If you’ve ever thought about going solar to take a bite out of your utility bills, you may want to take another look: A perfect storm of events, policies and programs currently makes solar more affordable than ever.

The problem: He who hesitates may miss the best deals.

“People say, ‘It’s too good to be true,’” says John Berger, CEO of Standard Renewable Energy of Houston. “And, you’re right, it is. That’s why it’s not going to last.”

In theory, solar has always been an attractive source of alternative energy. It’s clean. It’s green. What’s not to like about harnessing power from the sun to climate-control your home, keep the lights on, and maybe even run a few appliances?

For the average person, the issue has been cost. Until recently,going solar on any kind of useful scale has been expensive, asking buyers to pony up big bucks, then wait 20 years or more to recoup their investment through monthly utility savings.

Here’s what has happened to change all that:

• Since the middle of 2008, the price of solar panels has dropped about 40 percent. Credit increased production of polysilicon and the opening of more panel-producing plants, particularly in China.
• The global economic slowdown: Installations in Europe – long a hotbed for solar power – are expected to be off 26 percent from last year, according to consulting firm Emerging Media Research. More supply + less demand = lower prices.
• More generous government subsidies: In 2008, homeowners could get a 30 percent tax credit on solar installations, but the credit was limited to $2,000. That ceiling was removed on January 1.
• And, yes, even many of your old-guard utilities are helping make solar more affordable. For the moment, at least, rebates from your regular utility can further slash your bottom line.

Put it all together, and going green by way of the sun isn’t only for those enjoying deep pockets. With so many moving parts, however, the current opportunity may be fleeting.

According to SRE’s Berger, the decline in materials cost will almost certainly lead to reduced government incentives. (If it’s already cheap – or cheaper – why subsidize?) At the same time, utilities have begun backing away from rebates. (In Northern California, Pacific Gas and Electric is cutting its rebate program by 29 percent; Phoenix’s Salt River Project trimmed 10 percent from its homeowners rebate in June.)

“Any incentives you can get from your local utility, or the state, or the federal government, you need to wrap them up now,” Berger says. “We’re already faced with incentives getting cut because of the price decline. We anticipate more by the end of the year, and we expect a whole lot more next year.”

For now, those with the resources to invest can enjoy big bargains.

About a year ago, Greg Hare of Magnolia, Texas, priced a system for his 7,000-square foot house and garage at about $100,000. He decided to wait. Over time, the drop in panel prices trimmed about $23,000 from that bill, and the beefed-up tax credit nearly doubled his savings. Ultimately, Hare took advantage of the situation and opted for a larger system, installing 64 panels rather than the originally-planned 42.

For those with more modest means, Berger estimates that a typical homeowner can cut 20 percent off his bill with a post-tax credit investment of $15,000 or less.

As prices become affordable to a wider range of potential customers, the long-term implications may be more significant than the current run of attractive short-term deals. Regarded by detractors as an environmentally friendly but largely impractical solution, solar appears to be in the process of becoming a real and viable industry.

When you think silicon, you think of computers. Yet, in 2008, more silicon went into solar panels than microchips, says Mike Splinter, CEO of Applied Materials, a Silicon Valley company that makes the machines that manufacture microchips.

“We are seeing the industrialization of the solar business,” he told The New York Times. “In the last 12 months, it has brought us a $1.3 billion business. It is hard to build a billion-dollar business.”

Where does your local utility fit in this picture? That depends largely on where you live and who controls the market.

In Austin, Texas, municipally-owned Austin Energy offers an aggressive rebate program, featured prominently on its website. Similarly, San Antonio’s CPS Energy touts the new kids on the energy block. In those cities, you can go solar and get considerable help in doing so.

In Colorado, on the other hand, the state’s largest utility (Xcel) tried passing a surcharge on homes and businesses using rooftop solar power. The initiative quickly crumbled in the face of public outcry and pressure from the governor’s office. (Environment Colorado is now lobbying the state to increase subsidies for residential solar power.)

