing message that supports their brand.

Solar is an exciting addition to an organization’s environmental efforts.  In fact, a solar power system assists on multiple levels of a Triple Bottom Line approach benefiting the company’s people, its profits and environmental efforts (the planet).

Having successfully completed several affiliate marketing programs for HelioPower clients, this information is designed to contribute to the industry’s knowledge base and guidelines for successfully telling a client’s solar story and thus contributing to their overall green marketing message.

Nearly all of our commercial and public sector clients have worked through the normal list of “reduce your energy and energy use costs” before they adopt solar.  Way before the solar conversation starts they have harvested the “low hanging environmental fruit” of recycling, green purchasing, etc.  Past this phase, they move to implementing energy monitoring to determine peak demand usage and reduce it, and energy use overall to create cost reduction programs. Out of this information comes the use of energy efficiency technologies including lighting, motors, HVAC, etc.  Solar is not generally where they start or where they should start, unless they are building a new U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) structure. Then solar power technologies should be part of the design from the initial stages of the development.

Once solar is part of the client’s overall green building, thus environmental strategy, HelioPower works with them to communicate the role solar plays in these efforts and thus the environmental aspects of their brand.

A marketing / communication program for a HelioPower solar client becomes appropriate when we can implement the following guidelines:
• Assist our clients to communicate environmental benefits of solar
• Optimize strategic partner alliances
• Involve the community, green building, local and state government
• Utilize Internet and social media to provide transparency & communication
• Educate stakeholders
• Work as a team

Each solar promotion program will have its unique opportunities and challenges.  In order for solar promotion program to be successful we have found that it is essential to meet all of these objectives. 

HelioPower assists our clients to communicate environmental benefits of solar.  Part of our responsibility as an organization’s solar power partner is to help them gather the information needed about their solar installation.  We assist them in developing a full understanding of their solar power system, how it works, energy generation data, environmental offset data, how to explain it to their constituents and whatever information they need to communicate their solar program. 

We provide information online about the client’s solar power installation on the HelioPower website.  Our efforts are coordinated with the client’s to create information that is easy to access and captures all the correct data about the solar project. 

Affiliate marketing programs must optimize strategic partner alliances. At HelioPower we have

Bill Nye, the "Science Guy" shines light on Bob's Big Boy solar event, supported by Canadian Solar, SMA and sponsors

the distinct pleasure of working with some of the industry’s great brands and high profile clients.  Any program that we participate in or spearhead for one of our clients must involve strategic partners in the industry and those affiliated with our client.  Communicating the solar story would not be complete without involving the solar power panel manufacturer, inverter partner, and potentially the energy performance monitoring company.  It can also involve brands that do business with the client as was the case with the Bob’s Big Boy campaign we implemented last fall.  The key is to involve those within the industry who have participated in the solar installation by way of product and those who do business with the client.

Involve the community, green building, local and state government.  One of the very exciting aspects of taking on a communication program to highlight a solar installation is involving the stakeholders in the community. 

Community groups gather to support Porsche solar panel dedication

We are all obviously familiar with the solar “ribbon cutting/ throw the switch” ceremony.  These are important celebrations of the commitment the client has made to solar power generation.  This type of event is the most valuable when it is an opportunity to reach out to stakeholders in the community and give them a chance to support the client. 

In the construction phase of a solar celebration or marketing program, it is our job to identify community, green building, local and state governmental groups and leaders who should be involved in a program.  And you don’t need to stop here.  You can reach out to a loyal customer base, supporters, local charity groups, and any other organization whose contribution to the program will enrich all parties involved.

Utilize Internet and social media to provide transparency & communication. Marketing messages regarding environmental strategies must be transparent and easy to find online.   This upholds the integrity of the message. 

It is critical to strategize the online aspects of a client’s solar marketing program.  The effort may be as simple as identifying the best media distribution source and insuring the joint press release is supported with accurate online information about the solar installation.  It may be a more comprehensive approach that involves a program-specific website.  Each effort is unique.  Insuring opportunities for an online program are investigated and maximized as needed is essential.

Educate stakeholders.  Telling a solar story must include programs to educate the client’s constituents.  Programs typically include communication to employees, investors, media and press, community members, etc.  When you are considering a program, think about what groups are involved with your company or client and what aspects of the solar installation would hold meaning for them.  Within a particular solar story, different themes and information will hold meaning for each distinct constituent group.  Thinking through all these “story lines” will create positive communication and honor the many groups that support or are involved with the client, and thus have some level of involvement with the solar installation.

