Third in a series of four posts on Smart Meters and Solar by EcoOutfitters featuring Scott Gordon, Vice President of  Residential Sales for HelioPower.

There’s a lot of false information out there about smart meters. Some groups claim microwave radiation from smart meters can cause cancer and other diseases, which is inconclusive but probably untrue. Other people say smart meters don’t work with solar power. But, in fact, solar customers may be the only people (besides the electric company) to truly benefit from these cleverly named digital electric meters. (If you’ve gotten this far and are wondering what a smart meter is, click here to learn more.)

Smart meters provide electric companies with information about your electric use: not just how much electricity you use, but when and how you use it too.

Smart meters are paving the way for states like California to introduce a billing model based on time-of-use. Simply: you’ll pay more for electricity you use during the day — and even more if it’s during the day and during the summer. But if you have a solar PV array installed, you’re not paying for electricity at all on sunny days. Net metering, which is the ability to sell back unused kilowatt hours on your electric bill to earn energy credits for times when your solar PV array is not harnessing the sun’s irradiance for clean, renewable energy, is one of the main attractions to a grid-connected solar array. It becomes even more desirable in a time-of-use world. Since solar panels work best during peak electric use hours, time-of-use billing gives solar customers the ultimate “buy low, sell high,” scenario.

“It’s energy-hedging,” says Scott Gordon of HelioPower, a leading California-based solar installer that has recently launched initiatives to educate consumers on the dangers and benefits of smart meters through videos, written content, webinars and in-person presentations.

Gordon explains, “In a time-of-use world, I get credit at the higher day rate, and I use those credits to offset my night power, which can be one-third to one-half cheaper, or even less.”

Net metering laws in many states mandate that electric companies buy back electric from solar customers based on dollars and cents, not kilowatt hours. If your state uses smart meters and has time-of-use billing options, find out exactly how you’ll be selling back the electric and the peak and off-peak rates. (Read more in HelioPower’s 10 Things About Smart Meters and Solar.)

More Power with Smaller Solar Arrays
If you are conservative about your daytime energy use, you can offset your entire electric bill. “What’s nice about this is now you can buy a significantly smaller system so you’re paying even less and saving even more,” Gordon says.

And if you want to turn on the air conditioner on hot summer days, run your home computer, or maybe even watch some TV, you have the freedom to do it. It takes a lot to make an average-sized array spin forward. Even if you don’t earn as many energy credits, you’ll still be paying lower, off-peak rates for the electricity you buy at night. It’s a gamble that you can only win!

Second in a series of four posts on Smart Meters and Solar featuring Scott Gordon, Vice President of  Residential Sales for HelioPower.

If you began reading this blog post with another question in mind, you’re not alone. Rather than wondering if a smart meter will work with a solar PV array, you might instead be wondering: “What is a smart meter?” When you dig deeper, you’ll come to find that smart meters are really only smart for the electric company.

Smart Meter Myths and Misconceptions
When states first rolled out smart meters, there were a lot of myths, misconceptions, and glitches. We’ll address two of those misconceptions in this blog post.

First of all — no, the microwave radiation emitted by smart meters probably won’t fry your brains, give you cancer, or cause other horrible health problems. Any evidence of the danger of EMF (ElectroMagnetic Frequency) radiation is inclusive, but a smart meter emits no more — and probably less — radiation than your smartphone. And it’s not like you’re going to spend hours sitting in front of your smart meter soaking up EMF waves.

Solar Arrays and Smart Meter Glitches
So, smart meters are probably as safe as any other technology we use today in terms of EMF radiation. But will they work with your solar array? When the technology was first introduced, smart meters did not always work with solar panels.

Smart meters are basically computers, and they hadn’t been programmed to know what to do when electricity was fed back into the grid. Instead of “spinning” (of course, there’s no dial to actually spin) backward to give users energy credits, they kept going forward — twice as fast.

This led to disturbing moments as new solar homeowners promised lower electric bills got bills double the usual amount instead. That glitch, however, was fixed quickly with new programming, but not before rumors about smart meters’ incompatibility with solar arrays spread, further fueling people’s dislike of the devices.

Be aware: If you use solar energy, the smart meter issued to you should have a sticker reading “net” — this means the meter has been programmed to run backward and credit you in kilowatt hours for the electricity you feed back into the system.

With the new programming in “net” smart meters, not only do the smart meters work fine with a solar installation, but a solar PV array helps you make sure your meter is working smartly for you.

Stay tuned as we show you how to leverage time-of-use billing with a smart meter and a solar installation.