“Typically, the municipal utilities are the ones more embracing of it,” Berger says. “The industrial utilities…hate it with a passion.”

Still, even seemingly-entrenched industrial power companies may have to reassess their position. According to data compiled by Credit Suisse Securities, wholesale power demand in the United States was down 15.3 percent in the second quarter of 2009 compared to a similar period a year ago.

Experts attribute much of that to the economic slowdown, but concede that conservation efforts and a move to alternative energy sources have played a part. If that’s the case, utilities that have dominated their markets may be forced to seek a different kind of role in a changing landscape.

Already, John Berger senses a change in the perception of the power of the sun.

“A lot of the utilities thought this was a social do-gooders business,” he says. “I’ve had some execs ask me that. ‘It’s really nice, what you’re doing for the planet, John.’ And I’ve always told them that I wanted to make one thing clear: We’re here to make money and help people basically get off the debt you keep putting on their backs.

“That wasn’t taken seriously until this year. A lot of it is being taken seriously now.”

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, (Photo: Ford Motor Co.)

Not every abandoned automobile manufacturing plant is doomed to a future of dust, rust and general obsolescence. Thanks to a creative deal between Ford Motor Co., the state of Michigan, and a pair of energy concerns, a shuttered facility near Detroit soon will be cranking out renewable energy and creating new jobs for the region.

Xtreme Power of Austin,Texas and Clairvoyant Energy of Santa Barbara, Calif., reportedly will pay $725 million for the former auto plant in Wixom, Mich. The plan is to use about half of the 4.7 million square feet to manufacture battery-based energy storage systems and high efficiency solar panels. The new owners hope to find other green companies to fill the remaining space.

In its heyday, the Wixom plant employed about 5,000 auto workers and produced about 6.6 million cars over more than five decades. The workforce had dwindled to about 1,000 before the the facility shut down in 2007. It has been maintained by a skeleton crew ever since.

“The Wixom Assembly Plant served Ford well for half a century and we wanted to ensure it served Michigan well into the future,” said Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford. “Thanks to the collaborative efforts of two visionary energy companies and the leadership of state and local officials, we are transforming our Wixom facility into one of the largest renewable energy parks in the United States. I can’t imagine a better way to use this facility – for ourselves, our children and our grandchildren.”

New ownership expects to begin refitting the plant in the first quarter of 2010, with full operations targeted for late 2011. In time, the project could provide up to 4,000 new jobs in the area, not including positions created indirectly.

State and local tax credits and incentives helped facilitate the deal. Gov. Jennifer Granholm insists the money will be well spent.

“It’s a great example of the Phoenix rising from the ashes, and it’s all part of our strategic plan to diversity Michigan’s economy,” she said.

Clairvoyant Energy already has announced plans to build up to 2.5 million solar panels a year at the Wixom site. That output alone, the company says, could replace the need for one large coal-fired power plant.

Copyright © 2008 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

By Hosea Sanders and Sylvia Jones

CHICAGO (WLS) — More people are deciding to save energy by installing solar panels — even while the debate continues over whether they are worth the investment. One way to live green while saving money is to conserve energy. If you’ve ever wondered whether solar panels are really the best way to do that, you can find out through an upcoming “solar tour.” >> Read the full story

New green homes can be awe-inspiring, both for their groundbreaking designs and their show of techno-muscle. Those tubular daylights, state-of-the-art solar panels, sleek recycled flooring, dehumidifying HVAC systems, complex gray water reclamation systems, louvered light “shelves” and heat-reflecting metal roofs can leave the common homeowner gaping — and wishing.

The truth is most of us won’t be building a brand new green castle, at least not anytime soon — and perhaps there’s something to be said for the alternative; let’s call it “greening in place”.

Almost any home can become more energy friendly, and this “in fill” project can occupy a very important spot in the urban landscape: your own lot!

We asked Anna Rosemann, owner of Eco/Consulting US in Los Angeles, to give us her list of things to consider when retrofitting your own precious casa.