Work as a team.  Our renewable energy industry is filled with talented, positive professionals who are a joy to work alongside and truly are impassioned by their mission within the industry.  We have the distinct pleasure to assist our clients in communicating their solar story.  Thus we work to create a team approach for each marketing program, from a relatively simple press release to solar ribbon cutting events and more elaborate affiliate marketing programs. 

It takes a dedicated team of client and solar installation company individuals to successfully design and install a solar power system. So too the best programs to tell a client’s solar story, within the auspices of their brand message, also involve a team effort.

You can reach me at gwiseman@HelioPower.com.  I welcome your comments, insights and observations.

For three days in January, San Diego will play host to the first event of its kind in the country. It’s a Green Expo, but an event which will encompass “both sides of green.” Two shows together— all green and all earth friendly. The Green Meets Green Expo will marry The Del Mar Antiques Show and the 21 Century Friends of the Planet Market into one spectacular event.

The O’Brien Exhibition Hall will be the filled with antiques exhibitors from across the country featuring the finest in “recycled relics” the new buzz word for the Antiques are Green movement.

The Bing Crosby Exhibition Hall will feature the latest and most innovative companies dedicated to producing products and technology that will sustain our planet for centuries to come. Among some of these exciting exhibitors will be San Diego Gas & Electric, Dyocore Wind Energy Systems, HelioPower, EcoSolargy and many more.

From clothing to furniture to personal beauty products to architectural and garden to learning how to “get off the grid,” the Green Meets Green Expo will be the event to create and live your life in total green!

Source:  ClimateBiz.com

By Scott Gordon, HelioPower

If you read Part I of the Ugly Side of Solar series, you learned that proper design, product selection, and installation make all the difference in the aesthetics of your solar system and can mean the difference between a good looking system that’s the envy of your friends and neighbors and one that discourages those same people from ever considering solar for their own homes.

In the second part of the series, I discussed the ugly side of solar from an installation perspective. While many systems look fine on the surface, underneath they are ticking time bombs of rust, roof leaks, ground faults, and corrosion. In part II, I also covered the ugly side of picking the wrong solar contractor and gave you pointers to help you avoid getting ripped off. In Part III, I will cover shading: the most deleterious of solar production killers.

While most folks agree that shaded solar panels produce less power than unshaded ones, many consumers grossly underestimate just how big an impact shading has on the annual production of a solar system. The photo above shows a particularly egregious example of solar shading. As you will soon learn, this customer would have been much better off NOT buying the five panels installed on the upper left roof. Why? Read on…

The vast majority of solar systems (95% +) installed today are designed with ‘String Inverters’. The SMA SunnyBoy inverter is an example of a string inverter you may have heard of. String inverters rely on solar modules to be connected in series (aka ‘strings’) to achieve the minimum power output the inverter needs in order to turn on and operate efficiently. Without going into a tremendous amount of detail on the subject (which is outside the scope of this article), know that whatever happens to one panel in the series affects every panel in the series. An analogy that may help you make sense of this phenomenon is one involving a battery powered toy car. If your toy car takes eight AA batteries, and you put eight brand new batteries in it, it’ll run fast and furious. This is because the batteries are fully charged (i.e. unshaded). Take one of those brand new batteries out and replace it with a half charged battery and that same toy car will run more slowly (i.e. a half shaded solar panel). Replace a brand new battery with a dead one, and the car may not work at all or run very slowly (i.e. a fully shaded panel or panels). With this information, please examine the photo below:

The shading in this photo is akin to having two dead and two half dead batteries in your toy car. Sure, the rest of the array looks fine, but the array as a whole could be operating at as little as half capacity. To illustrate this further, please consider the following examples:

As you can see, it doesn’t take much shading for a panel’s production to plummet to zero. Shading of just one cell (bottom right), cuts the whole module’s production by one half! This drop in production affects the entire string thereby robbing the solar power system of hundreds or potentially thousands of kilowatt hours per year. Over the 25+ year expected lifespan of the system, this adds up to some serious cash. In this scenario, you are in fact buying very expensive solar panels that are providing you with very little benefit.

So how do we solve this problem? One way is to chop or top trees. Sometimes, as is the case with palms, the tree needs to be removed altogether. Other times, as is the case with a tall chimney, we lose an entire section of roof. We employ shading analysis tools to help us find an unshaded or less shading spot on the roof. Here is what the output of a typical shading analysis tool looks like:

The data presented in this tool (Wiley ASSET) aids an integrator in proper panel placement and gives us insight into the objects doing the most significant shading. In the analysis above, it’s a neighboring house and neighboring trees causing all of the problems. Fortunately, we were able to find a place on the roof where these shading issues are mitigated, but removal of the house and the neighbor’s palms are obviously not an option. Overall, we can expect 92% performance from this system.

