HelioPower

Source:  EcoOutfitters.net
Reporter:  Dawn Allcot

Final post in this series on Smart Meters and Solar by EcoOutfitters featuring Scott Gordon, Vice President of  Residential Sales for HelioPower.

In this, the final of our four-part series on smart meters and solar PV arrays (start here), we’re going to address one of three dangers HelioPower CEO Scott Gordon revealed to us about smart meters: How they are infringing on our privacy.

We’re going to assume that no one reading this is doing anything illegal in their homes that they want to hide. But Americans view privacy as one of our basic rights. While the right to privacy is not expressly outlined in the U.S. Constitution, the fourth amendment does guarantee us “privacy of the person and possessions as against unreasonable searches.”

Of course, our founding fathers never could have envisioned digital meters that can record and share every detail of our electric usage. (Mostly because they didn’t envision electricity!) But this is exactly what smart meters do. Why does the electric company want that information? On the surface, the utilities claim that they’re collecting this data in order to make us smarter consumers and conservationists. Armed with the knowledge of when, where, and how we use electricity, we are better able to reduce our usage and lower our electric bills.

In reality, there is a lot more they can do with the information. As Gordon explains: “Every time you use an electrical device, it draws a specific amount of power, different from other devices. The smart meter sees your life and the way you use electricity in 15-minute increments. It can see how many loads of laundry you do each week, when you’re home, when you leave, if you work from home, if you have a pool, how many refrigerators you have … I can literally build a profile of you and your life.”

Laws prohibit the electric company from sharing this information without your permission. But what if they offered you 20 percent off your bill to permit them to share the information with marketing partners? “Many people, in this economy, would take them up on it,” Gordon notes.

If you thought targeted Facebook ads were scary in a sort of “Big Brother is watching” sense, imagine this type of marketing going on across your home, through mail, email, cell phone — any avenue advertisers choose to reach you.

Protect Your Privacy with Solar
When you’re connected to a home solar PV array, your solar system is the only power signature the smart meter can read. All your other devices draw their power from the solar system. “Everything else is literally hiding behind a smokescreen that is your solar system,” Gordon explains.

For years, Gordon said, the driving factor behind installing a solar array has been to save money. “Saving the environment and being eco-conscious is nice, but for the most part, people are concerned about lowering their electric bills.”

Now, smart meters introduce a whole new reason to go solar. For 10 to 16 hours of the day, depending on the time of year, your solar PV array is supporting your right to privacy. (Read more in HelioPower’s 10 Things About Smart Meters and Solar.)

by Glenna Wiseman
Vice President, Marketing, HelioPower

Children running in the grass.  Volunteers securing tents.  Dignitaries making their way to a donor’s reception. The many hands that have helped shape a sustainable community where once violence ran amuck all gathered last Thursday.  Those who have volunteered, supported and helped build this bright light of an affordable housing community in an oppressed neighborhood in San Diego came together to celebrate another milestone in the history of Las Serenas.  Las Serenas Goes Solar!

Donors, dignitaries, politicians, federal and state program representatives, construction partners and the community itself all rallied to help Community HousingWorks (CHW) celebrate another accomplishment for Las Serenas.

Las Serenas, on the border of National City and San Diego, is a shining example of the impact CHW has on communities as the rehabilitation of this 108-unit apartment complex transformed a formerly high-crime block into an attractive safe-harbor anchor in a struggling lower income community.  This time the cause for celebration was free solar energy for its tenants and the many tenant based benefits derived from a creative combination of state and federally funded initiatives.

In November 2009, CHW was awarded the first Multifamily Affordable Solar Housing (MASH) Track 2 grant by the California Center for Sustainable Energy (CCSE) to install solar energy in the Las Serenas affordable housing community. CHW worked with HelioPower to develop and fulfill the Las Serenas project.

The grant funds provide free solar energy to the low-income families at Las Serenas. The program also provided residents with job training and educational support on all aspects of sustainable living.   The simultaneous  “green” apartment improvements grant from federal NeighborWorks funds provided  installation of low-e, dual paned windows, water-saving tub and kitchen fixtures, and related kitchen and bath repairs.

On Thursday, Community HousingWorks staff was joined by Congressman Bob Filner (D-Calif.),  NeighborWorks America CEO Eileen Fitzgerald,  Irene M. Stillings, CCSE Executive Director and solar installation partner, HelioPower, among many others to celebrate their solar and green building initiatives.

100% of the clean energy generated from the solar power system will benefit the Las Serenas tenants, offsetting on average 20% of their annual electricity bills.  Additional ‘green’ apartment improvements, funded through a grant from NeighborWorks America, will also lower tenant utility bills and create a more sustainable community.