Smart meters are being installed on millions of homes in California.  By installing solar you can ensure your family’s privacy and avoid the rising cost of electricity as more accurately tracked by smart meters.

HelioPower's Scott Gordon at Solar Meetup

HelioPower is hosting a series of Neighborhood Meetups to talk about smart meters and energy choices—including affordable solar solutions.

It’s a chance to get all your questions answered about smart meters, saving energy & saving money. A lite lunch is even being served.

There's also a live webcast being offered as an even greener alternative–to save gas and time…making it even more convenient for interested homeowners.

It's a simple process to just log in and listen to the energy solutions being discussed along with the Q&A from the attending crowd. In addition, those logged in to the Live Webcast will have the opportunity to have their individual, specific questions answered about solar, smart meters and other energy solutions.

To register for the Live Webcast, visit http://www.heliopower.com/SmartMetersandSolar or register directly here on Event Brite: http://escondidowebcastsm2.eventbrite.com/

The Frontier Project Foundation, together with Itron, will host the event on Thursday, June 30th, 2011, to address the unprecedented opportunity arising from the intersection of two core building blocks – utilities and communications. Local solar industry leader, HelioPower, is sending a team to answer queries about the role of solar with smart meters and the smart grid.

The summit speaker line-up includes Key Note: Kenneth Chong, Honeywell International and panel speakers: Ken Devore, Southern California Edison; Pat Petersilia, Southern California Gas Company; Pat Hayes, City of Glendale Water and Power; Chris Couper, IBM; Pam Greene, Southern California Edison; Darron Poulsen, Cucamonga Valley Water District.

The Smart Grid Summit will educate local municipalities, environmental groups, and policymakers about the latest updates in Smart Grid and Smart Metering throughout the State. This unique event is based on the joint vision of the Frontier Project and Itron to create a forum to actively engage the region in the forthcoming Smart Grid and Smart Meter systems.

HelioPower is an integrated energy solutions company with nearly 2000 solar and clean energy systems engineered and installed since 2001. The company is headquartered in Murrieta, CA and regularly participates in industry events at the Frontier Project.

The Frontier Project is a 14,000-square-foot LEED Platinum demonstration building dedicated to educating residential consumers, commercial builders, and sustainable energy advocates on the latest trends and technologies in water, power, and site conservation.

For more information about the Frontier Project, visit http://www.frontierproject.com

For more information, visit http://www.HelioPower.com

Information on Smart Grid event tickets can be found here

Solar in Murrieta installed by HelioPower

Improvement Incentive Project to “promote home improvement projects for its residents and encourage job creation and local shopping for home improvement supplies and materials.”  The project also benefits energy efficiency upgrades including solar.

The permit and inspection fees for applicable projects with the completed permit fees submitted during  July 5 to July 13^th period will be refunded to the applicant following the completion of the work.  City officials said this week that the average savings will be up to $250.  The program applies to Murrieta residents working with Murrieta located businesses.

To support the Murrieta Home Improvement Incentive Project, HelioPower, a Murrieta based solar installation firm, will extend its $500 cash back offer to Murrieta homeowners who go solar on or before July 13, 2011.  The HelioPower $500 cash back offer is due to close on June 21, 2011. Local retailers including Home Depot and Lowe's will be offering discounts to residents during the Home Incentive week.

The HelioPower extended $500 cash back solar offer is designed to cover the estimated $250 permit fee rebate from the city.  HelioPower cannot guarantee that project construction plans would be completed in time to meet the city’s window of July 5th to July 13th for permit applications.  Thus the company will extend this cash back offer to cover the cost of the permit.

City officials also offer a $1000 solar rebate, of which approximately 45 remain for residential solar installations, as of this post date.

Murrieta residents who are interested in the program and want to get a list of participating local businesses can see city officials at the upcoming 20^th anniversary Birthday Bash to be held Saturday, June 25^th at California Oaks Sports Park or call City Building Officials at 951.461.6051.

For more information about the HelioPower program in the city of Murrieta visit us at www.HelioPower.com or call 877 SOLAR 888.

California homes with solar systems sell at a price premium over similar properties, according to a new study.

A new Berkeley Lab report, “An Analysis of the Effects of Residential Photovoltaic Energy Systems on Home Sales Prices in California,” provides some evidence that a significant benefit comes with selling a home with a solar power system.

What are the implications for utilities if the trend continues or is experienced outside of California? The study doesn’t consider those prospects, but the obvious impact might be to encourage wider adoption of home systems.

