Off Grid Home Blog

Financing is a hobby usually left to banks, or in the case of research and development, to venture capital firms, but it is rarely an endeavor taken on by utilities. However, that is exactly what Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) is doing to facilitate the installation of 3,500 home solar power systems. The Bay Area utility is giving $100 million to SunRun Inc., which will install the solar systems over five states.

SunRun is part of a growing movement toward leasing in the home solar power sector. Rather than the homeowner paying the upfront costs, in a solar leasing scheme, a company, in this case SunRun (with the help of PG&E), pays for and installs the system. The homeowner then leases it from the solar company at a monthly premium lower than their average monthly utility bill.

The homeowners save money immediately through solar power, while the leasing company collects payments and benefits from all relevant rebates and tax incentives. The lease holder retains ownership of the solar panels. A contract is signed with the homeowners, locking in the fixed monthly payments for a set term, usually 15 years. At the end of this term, the lease can either be renewed, with a restructured contract, or choose to have the panels removed.

PG&E’s $100 million is being distributed through its subsidiary, Pacific Energy Capital. Lessee payments from SunRun systems financed with PG&E money will be split between SunRun and the subsidiary. Pacific Energy Capital will also receive an investment tax credit from the federal government for funding. PG&E will reportedly make a profit on the financing, although the projected amount has not been released.

This is actually the second time that PG&E has entered into this type of financing deal. Earlier this year, the company inked a deal to give $60 million to SolarCity, another Bay Area-based solar installer that offers solar leases.

SunRun systems financed by PG&E will be installed by the end of 2011 in Arizona, California, Colorado, Massachusetts and New Jersey.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

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The Solar Decathlon has been a huge hit in the United States. The event pits college students from the around the world in a contest to build the most effective, efficient and economically feasible solar-powered home. Since 2002, the Solar Decathlon has been held on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. This is the first time the competition has traveled overseas.

The opening ceremony in Villa Solar culminated with student decathletes from all 18 teams standing together on stage for a photo op in front of a large digital display reading “El Poder de Sol” — Sun Power.

The collegiate teams have come to Solar Decathlon Europe 2010 from as far away as China and the United States, as well as Spain, France, Germany, the UK and Finland. The two teams representing the United States are the University of Florida and Virgina Polytechnic Institute & State University.

Solar Decathlons USA and Europe challenge student teams to build a home completely powered by solar energy. Given today’s wide range of technology, that may seem easy, but for one parameter: the homes must be affordable. The real challenge for these students is to create a solar home using today’s technology that could be marketed to the masses, serving to put young people’s creativity to practical and renewable use.

The solar homes these students have created (and transported to the competition site) will be tested in a number of categories, including architecture, engineering, solar systems & hot water, energy balance, comfort conditions, usage, communications & social media, market viability, industrialization, innovation and sustainability.

The most recent Solar Decathlon was held in October of 2009 on the National Mall, with Team Germany edging out Teams Illinois and California for the victory. Check out the teams, their solar homes and keep up on events at sdeurope.org. You can also follow a blog by Richard King, director of the Solar Decathlon America, who is in attendance at Villa Solar in Madrid and is chronicling the 11-day competition.

If you happen to be in Europe, the Villa Solar (Solar Village) in downtown Madrid is open and free to the public at designated times during the decathlon.

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Lennar Corporation is the nation’s largest new solar homebuilder. Since 2006, Lennar has partnered with SunPower to install photovoltaic (PV) systems on over 1,700 homes in California. Now following the completion of a pilot project, the high-production building company is offering solar leasing options on new homes in Sacramento, Fresno and parts of southern California.

Leasing options eliminate nearly all up-front costs for home solar power and enable homeowners to save energy and money immediately upon signing and moving into the home. Lennar’s leasing program, which for the last year has been tested on 150 homes in California, leases a rooftop PV system to homeowners below current utility rates. Reportedly, homeowners involved in the pilot have reported utility bills as low as $1.19 per month and satisfaction has been high overall.

An average Lennar homeowner within the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) pays about $31 per month to lease a solar power system.

Lennar is now offering solar leasing under its PowerSmart program. PowerSmart homes are built extremely energy efficiently and include features such as efficient lighting, energy efficient appliances, programmable thermostats, efficient heating and cooling systems, radiant barriers in attics, extra insulation and more. PowerSmart homes are currently offered in California, Texas and Minnesota.