First on Anna’s list is the Home Performance Test, which is where she and many other consultants start when asked to evaluate a property.  (This is similar to the energy audit conducted by HERS (Home Energy Rating Systems) experts, commonly used in the building industry.)

To Anna, who started Eco/Consulting US in 2006 after working several years in real estate development, this initial assessment is the equivalent of considering one’s location when buying a home. Her mantra, “Home Performance Test, Home Performance Test, Home Performance Test”, is a take on the Realtor’s maxim “Location, Location, Location”.

The test looks at a home’s energy systems, the insulation and the building envelope to identify potential leaks and inefficiencies. Most likely the house is not performing nearly as well as it could, says Rosemann, because “for a long time we were building houses as fast as we could and no one was really paying attention to how they were being built.”

In about 90 percent of the existing homes she’s evaluated, the house is insufficiently insulated. Using infrared equipment to check the walls, Eco/Consulting contractors typically find a wall cavity devoid of insulation. “It’s insane and crazy how many walls we see with zero insulation,” Rosemann says. In these cases, the fix might be a relatively affordable injection of eco-friendly cellulose insulation. But there are many other nips and tucks to consider within any given home.

Here is Rosemann’s list of factors to consider when contemplating a retrofit:

• Use recycled material whenever available. Increasingly there are companies that reclaim excess or used building materials that have wide reuse potential, such as doors and windows.

• The caulking gun. Rosemann calls it “the most high tech tool of this century” – meaning it can do powerful work.

• An on-demand tank-less water heater can serve as a backup to the solar hot water system in the coldest months.

• Recycled jean insulation. (For more info on insulation get advice from the Department of Energy.)
  

• Switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs. The savings is real: CFLs have a much longer life than other bulbs, use less energy and produce less heat. Changing five of the most frequently used bulbs in your home can save you $100 per year on electric bills.

• Program your thermostat and when you are at home, keep the thermostat at 78 F or higher in the summer and 62 F or lower in the winter. Programmable thermostats allow you to program the systems to reduce output when they are not needed, like when no one is home during the day or at night when everyone is sleeping.

• Plug air leaks. This simple step can go a long way toward keeping your home at the temperature you desire, saving money on heating and air conditioning bills and more. Common leaks occur around windows, doors and other wall penetrations. Plugging those leaks with weather stripping and caulk can be a simple task for anyone.

• Tune up your heating and cooling (HVAC) system. Have a checkup for your HVAC system every two years to make sure it is running efficiently. Be sure to clean the filter monthly during times of peak usage; a dirty filter can significantly reduce the system’s efficiency.

• Choose ENERGY STAR® appliances. ENERGY STAR®-qualified products meet a high level of energy efficiency, which can translate into savings on electric bills. So when it’s time to replace that old refrigerator, microwave, clothes washer or other appliance, remember that even if an ENERGY STAR appliance costs more, you could reduce your energy bill by $50 yearly for each appliance. Also, check with your electric utility – some offer incentives for replacing old appliances with more efficient ones.

• Explore solar. Photovoltaics – solar power technology that uses solar cells or solar photovoltaic arrays to convert light from the sun directly into electricity or heat – are increasingly available for residential use. Solar power can be harnessed to create electricity for your home, to heat water, and to improve indoor lighting.

• Reduce water use. Inside, install faucet aerators – available for a few dollars at your local home supply store – and change to low-flow showerheads. Outside, landscape with native plants and minimize high-maintenance landscaping such as turf grass.

• Use low-VOC products. Switch to products that don’t give off volatile organic compounds, or VOCs. Low- or no-VOC products greatly improve your indoor air quality and protect your health. Look for low-VOC paints and cleaning products, or you can make your own cleaning products using simple household materials like baking soda, vinegar and borax.

Many clients call wanting to look into solar panels, says Roseman. These callers envision glittering arrays on the roof that will help them cool down their energy costs. But she asks them to tick through a list of ground-level, and often more affordable changes, first. “People are quick to say, I want to be green, I want to put solar panels on my house, and that’s not the first thing I advise people to look at,” she says.