“Relatively little research exists that estimates the impacts of those PV systems on home sales prices.  A clearer understanding of these effects might influence the decisions of homeowners considering installing PV on their home or selling their home with PV already installed, of home buyers considering purchasing a home with PV already installed, and of new home builders considering installing PV on their production homes,” the report says.

Almost 100,000 PV systems have been installed in California alone, more than 90 percent of which are residential. Innovative financing methods, called into question by lending underwriters, have played a major role in that.

To determine whether PV homes sell for significantly more than comparable non-PV homes, Berkeley Lab analyzed a dataset of approximately

HelioPower solar panel installation in Rancho Mirage, CA

72,000 California homes, almost 2,000 of which had PV systems installed at the time of sale. The analysts found strong evidence that California homes with PV systems have sold for a premium over comparable homes without PV systems.

The premium coalesced at nearly $17,000 for a relatively new “average-sized” based on the sample of homes studied PV system of 3,100 watts (DC). This corresponds to an average home sales price premium of $5.50/watt (DC), with the range of results across various models being $3.90 to $6.40/watt.

Other key findings include:

• When the data are split between new and existing homes, a large disparity in premiums is discovered: The research finds that new homes with PV in California have demonstrated average premiums of $2.32/watt, while the average premium for existing homes with PV has been more than $6/watt.
  • The research suggests several possible reasons for the lower premium for new homes, including that new home builders may also gain value from PV as a market differentiator, and may therefore have been willing to accept a lower premium in return for faster sales velocity.
  • The research finds strong evidence that homes with PV systems in California have sold for a premium over comparable homes without PV systems. More specifically, PV as a standard (as opposed to an optional) product on their homes and perhaps been willing to accept a lower premium in return for faster sales velocity and decreased carrying costs.
  • The research also finds that, as PV systems age, the premium enjoyed at the time of home sale decreases, indicating that buyers and sellers of PV homes may be accounting for the decreased efficiency and remaining expected life of older PV systems.

Solar homes are getting increased traction in some markets. That’s good news to both the developers and to those who might want to sell their home.

Bill Opalka is editor of RenewablesBiz Daily

An unprecedented alignment of financial benefits exists now for water districts to significantly cut energy costs through large scale solar energy development.

Projects up to 1 megawatt (MW) can be developed now with little or no money out of pocket for your water district.  However the fuse is short!   On 12.31.11 this window closes.

Industry veteran, Mo Rousso, will address water district management at an upcoming “Lunch and Learn” at the Bakersfield Marriott Hotel, May 18 at noon, hosted by HelioPower, a leading California solar development firm.

"Water districts and agencies have a tough job.  Their directors and constituents mandate cost containment and rate caps, while requiring service levels to remain high,” said Mo Rousso, Founder and Chief Technology Officer at HelioPower.  “Energy has always been a significant operating cost water companies struggle to manage, especially as the electric utilities raise rates each year.”

Mr. Rousso, a renewable energy veteran and engineer with more than 20 years of experience helping utilities and water districts make their

Mo Rousso, (right) Founder and Chief Technology Officer for HelioPower and team onsite at Fallbrook Public Utility.

organizations more cost efficient while preserving service levels, will be the featured speaker at the May 18^th “Water Districts & Solar” event.

His expertise will assist water district management to understand how easily renewable energy can be integrated into their operations and how they can leverage solar to cut one of their largest operating costs, energy.

Mo’s presentation is designed to help attendees understand the current financial and regulatory environment and how they can leverage this soon-to-expire opportunity.

“Fortunately, there are ways to mitigate energy costs and increases and keep more money in the your (water districts”) annual operating budgets,” Rousso continued.  “Affordably generating some or all of your own energy in a low risk and reliable manner is available to you.  I welcome you to join me for lunch as we begin to discuss your options."

HelioPower financing gives empowers water districts to leverage two key financial incentives they would not normally be able to exercise to offset the cost of solar:

• The Federal ITC 1603 Treasury Grant in Lieu 30% offset which expires 12.31.11.
• MACRS (Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System) 5 year, 85% depreciation schedule for solar.

Large scale solar installations can now offset electricity bills for dispersed meters.  CA AB 2466 allows water districts to develop up to 1 MW of solar power and offset multiple location meter bills through virtual net metering.

For more information about the event go to the HelioPower “Water Districts & Solar” event page.

Content by Earth2Tech – By Ucilia Wang at Earth2Tech

Thu Apr 21, 2011 12:35pm EDT

Does a solar electric system add to the sales value of a home? Solar energy advocates like to say it does, but that’s often based on

HelioPower solar installation in Rancho Mirage, CA

anecdotal evidence. The Berkeley Lawrence National Laboratory decided to test this claim, and the result is a report being issued Thursday that showed that, indeed, solar homes command higher prices.