All Lennar solar homes are equipped with high-efficiency SunPower solar panels. SunPower Corp and Lennar have partnered for the last four years to offer solar power on new homes, and this new leasing partnership should only increase the pair’s volume of solar homes. The program is receiving broad support from government leaders, including California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who noted that, “It is companies like Lennar and these innovative partnerships that are creating jobs now while helping us reach a cleaner, more sustainable future.”

Recently, Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law California’s first statewide feed-in tariff for solar power, requiring utilities to pay homeowners a set rate for the solar electricity their home produces. In California, payment varies depending on time of production, with a higher rate going to renewable energy produced between 8am and 6pm — perfect timing for solar energy.

Source: MarketWatch

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Last Friday, Missouri became the 21st state to open the door to Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing. The innovative and wildly popular financing scheme, which allows homeowners to pay for solar power systems via municipal loans paid back through property taxes, has been spreading fast through states eager to ride the growing green energy wave.

PACE financing originated in Berkeley, California in 2007 and in less than three years has changed the face of renewable energy and energy efficiency financing. PACE is unique in two ways. One, it eliminates most or all of the up-front costs that hamper solar adoption for middle class homeowners. And two, it ties the loan to the property, not the individual. Subsequently, should the loan-approved homeowners decide to move, they do not have to continue paying for a solar power system they’re not using. Given that property is a reliable asset, risk is reduced for the lender as well, i.e. the municipality creating a bond to fund the program and the banks they often partner with to do so.

Missouri’s road to embracing PACE began in the small town of Ferguson. There, a city planner, Rosalind Williams, decided she wanted to implement a PACE program in her hometown. So, with the help of national solar advocacy group Vote Solar, a campaign was launched to pass enabling legislation in the Missouri state legislature. Last Friday, that campaign succeeded when House Bill 1692 was approved.

A big reason for the popularity of PACE programs is the wide support it receives from all sides — utilities, contractors, politicians, businesses and homeowners alike. In Missouri, supporters include Kansas City Power and Light, the Council for the Municipal League, Missouri Public Utilities Alliance and Missouri Energy Development Association. Cities that passed resolutions supporting HB 1692 included St. Louis, Ferguson, Kansas City and St. Louis County.

When it was conceived in Berkeley, PACE financing (locally known as Berkeley FIRST, or Financing Initiative for Renewable and Solar Technology) covered only renewable energy, primarily home solar power. The version that is spreading across the country, however, is typically expanded to include energy efficiency upgrades as well, including projects like insulation, efficient appliances, heating and cooling systems and window replacements.

Those will all soon be much more affordable options for residents of many Missouri cities, especially those of you in the supportive cities listed above. Furthermore, Missourians, new renewable energy tax credits and a state renewable energy credit (sREC) market are about to kick in as well.

Via VoteSolar.org
Photo Credit: Oakland CC & wesh via Flickr

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This time last year I wrote about the introduction of a new breed of building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV): the Solé Power Tile. This unique midnight-blue roofing tile is the first-ever solar product specifically designed for curved roofing systems, according to its manufacturer, SRS Energy. The PV tile is not designed to mount onto a roof, but to seamlessly incorporate into it, creating clean solar electricity while maintaining the home’s overall aesthetic.

All PV products must go through testing by Underwriters Laboratories (UL) to prove their ability for reliable performance. This is especially important in California, where solar products must be UL-listed to qualify for state rebates. The Solé Power Tile recently passed UL testing, which, considering that it is meant to integrate into curved clay tile roofs very common to sunny California, opens it up to a whole new market and millions of potential rooftops.

SRS Energy even partnered with US Tile, the largest manufacture of clay roof tiles in the U.S., to ensure seamless integration. US Tile designed a non-solar tile that matches the relatively odd blue color of the Solé Power Tile.

But are these tiles ready for your roof? At only 5 percent conversion efficiency, the Solé tiles at their best stand far below the average rooftop solar panel. Therefore, they require a lot more space and product to produce the same amount of solar electricity. However, the plastic tiles are cheaper, ship in bundles and are lighter than traditional clay tiles. Homeowners with a lot of roof space and concerns over aesthetics may be good clients for the Solé Power Tile, but I’m betting this will be a small niche market in the face of other products that are four times as efficient, at least to start.