Community HousingWorks President, Susan M. Reynolds spoke eloquently of the victories accomplished by her team and those at the

community itself, “Today we are celebrating the victory of our residents over those who would say we cannot be free from violence and despair,” she said.

Las Serenas tenant, Lillian Wellman, brought the benefits of the solar energy system to life when she spoke to the gathered crowd. “When I got my electric bill, I was so excited because I could afford my bill now,” said Lillian. “My first bill went from $60 a month to $36, which makes a huge difference for my family.”

“Look around you.  We are surrounded by energy.   And just about all of it comes from the Sun.   Wind comes through differential solar heating, hydroelectric power from the sun driven water cycle.  The food we eat – biofuels – calories – come from the Sun via plant photosynthesis.  Food is energy – human energy.  And Las Serenas is ultimately a story of energy,” said Tom Millhoff, Vice President of Business Development for HelioPower.

“We are surrounded by solar energy.  Some of it you can see. These 300 solar panels will produce about 100,000 kWh annually – enough to replace 76 tons of carbon dioxide– or the amount of C02 sequestered by a 15 acre pine forest.  You may see sleek black glass on these roofs… I see an urban forest and it’s beautiful.

These photovoltaic panels absorb photons – light – and that energy knocks loose electrons, which race through the panels and electrical

equipment, and every single kWh benefits Las Serenas residents… enough to reduce their electric bills by 20%.  The hardware you see is supported by software that monitors and measures the solar production and shows just how much clean solar energy is benefiting residents – you can see it today in the community center, and you’ll see it soon on the web.  But that’s just part of the story.

We are surrounded by human energy.  Creative, energetic and inspired people who’ve taken this effort far beyond a solar installation, and created a truly integrated energy initiative, who’s components include:

• Energy Workshops – conducted in both Spanish and English to increase resident awareness and appreciation of the benefits of solar & energy efficiency
• Ongoing Outreach – “Green” bi-lingual curriculum that teach residents how to live a more environmentally conscious life.
• Green Job Training and Job Creation – as part of this initiative HelioPower conducted solar installation workshops and hired Las Serenas residents to participate in the installation and get hands-on job training.
• Wireless Internet access – to improve this community’s communications and access to information and educational resources.
• Energy Monitoring – in the community center and soon on the web

This Las Serenas Clean Energy Initiative is a shining example of what can happen when the public, nonprofit and private sectors work together,” closed Millhoff.

At the solar celebration, CCSE presented CHW with its $412,000 rebate check for their MASH Track 2 initiative at Las Serenas.

Irene M. Stillings, CCSE Executive Director, started her remarks quoting the June 7^th New York Times Thomas Friedman column, “You really do have to wonder whether a few years from now we’ll look back at the first decade of the 21st century — when food prices spiked, energy prices soared, world population surged, tornadoes plowed through cities, floods and droughts set records, populations were displaced and governments were threatened by the confluence of it all — and ask ourselves: What were we thinking? How did we not panic when the evidence was so obvious that we’d crossed some growth/climate/natural resource/population redlines all at once? The answer is denial.”

"But not in California, not in San Diego and not at Las Serenas," proclaimed Stillings.

To memorialize the day’s celebration, the children of Las Serenas created a storybook about solar at the community, which they presented as a thank you gift to Congressman Filner. “The families were able to use the gift from the sun to supply energy to their homes and lighten their burdens,” stated one young resident!

PHOTO CREDIT:  Maria Robinson, www.DRMPhotography.com

Kent Miller builds on solar and related energy industry experience with move to HelioPower

HelioPower, an integrated energy solutions company with nearly 2000 solar and clean energy systems engineered and installed since 2001, today announced the appointment of Kent J. Miller to Executive Vice President of Commercial Sales.  HelioPower engineers and constructs integrated energy solutions to solve the complex energy challenges facing organizations today.  Miller and his team will work to bring the company’s expanding energy solutions portfolio to a growing list of commercial and public sector clients worldwide.

“HelioPower has created a fully integrated suite of energy services,” said Miller. “This is critical in today’s energy market, when businesses and public sector clients face increasingly complex energy challenges.”

Prior to HelioPower, Miller served as the Sales Director of Services for SunPower Corp. (Nasdaq: SPWRA, SPWRB), a worldwide top five vertically integrated solar company.  Prior to SunPower, he acted as Director of Sales with SunEdison, the largest solar energy services provider in North America.  Miller built his expertise in managing emerging technology companies, leading a turnaround effort as vice president of sales and marketing for EnFlex Corporation, an energy monitoring company which was subsequently acquired by SunEdison in 2008. Miller's early background includes 5 years of sales experience with Apple Computer, and 14 years of sales, sales management, and business development with Microsoft Corporation.

“Kent has a remarkably broad experience in both energy and enterprise solutions,” said Ty Jagerson, President of HelioPower.  “Increasingly, renewable energy is about delivering compelling financial and technical solutions integrated with corporate customer requirements.  I’m thrilled to have Kent leading up this complex sales process.”