The analysis showed solar homes in California were sold for a premium at between $3.90 per watt to $6.40 per watt, the Berkeley Lab report said. That spread amounted to an average of a $17,000 premium for a fairly new (roughly two years old) 3.1 KW system, which is the average system size in the data, the report said. The premium began to decrease as systems became older.

The lab researchers poured over data about roughly 72,000 homes sold from 2000 to mid 2009, including 2,000 with solar systems.

The average premium tracked closely with the average price of $5 per watt that California homeowners spent to install solar from 2001 to 2009 (the price took into account state and federal incentives), the report said. The report authors are Berkeley lab researchers Ben Hoen, Ryan Wiser and Peter Cappers and San Diego State University Economics Department Chair Mark Thayer.

California is the largest solar market in the country as a result of its incentive program that defrays a big chunk of the installation cost. The state is home to nearly 100,000 grid-tied solar systems, and more than 90 percent of them are located at homes. It also has a good data collection system to track installations and price movement, which Berkeley Lab has analyzed in several reports in recent years. The lab issued the latest report last December.

Little research has been done to look at whether adding solar allows homeowners to mark up the sale price of their home in a similar way that, say, a kitchen renovation can help boost the price. Homeowners typically go solar because the technology generates a cleaner source of electricity and, thanks to government incentives and private financing options, they could cut their utility costs. But they don’t necessary live at the same home for the 20-25 years that a solar system is supposed to last. Being able to recover some of the installation cost makes for an attractive selling point for consumers who weigh the benefits and costs of installing solar.

Past studies have shown lower energy bills help to increase a home’s sale price, but those studies focused on energy conservation investments. A small study in 2010 has been done to examine 279 solar home sales in the San Diego area, and the result showed a $4.4 per watt average premium. Berkeley lab’s research offered a fuller by investigating data from a much larger region.

Interestingly, the researchers found that existing homes with solar fetched a higher premium than new homes with systems of comparable sizes. Average premium for existing homes was more than $6 per watt, while the average for new homes fell somewhere between $2.3 and $2.6 per watt. The researchers surmised that homebuilders might have been willing to receive a lower premium because they view solar as a way to set their homes apart from other new residential development and use it to speed up home sales. More study will be necessary to explain the discrepancy, the researchers added.

During this period, LADWP announced it will review and revise the program, which has seen the number of applications grow each month to over 2,000 applications currently in process. In addition more and more solar photovoltaic (PV) systems are being turned on without proper inspection, creating a safety hazard, LADWP said in its announcement.

The temporary hold on accepting new applications is necessary to revise the program guidelines to better serve LADWP customers and align with current solar PV market conditions. With one of the highest solar photovoltaic (PV) incentive rates in California, generous federal tax benefits and rapidly dropping solar panel prices, the number of solar rebate applications continues to grow each month and has exhausted funding for the next four years at the budget levels established for the program at its outset in 2007.

“It is clearly time to pause and review our program incentive levels. Our rebate levels, while reduced from levels paid in prior years, is about double the minimum level required by SB 1. We fully support and want more renewable energy and we want to foster solar technology, but not at undue expense to our customers who pay for this important program,” said Ronald O. Nichols, LADWP General Manager.

“We need to be smart about how we provide incentives and that starts with ensuring we are doing so in a fiscally responsible manner. This suspension will allow us time to determine the proper rebate level and align it with the current solar PV market. During the review, we will honor all applications we have received and processed, but we will reset the rebate at a lower level when the program is resumed. This approach will ensure we get the most solar bang for our buck, while continuing to provide a strong incentive for our customers to go solar.”

HelioPower, one of the state’s largest solar installation firms has completed installations in the LADWP jurisdiction.  “Companies installing solar systems without a rebate reservation secured on their customers’ behalf are committing fraud in my opinion,” said Scott Gordon, VP of Residential Sales for HelioPower.

As of April 1, 2011, the LADWP Solar Incentive Program had confirmed requests for $112 million in solar rebates, but only $30 million is budgeted annually for the program. The State of California program guidelines established by Senate Bill 1 in 2006 require that it be suspended when the amount of confirmed and unpaid rebate reservations exceeds the availability of funds to honor those reservations in a timely manner.

Safety Concerns

The rush for rebates has also contributed to serious safety violations; solar installations are being turned on before LADWP has completed its final inspection and authorized system activation. This situation has occurred in about 20 percent of the solar installations since January. It can create a serious safety hazard for customers and for electric maintenance crews working in the area who do not know the solar system is energized.