Also, passing its UL 1703 testing is important for proving that it can perform well, but that still leaves questions about durability. Solar panels will almost certainly be producing energy in 40 years. Can anyone say that about the Solé Power Tile?

Of course, if SRS Energy can get that efficiency up to, say, 10 percent in future product generations, then I think we’ll find a decent amount of people wanting to try them out, which will lead to their being proven in the field.

It should be noted that if there’s any market you want to go into with a fresh, rebate-eligible product, it’s California. There, residents have proven time and time again that they’re willing to lead the way in renewable technology. Perhaps the Solé Power Tile can ride that wave.

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It’s hurricane season and your bags are by the door. The National Weather Service has issued a hurricane warning. A look outside reveals bent trees and blowing palm fronds. Flags are ripping off their poles and rain flies by at eye level as if supernaturally propelled. Trash day is canceled, while curbside bins create a mess of windy traffic in the streets. It is, as they say, time to head for the hills to weather another storm — a frequent furlough for residents of Hurricane Alley.

So now, you’ve struggled through the difficult and hurried process of deciding what to take and what to leave. Some things are must-haves, others are regretfully pushed aside. Some things you simply cannot take with you, including but not limited to the solar panels adorning your roof. Solar panels, which, if you’ve opted for a battery-backup system, may be providing power and light even while the rest of the neighborhood has gone black. Thinking of solar panels, you know your roof is built hurricane-tough, but can your solar panels make it? Solar panels sure look like roof-mounted sails waiting for the right breeze and you know from experience how powerful these crazy Gulf hurricanes can be. Without time for a second thought you’re gone, leaving your roof and solar panels to fend for themselves in the coming torrent. Beneath thoughts for the safety of family and friends, that one question nags your mind in the wake of your receding neighborhood…

Will my solar panels survive a hurricane?

The short answer: yes, so long as your roof survives. In states like Florida, homes are built to last hurricanes…at least to the best of our ability. I personally have spent hundreds of hours and thousands of nails installing “hurricane clips” and other safety features to rafters, joists and trusses in homes built far from Hurricane Alley. When solar panels are mounted on your roof (always connected to the structural frame beneath), they become a part of a system.

From peak to foundation, a properly built home is well-connected to the earth upon which it sits, like a jigsaw puzzle glued to its earthly substrate. This connectivity makes a home strong and able to withstand one helluva beating before it gives up. And given that solar panels add yet another piece to that puzzle, they can actually strengthen the roof by adding more stability and bracing to the system.

Still, assume nothing, especially if you are not the original owner of your home. When installing a home solar power system, it is essential to inspect and analyze the strength of the roof system to make sure it can hold up the solar panels even while holding them down.

Fortunately, this goes without saying for experienced builders and solar contractors. Hurricane Alley contractors know quite well what’s in store for their installations, and as much as we cannot hope to master Mother Nature, I have no doubts they would ease the worst of our fears.

Solar electric and solar thermal systems have been going up for decades in Miami, Mobile, Galveston and all points in between. Installers know quite well what they’re doing and, as one of our readers aptly pointed out the last time I wrote on this subject, they’ll have the post-hurricane pictures to prove it.

Photo Credit: MIT & CA Solar Installation

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The rate of a barrel of oil has never been so extreme. Some hold that this is a short-term spike, but an increasing number of analysts are in accord that this kind of pricing is going to remain. World consumption is at an all time high and given the new thirst for oil in China and India it is doubtful to diminish. According to International energy Outlook, large-scale need is expected to carry on to multiply by as much as 59% in the next decade.

Already, customer utility bills have been ever-increasing on average 6.5% every year for the last thirty years in the United States. Given the tremendous increase in the charge of developing power using customary non-renewable resources, this rate is bound to be overtaken by unheard of cost increases in the very nearby future. And for clients who are getting increasingly more environmentally aware, the thought of the hundreds of thousands and many of tons of Carbon dioxide and other side-effects being emitted into the atmosphere yearly owing to the use of fossil fuels in generating energy is very terrifying.

It is a no-brainer that our dependence on oil to create power leaves us very susceptible. There are renewable technologies that turn out energy, but the obstruction has been one of charge effectiveness. It has always been less costly to source power using fossil fuels, and therefore, renewable sources such as solar power or wind power have not taken off. But the condition now seems to be changing. More and more, our consumption of energy is outstripping supply. The utility grid can barely maintain with requirement and rolling blackouts are no longer just a notion. No wonder governments are needing for options. And there’s no question why every person is talking about solar power once again.