Another way to address shading is to skip the string inverter altogether and design your system with micro inverters (Enphase is the most popular of this technology). Micro inverters treat each solar panel individually. Thus, shading that affects one panel is isolated to only that panel. This increases your overall system yield in highly shaded situations. To learn more about the pluses and minuses of micro inverters, please see Solar Professional’s excellent article on the topic by Ron Burden and Joe Schwartz. You may need to register for a free subscription to view the article, but it’ll be well worth your time.

Lastly, many folks wonder what happens if their neighbors or others plant trees that eventually grow into a shading problem. Many states, such as California and New Mexico, have ‘right to light’ laws that protect home and business owners who install solar panels. In brief, the law can be summed up as follows: if the solar is there first, solar wins, and the tree must be removed or topped, otherwise, if the tree is there first, the tree wins. If it’s your tree, you can take appropriate action, but if it’s your neighbor’s tree, you’ll need to work out a solution or you might be out of luck altogether. In fact, some states go as far as to state that neighbors can’t add a second story or build a home that will shade your solar power system. You’ll need to check your local state law to see how this applies to your particular circumstance.

In summary, make sure you are aware of any shading that may affect your solar system. If your solar installer brings any shading issues to your attention, take heed. They are bringing this to your attention for good reason. Shading will not only affect electrical production, but will also lower your state rebate amount. Likewise, if you are aware of shading issues and your solar installer doesn’t mention them, find yourself another solar installer. If you don’t you are likely to end up with an underperforming system, for the dollars you expended.

Please stay tuned for a bonus in this series, The Ugly Side of Solar Part IV, coming soon. As always, I wish you the best of luck in your solar power endeavors.

Editor's note:  For the full series in downloadable documents, click here.

Lower electricity costs and increase safety with LED holiday lights. LED technology (Light Emitting Diode) for holiday lighting is a smart choice. They use 10 times less energy than incandescent mini lights, 100 times less energy than standard bulbs, last more than 50,000 hours, and are safer because they're virtually indestructible and cool—safe to the touch and eliminate fire concerns. They are easily strung and don't overload a typical household electrical circuit. If a bulb burns out, other bulbs will stay lit, so you can easily replace the bad bulb.

Further maximize holiday lighting savings with timers. Limit light displays to no more than six evening hours daily. Leaving lights on 24 hours will quadruple your energy costs—and create four times the pollution. Also, untended incandescent lights can cause fires, so always unplug your interior holiday lights before going to bed or leaving the house.

Unplug the video games and turn off the millionth broadcast of It’s a Wonderful Life – and read your favorite holiday story instead. Your children may appreciate your attention and time, and you will be saving energy in the process.

Teach personal finance to your children in these difficult economic times — conduct a home energy audit together. Locate everywhere that you are needlessly wasting energy AND money. Minor changes can capture precious dollars that could be better spent for other needs.

In the spirit of Kwanzaa—the African-American spiritual week of remembering, reassessing, recommitting, and rejoicing –reassess your power consumption, recommit to energy-efficient practices, and rejoice in the savings.

Once you’ve lit the Chanukah menorah, spin a dreidel by candlelight – it uses no energy! By the eighth night, you may not need any electric lights at all!

Switch to solar generated energy.  For as little as $1000 down you can move to solar energy for 2010.

Heat your home at 68 degrees or cooler with the thermostat fan switch on "auto." To save even more, lower your thermostat to 65 degrees or cooler at bedtime or when you're away from home. Don’t forget to wear cozy sweaters to stay warm!

Clean or change your A/C filter once a month. Many homes use strip heating in their air conditioning units, which have to work harder to heat the house. A clogged filter makes your A/C work harder than it has to.

Reduce hot water temperature. Set your water heater to the "normal" setting or 120 degrees, unless the owner's manual for your dishwasher requires a higher setting.

Seal up leaks. Caulk leaks around windows and doors. Look for places where you have pipes, vents or electrical conduits that go through the wall, ceiling or floor. Caulk works best on small gaps. Your hardware store should have products to close the larger gaps.
Sources:
-Alliance for Saving Energy

-Floriday Light and Power

-For "Safe Holiday Lighting Tips and benefits of using LED's" from Southern California Edison, click here.

Source:  Silicon Valley Mercury News, reporter Dana Hull:

With the sun setting before 5 p.m., solar power may be the last thing on your mind these days.

But declining panel prices, a federal tax credit and a state rebate all make now a good time to at least investigate whether solar power might make sense for your home — and your budget.