“Our solar incentive rebate application clearly indicates that customers need approval of their applications to be assured of receiving LADWP’s rebate, and that inspections are required prior to energizing their systems. Some customers have informed us that the contractors who installed the rooftop PV systems have indicated there is no need to delay installation while LADWP reviews their applications”, said Aram Benyamin, Senior Assistant General Manager for Power for LADWP. The LADWP program, similar to other SB 1 programs of other utilities, provides for payment upon installation and final inspection. “The result is some customers are apparently misinformed by their installation contractors, have paid in some cases tens of thousands of dollars for PV systems that were installed without confirmation by LADWP, counter to the rules of the program, only to find that they have long waits for rebates due to the deluge of applications”, Benyamin explained. “We cannot continue to allow this to happen.”

“Energizing systems without authorization is both dangerous and illegal. LADWP should identify these companies and publically suspend them from their rebate program when it resumes. Shining a light on unscrupulous solar contractors is what my ‘Ugly Side of Solar’ series is all about, “said Gordon.  “The real tragedy here rests with the consumer as he/she may find themselves holding the rebate bag after paying the contractor in full and receiving no reimbursement from LADWP.”

LADWP has taken steps to address the safety issue by mailing safety notices to all customers with pending solar installations, posting a safety advisory on the Web at www.ladwp.com/solar and contacting solar contractors and vendors directly about the problem.

Solar Rebate Program Review

During the temporary hold on accepting new applications, LADWP will review the program budget and will also review financing options to maintain a steady pace of participation and funding for the duration of the state’s SB 1 program. Mandated by state legislation, SB 1 requires that utilities invest their

customers’ money in solar PV systems for their homes and businesses. “In the last four years, the cost of PV systems have fallen by around 50%, but contractors are not passing those savings onto our customers”, LADWP’s power system head, Benyamin notes.

The high level of the LADWP rebates could contribute to this contractor pricing practice. LADWP will review and revise the program to do the following:

• Increase customer outreach and education to promote safety;
• Streamline processing of unconfirmed applications – a current backlog of over 500 requests for rebates;
• Review incentive levels to better serve customers, and reflect current solar PV market conditions;
• Assess options for utility financing of the rebates to smooth out the annual cost of this major PV rebate program to reduce the annual rate effect of the program; and
• Address the oversubscription to provide rebates in a timelier manner.

SB 1 Program Status of Other CA Public & Private Utilities

The issues affecting LADWP’s Solar Incentive Program have similarly impacted other solar programs throughout the state. To read more about the status of other utility’s programs, read more here.

More Information

Program updates, including notification of when LADWP will lift the temporary hold, will be posted on the Web at www.ladwp.com/solar. For further information, email solar@ladwp.com or call the Solar Hotline at (213) 367-4122.

Readers can reach Scott Gordon of HelioPower at SGordon@HelioPower.com

The popular wildflower seeded paper book marks are a contribution to this year’s Earth Day Network theme, A Billion Acts of Green®.  Earth day participants can plant their wildflowers and register their “Act of Green” on the Earth Day Network website toward the Network’s goal to register one billion actions in advance of the 2012 Earth Summit.

The "Free Flowers for Earth Day" book marks will be available from HelioPower solar energy consultants at the following events:

• Frontier Project Earth Day, Saturday, April 9
• Party for the Planet, Saturday, April 9
• The Green Festival, Saturday and Sunday, April 9 & 10
• Calistoga Earth Day, Saturday, April 16
• Fallbrook Avocado Festival, Sunday, April 17
• Sacramento Earth Day Celebration, Thursday, April 21
• Desert EcoFest@Aqua Soleil, Saturday, April 23
• Earth Day Napa County  Saturday, April 23

Earth Day Network Information

In recognition of the power of millions of individual actions, Earth Day 2011 will be organized around A Billion Acts of Green®: Personal, organizational and corporate pledges to live and act sustainably.  At over 45 million actions to date, A Billion Acts of Green® campaign – the largest environmental service campaign in the world – is steadily building commitments by individuals, corporations, and governments in honor of Earth Day.

A Billion Acts of Green® inspires and rewards both simple individual acts and larger organizational initiatives that further the goal of measurably reducing carbon emissions and supporting sustainability.  The Network website quantifies acts of green through an easy-to-use online registration tool.

HelioPower encourages homeowners to go solar as your “Act of Green” and register it online by going to the Earth Day Network website.

Click here for more information on the Earth Day events HelioPower will be attending and how to go solar for Earth Day.