In 1985 yearly international solar power system installation accounted for 21 megawatts of energy. By 2004, this had enlarged to an astounding 927 megawatts in new installation energy creation alone. The call for solar produced power over the last numerous years has amplified each year about 25 percent, while in 2004 revenue were ahead a monstrous 67 percent from the prior year.

There are several reasons for this proliferation in attraction for all things solar powered. Beyond the understandable environmental considerations and the privilege of not needing to depend on power from a power grid that is growing older and stretched to ability, solar is becoming asking price helpful. While usual energy creation will get more steeply priced, technological advancements are making solar energy less costly.

In 1980 the fee of garnering energy from the sun stood at about one hundred dollars per watt. Literally a hundred times more high-priced than the going figure of electricity, these techniques were not economically reasonable. By 1999 however, technology had condensed this to about $4 per watt and overheads have sustained to reduce by about 5% per year since. The Return on Investment is becoming very desirable for many industrial institutes and consumers.

Efficiencies have been achieved in quite a few technologies. The inverters that change the gathered DC power into usable AC energy used to send only about 65 percent efficiency. 35% of the collected energy was lost in the conversion process. Today’s transformers are so proficient they deliver up to 96% of collected power into usable AC current.

Green technology has also made solar gathering far more efficient. Twenty years ago, only 5 percent of the sun’s power hitting a solar charging panel was gathered. This sum is nowadays more than15 percent and will continue to increase as more capable compounds are designed and presented in the fabrication of these wind and solar panels.

All levels of government are increasingly investigating solar to provide stable, charge effective and environmentally friendly power. 35 states now have some particular repayment series for property owners that establish solar energy systems. And this is not just the southern “sunny states”. While California is the apparent leader in promoting solar energy solutions (a program announced in 2003 is promoting the launch of solar powered energy systems into millions of residences over the next some years) New Jersey and New York are next in order for solar investment.

At the municipal level, many jurisdictions have announced solar options for traffic and streetlights. 50 percent of the energy used to operate Sacremento’s area water sanitization plant is solar. NASA uses solar power systems in many of its structures. Governments are not incorporating solar merely because it is sound for the environment and establishes a case in point for trade entities and clients (even though these benefits cannot be lost on them!). They have concluded that choosing solar systems will conserve tens of thousands of dollars.

With so many refund programs today the homeowners are approaching the invariable conclusions. Once the preliminary gain on investment is recouped (as early on as 4-6 years with the reimbursement programs in California for example), solar clients don’t have any extra energy bills, almost no maintenance to be anxious about and are not attached to a utility company that is becoming increasingly fragile as pressure outstrips supply. There’s no question why solar energy is getting interest!

Solar power is still more steep than long-established power production methods, but the inequality is tightening each year. Solar power functions are also growing at an surprising charge. House heating system, solar pool light and heating, hot water tank heating system, calculators, flashlights, solar garden light and on and on. Solar is untainted, it’s capable and it is here to continue.

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Soon, New York City residents will be able to easily asses their home’s solar energy potential using a detailed solar map currently under construction by city officials. Following in the footsteps of cities like San Francisco and Boston, the city is creating the online tool to make the decision to go solar easier for residents, and to better understand the city’s overall potential for solar power.

For two weeks in April, reports the New York Times, dual-engine Shrike Commander aircraft performed low early-morning flyovers above the Big Apple. Using a laser system known as Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging), the planes gathered detailed, three-dimensional readings of the city’s landscape. Everything from the shape, pitch and size of building roofs were gathered. Each plane’s Lidar laser system works by bouncing laser pulses off structures and terrain, calculating the lay of the land by measuring how fast it takes each pulse to bounce back, much like sonar sound pulses bounce off objects underwater.

How Does the Program Work?

NYC residents can simply enter their address into an online program set up using solar map data. The project is part of Mayor Bloomberg’s larger plan for greening the city and preparing for the effects of Climate Change on the coastal city. It was funded in part with $205,470 from the Department of Energy.