"If you're thinking that you'd like to go solar within the next few years, right now is the time to do it," said Lynn Jurich, president and co-founder of SunRun, a San Francisco-based startup that provides solar financing for consumers who can't afford the upfront costs of buying their own solar systems. "Panels are on sale right now. There's a sweet spot where the state rebates are still relatively high, but the costs have come down."

And winter is a good season to research solar options, experts say. It's generally a slower time for the industry, which means companies may be willing to give you a better deal.

If you're thinking about going solar, here's a checklist of things to think about:

• Take a good, hard look at your electricity usage over the past year or several months. You probably know how much you pay for electricity every month and have records of the checks or bills paid to PG&E or your municipal utility. But do you know how much electricity you actually use? Electricity is charged by the kilowatt-hour (kWh). Some people use as little as 300 kWh per month; others easily use more than 1,200 kWh a month.

In general, solar is a much better investment for people who use a lot of electricity. And PG&E has a tiered rate structure, so customers who use more electricity are charged more.

Understand how you use electricity," said Sue Kateley, executive director of CALSEIA, the California Solar Energy Industries Association. "Get out your bill and look at the tiered rates. If you don't use a lot of electricity — if you are a Tier One or Tier Two customer — then you really need to do a cost analysis to see if solar is cost-effective."

• Take a look at the roof of your house. How old is your roof, and what kind of shape is it in? If your roof is due to be replaced, you'll want to do that before, or along with, adding solar.
• And is your roof ideally situated for solar? Does it face south? "Shading" is also an issue: your roof should have clear, unobstructed access to the sun for most of the day and be free from shade from trees or other buildings.
• Shop around. Ask friends and neighbors who have already installed solar power if they've been happy with their systems. Learn about financing options: Do you have to have the money for the entire system upfront, or does your installer offer a leasing option?

Interview at least three potential installers and obtain bids in writing before making a decision. Whatever the salesperson tells you should be in writing in the contract.

• If you buy electricity from one of California's three investor-owned utilities — PG&E, Southern California Edison or San Diego Gas & Electric — and you have roof or ground space that gets unobstructed sunlight from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. year round, you qualify for cash back incentives through the California Solar Initiative.

The California Solar Initiative (CSI) was started in 2006 to provide $3 billion in incentives for solar energy projects by 2016. Rebates for smaller residential systems are given upfront — a one-time payment based on system size. The current rebate level for PG&E residential customers stands at $1.10 per watt. So if you're putting in a 5 kw system, that results in a $5,500 rebate. But as more people apply for the rebates, the incentives are reduced, and many experts expect them to drop further later this spring.

Customers of municipal utilities may also qualify for incentives through their municipal service provider.

• Be sure to apply for the Solar Federal Tax Credit, which allows you to claim up to 30 percent of the costs for a new system. A buyer who installs a $25,000 solar panel system on his or her roof will get $7,500 in income tax credits.
• Consider your long-term electricity needs, and find out if the solar technology you're interested in allows you to add on more panels over time if necessary. A swimming pool, changes in family size or the use of a plug-in hybrid car could vastly change your energy consumption.

HelioPower, a leading solar power design and installation firm since 2001, today announced that it is partnering with SunRun to bring affordable solar financing and service to its California residential customers.  SunRun is the nation’s #1 provider of home solar service. The company provides a smart, affordable alternative to traditional electricity.  HelioPower, through its California offices, will offer SunRun to homeowners in the state.

"Our team is already moving homeowners to solar power through the HelioPower-offered SunRun financing plans,” said Scott Gordon, Vice President, Residential Sales for HelioPower. “For as little as $1,000 out of pocket, our customers can lock in a low electricity rate for the next 18 years and save money every month. Imagine if you could have locked in your gasoline costs at $1 gallon or even $2 gallon? How much money you would be saving today?  HelioPower’s offering of SunRun empowers us to accomplish this kind of energy savings with your electricity costs. We are very pleased to be working with SunRun to offer our customers an affordable means to go solar.”

SunRun purchases home solar systems designed and installed by HelioPower for its customers, who pay only a low one-time installation fee, and then a low fixed rate for the solar electricity produced by their system. All SunRun customers receive money-back annual performance guarantees in addition to professional-grade monitoring, maintenance, repairs, and insurance, which remove the complexity and risk from going solar.

“In a very short time, HelioPower has inspired customers to go solar with SunRun, said SunRun President Lynn Jurich.  “Working with HelioPower, we look forward to helping even more California homeowners power their homes with clean energy and take control of their electricity costs.”