At the October 26 Town Hall for Solar Santa Monica, a crowd of about 60 people listened and asked questions of a panel of solar marketers addressing ways to get solar "with no money down." 

In the marketplace today, "no money down" means via a lease or a Power Purchase Agreement.  Both methods of financing are now being offered for residential systems in Santa Monica.   

The speakers came from Solar Santa Monica's list of Preferred Contractors. In the picture above, from left, they were Scott Gordon (HelioPower/SunRun), Jesse Raynes (SolarCity), and James Brennen (OpenNeighborhoods/ Martifer). 

Naturally, every "deal" is different, but the basics to understand are these:

  ·  With a lease, you pay a fixed monthly "rent" for panels on your roof.The leasing company takes care of maintenance; you get the power. To be eligible, you must have a good credit rating.

 ·   In a PPA, you pay directly for the power your system provides, but at a price that is less than you would pay for power from the utility.  Again, you must qualify, and again you are freed from system maintenance.

  ·    In some cases, you can "pre-pay" – that is, put down an amount at the beginning of the deal – and thus buy down your monthly payment.  (It's like buying power for the next 10 years at today's prices.)

   ·   At the end of the lease or PPA period, typically 20 years, you will have to decide what to do: extend the arrangement, buy the system from the company, or ask that it be removed.  (Not a lot of detail on this, since no leases have yet come to an end.) 

Many questions were raised:  What happens if the property is sold mid-contract?  How is the system sized?  What if the company goes out of business?  Each contractor had slightly different answers, so be sure to compare carefully before you make a decision between a lease or a PPA.  And don't overlook that old standby, direct ownership, if you have the money to invest and want the very best return.

Source: Solar Santa Monica

HelioPower,  an integrated energy solutions company with over 1600 solar and clean energy systems engineered and installed since 2001, today announced the promotion of Ty Jagerson to President and the appointment of Todd Lindstrom as Chief Operating Officer. 

Jagerson, formerly co-founder of SolFocus and CEO of Simple Energies, joined HelioPower as executive vice president of commercial sales when HelioPower acquired Simple Energies in early 2010. 

“Ty’s performance since he joined HelioPower speaks for itself and this promotion is well deserved,” said Ian Rogoff, HelioPower’s executive chairman.  “We’re also excited that Todd has agreed to join HelioPower.  Todd brings extensive sales, engineering and construction experience in solar and renewable energy to our management team, and we look forward to his contributions to the company’s continued growth.”  

Lindstrom joins HelioPower from Solar Power Inc., where he was a founding executive and led numerous activities including business development, construction, engineering, financing and franchise operations. Lindstrom joined Solar Power Inc. in 2006, and was most recently executive vice president. He drove over 16 megawatts (MW) of completed solar power construction and developed the renewable energy pipeline of awards and contracts to over $150 million.

“Todd joins us at a key juncture and we’re expecting his energy industry experience to be an important growth accelerator for us,” said Ty Jagerson, President of HelioPower, Inc. “ Todd is an established figure in the industry and it’s a strong validation that he’s chosen to join HelioPower.”

Agreement brings former SolFocus founding member, Ty Jagerson, to company’s executive management team

Helio Micro Utility (Helio mU), a developer and financier of solar energy projects, today announced the acquisition of Simple Energies LLC, a renewable energy project development company with a 50 megawatt global pipeline.  The agreement brings renewable energy veteran and Simple Energies CEO Ty Jagerson to the company’s executive management team.  Jagerson, who was a founding executive of SolFocus and co-founder of the Xerox PARC Cleantech Initiative, becomes President of Helio Micro Utility; he also steps in to lead commercial and utility scale sales for affiliated company HelioPower, becoming Executive Vice President, Commercial Sales.

Helio Micro Utility, spun out of HelioPower in 2007, works with established financial partners to develop, own and operate large commercial and utility scale solar assets in the United States and abroad. In 2008 the firm worked with Citi Community Capital, a division of Citi, to form the Helio Green Energy Community Investment Fund, a $100 million solar financing program.  The initial project for the Helio Green Energy Fund was The Tech Museum in San Jose, CA. Sister company HelioPower, founded in 2001, has installed more than 1000 solar power systems worldwide. Terms of the acquisition agreement were not disclosed.

Mo Rousso, Chief Executive Officer for Helio mU, said, “By acquiring Simple Energies, Helio Micro Utility expands its pipeline into adjacent solar markets and other renewable energy domains and increases our solar financing strength. Bringing Ty on board in particular adds a seasoned solar industry professional with proven U.S. and international project development skills; this adds the financial acumen we need for this next stage of our growth.” He further added, “As the demand for clean energy continues to accelerate here and abroad, Ty’s expertise will help us scale up in developing, financing, owning, and operating renewable energy assets.”