Use for data recovered by the 3D laser-mapping is not limited to measuring solar potential. It will also be used to update flood maps, identify wetlands and neighborhoods in need of trees, as well as census-like data, such as how many flat and pitched roofs are in the city. The overall picture that will result will be unprecedented in New York City, and should help craft more detailed and accurate plans for the city’s new future. Utilities will also be able to use the solar data to understand how much solar power they can ween from rooftops. The images will help officials figure out exactly how much solar power is already being created.

It is estimated that New York City could get one-fifth of its power from solar energy. The upcoming solar map should facilitate a more confident and exact estimate. Both the solar and flood maps are expected to be complete by the end of 2010.

Photo Credit: NYT & Google Maps

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Soon, New York City residents will be able to easily asses their home’s solar energy potential using a detailed solar map currently under construction by city officials. Following in the footsteps of cities like San Francisco and Boston, the city is creating the online tool to make the decision to go solar easier for residents, and to better understand the city’s overall potential for solar power.

For two weeks in April, reports the New York Times, dual-engine Shrike Commander aircraft performed low early-morning flyovers above the Big Apple. Using a laser system known as Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging), the planes gathered detailed, three-dimensional readings of the city’s landscape. Everything from the shape, pitch and size of building roofs were gathered. Each plane’s Lidar laser system works by bouncing laser pulses off structures and terrain, calculating the lay of the land by measuring how fast it takes each pulse to bounce back, much like sonar sound pulses bounce off objects underwater.

How Does the Program Work?

NYC residents can simply enter their address into an online program set up using solar map data. The project is part of Mayor Bloomberg’s larger plan for greening the city and preparing for the effects of Climate Change on the coastal city. It was funded in part with $205,470 from the Department of Energy.

Use for data recovered by the 3D laser-mapping is not limited to measuring solar potential. It will also be used to update flood maps, identify wetlands and neighborhoods in need of trees, as well as census-like data, such as how many flat and pitched roofs are in the city. The overall picture that will result will be unprecedented in New York City, and should help craft more detailed and accurate plans for the city’s new future. Utilities will also be able to use the solar data to understand how much solar power they can ween from rooftops. The images will help officials figure out exactly how much solar power is already being created.

It is estimated that New York City could get one-fifth of its power from solar energy. The upcoming solar map should facilitate a more confident and exact estimate. Both the solar and flood maps are expected to be complete by the end of 2010.

Photo Credit: NYT & Google Maps

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In 2008 I wrote about a less friendly movement rising along with the eco-friendly solar power movement: solar panel theft. Since then, solar panel sales have continued to rise steadily and, unfortunately, so have solar panel thefts. In the last two weeks alone, two San Francisco schools were struck by thieves, a New York Times blog reports on Monday, removing some $50,000 worth of solar equipment. More generally, solar panel theft has increased at a comparable rate with solar panel installations nationwide.

SolarInsure, a brokerage firm that offers insurance plans for solar power systems, recorded a 17 percent increase in reported thefts in 2009 compared to 2008 numbers. California, which leads the nation in solar installations, experienced the highest increase in thefts: up 26 percent from 2008 to 2009. In response, SolarInsure will no longer offer insurance for systems without some form of integrated security measure.

One such measure comes from start-up GridLock Solar Security. It puts each solar panel in an array on a circuit wired to a main security unit. If any panel in the system is removed, the circuit is disrupted, an alarm sounds and the police are automatically alerted.

Tigo Energy, which develops programs that monitor and record power output from solar energy systems, has added a feature to its product that it likens to the popular OnStar system for automobiles. A chip embedded in each panel wirelessly communicates with a central monitoring unit. If communication is broken, the panel deactivates and alerts are sent out. Also, that removed panel cannot be reconnected elsewhere without a special security code.

On a legislative scale, Mike Thompson, a congressman from Napa Valley, has worked to create a national registry of solar panel serial codes into the Solar Technology Roadmap Act in order to discourage theft. That bill has passed the House and is working its way through the Senate.

Buildings unoccupied at night, such as schools, are sitting ducks for solar panel thieves. Unfortunately, these are also buildings — especially schools — where solar power is doing its most symbolic good. To make matters worse, tight-budgeted schools are unlikely to have the resources to re-install new panels if stolen equipment cannot be recovered.

Hopefully security systems like those described above will help bring the rise in panel thefts to a halt. And if nothing else, the wave of thefts further proves that solar energy is in high demand, but I wouldn’t go so far as to call thievery a green job. Although, maybe the culprits will be sent off to green jails.

Photo Credit: Off the Grid

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