Ty Jagerson said, “I’m delighted to be joining such a well-established, and well-regarded solar energy team. The track record that Mo and the team have built for performance and profitable growth makes them an ideal match for the renewable energy project portfolio and innovative solar financing products we have developed at Simple Energies.”

NBC affiliate Cox Media reporter Diana Guevara caught up with HelioPower's Scott Gordon and solar power client Robert Schmalz in Oceanside for her solar piece Monday, January 25.  Schmalz, a HelioPower client who went solar just recently through the solar San Diego 1BOG program, talks about solar as a smart investment:

“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.

From the Burbank Leader, writer Michael J. Arvizu: "Bob’s celebrates with solar panels. As a California Point of Historical Interest, the restaurant with the Big Boy had to get approval for its green project."

1949.

It was the year the first Emmy Awards were given in Los Angeles.

It was the year the first Volkswagen Beetle arrived in the United States.

It was the year the People’s Republic of China was founded.

It was the year Bob’s Big Boy began flipping hamburgers, in what 60 years later is one of the most popular burger joints and oldest remaining Bob’s Big Boy restaurants in the country.

Bob’s Big Boy, at 4111 Riverside Drive in Burbank, began operations that year in a building designed by the late Wayne McAllister, a Los Angeles-based architect responsible for resorts and hotels from Las Vegas to California and Tijuana.

The Burbank restaurant is known for its signature Big Boy out front, where diners and tourists alike pose with the life-size, checkered-overalls- wearing, giant hamburger-carrying statue.

Bob’s Big Boy is touted as the home of the original double-deck hamburger, or Big Boy, made of two all-beef patties, grilled sesame seed bun, crisp lettuce and so on.

Aside from the burgers, one of the things that makes Bob’s Big Boy in Burbank unique is its ties with the community, said Bob’s co-owner Phil MacDonald. The restaurant maintains a hometown feel by sponsoring local teams and schools, and its walls are filled with plaques denoting the restaurant’s charitable efforts.

For its 50th anniversary celebrations in 1999, Bob’s Big Boy celebrated with three seasons’ worth of events. In March, the restaurant rolled back prices to 1949 levels, where diners could get a Big Boy, fries and Coke for 50 cents.

In July, the restaurant trucked in about 200 tons of sand and created a virtual beach in its parking lot, complete with sandcastle workshops, Frisbee contests and bathing suit, surfboard and surfing car exhibits.

In the fall, the restaurant held a Hollywood ’50s party.

It seemed fitting that to celebrate its 60th anniversary, MacDonald said, Bob’s should do something as memorable. In an effort to benefit the environment, 132 solar panels were installed on the roof of its carhop canopy and on the roof of the adjacent Starbucks — a building MacDonald also owns — in a campaign the restaurant calls “Sixty and Solar.”

The solar panels, which were activated in May after four weeks’ construction, are made by Canadian Solar, a Canada-based company founded in 2001 that manufactures wafers, cells and solar modules. The whole system was designed and installed by HelioPower, a solar power engineering and construction company. The system cost about $179,000, said HelioPower energy consultant Bret Pursuit. But with a $68,000 rebate from Burbank Water and Power and a $33,000 federal grant, the cost of the system would be around $78,000, Pursuit said.

It will take about six to eight years for the system to pay for itself in terms of energy costs to the restaurant, MacDonald said.

“We should have done this a long time ago,” said Mike Lopez, Bob’s Big Boy’s general manager. “I would love to see all of the businesses changed so that everybody benefits, even communities, houses, hospitals. The whole country needs to be changed, needs to go green. That’s the reality.”

The system is designed to provide about 25 kilowatt hours of electricity, which offsets about 10% of the restaurant’s electricity usage over the course of one year. About 90% still comes from the grid.

Bob’s Big Boy will have an official “flip the switch” ceremony Sept. 24, even though the panels have been active and providing electricity to the restaurant for two months.

“We’ve invited dignitaries,” MacDonald said. “We’ll see who comes. We just realized, oh my God, it’s 2009, it’s 10 years since then, we got to do something for the 60th [anniversary],” MacDonald said.

The MacDonald family has owned the Burbank location since it opened. It took over day-to-day operations of the eatery in 1993, the same year it was declared a California Point of Historical Interest, according to its website.

Because of the restaurant’s historical status, a review had to be conducted by the Burbank Heritage Commission to determine whether adding the solar panels would significantly alter the restaurant’s appearance.

They eventually got approval for the panels, but only after what Pursuit called a “flaming hoop we had to jump through via several meetings, business hours and evenings with the city planners and Heritage Commission.”

For more information on the “Sixty and Solar Project,” visit www.sixtyandsolar.com.