Rosemann, who’s taken green building courses offered by the US Green Building Council and is certified by California’s Build It Green, suggests many other solutions, from planting trees to shade a home to adding a water filtration system to remove the need for plastic water bottles or water services. Her Brentwood-based company handles commercial as well as residential projects from assessment to recommendations through project execution.

Hiring a consultant is sort of a luxury, she says, like hiring a designer. “But if you don’t have the time to research it all. We already have the knowledge and can tell you where you need to go.”

(Photo credits: Eco/Consulting, new home at 1309 Main St., Venice, Calif.; Anna Rosemann.)

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

Photo: PRNewsFoto/SRS Energy, David Ricketts

From Green Right Now Reports

Methods for adding solar panels to homes continue to evolve and become more sophisticated. For evidence, look no further than a recently completed residential installation of the Sole Power Tile system at a home in Bermuda Dunes, Calif. SRS Energy of Philadelphia, a developer of sustainable solar roofing products, says the new solar tile is the first building-integrated photovoltaic roofing product designed for curved roofing systems.

“This installation illustrates how homeowners can go green and make smart, sustainable choices without compromising curb appeal,” Marty Low, CEO of SRS Energy, said in a statement. “The revolutionary design of the Sole Power Tile system will enable this home to generate clean solar energy for decades to come.”

The roof system is designed to seamlessly blend with several styles of US Tile’s clay tiles, providing energy and preserving the home’s roofline, unlike traditional roof-mounted solar panels. The combination of clay and solar tiles delivers the Spanish-style aesthetics of traditional curved clay tile roofs commonly found in the Pacific states and Southwest.

The Sole Power Tile system uses thin film solar technology, valued for its ability to convert a greater range of light – including the light at dawn and dusk – into solar energy when compared to other solar technologies. SRS says the curved design of the tile allows for greater air circulation under and around the tiles, helping to prevent degradation in performance caused by the region’s desert heat.

The company installed about 300 square feet of Sole Power Tile on the residence’s roof. The tiles are expected to generate approximately 2,400 kilowatt hours of electricity per year. The Bermuda Dunes home is one of several demonstration installations SRS Energy and US Tile are undertaking this summer to support the product’s launch. The homeowners will be able to install a larger solar upgrade beginning this fall when commercial shipments commence.

SRS Energy and US Tile are currently launching the Sole Power Tile system in select West Coast markets, and will begin a nationwide rollout of the product in spring of 2010.

From Green Right Now Reports

The California Public Utilities Commission yesterday approved a plan by Southern California Edison to build the largest U.S. installation of advanced solar panels on otherwise unused large commercial rooftops across Southern California.

The installation will occur over the next five years and will result in 250 megawatts of solar generating capacity. The utility also will conduct competitive solicitations offering long-term power contracts to independent solar power providers who will install an additional 250 megawatts, bringing to 500 megawatts the total generating capacity of the project — the largest photovoltaic program ever undertaken.

SCE will employ about 150 sites to make up this program. The first, a 600,000-square-foot Fontana, Calif. distribution warehouse roof, currently holds 33,700 advanced thin-film solar panels with a generating capacity of 2.4 megawatts of direct current power. That site is the largest single rooftop solar photovoltaic array in the nation.

The utility has begun construction of a second installation atop a 458,000-square-foot industrial building in Chino, Calif. First Solar of Tempe, Ariz. was the winning bidder to supply panels for these first two installations.

SCE said it has identified numerous benefits to customers, the region and the state from the massive solar project:

• It will provide a new generation source to areas where customer demand is rising.
• The solar modules can be connected directly and quickly to the nearest neighborhood circuit while major new renewable energy transmission lines are being built.
• The output of solar panels generally matches peak customer demand — lower in the morning and evening, higher in the afternoon.
• The project will allow SCE grid engineers to study the electrical effects of a high penetration of photovoltaic on distribution circuits. The information gained will be shared with the industry.

SCE said it anticipates its solar power project will create as many as 800 new green jobs in Southern California in the solar industry. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, one of SCE’s project partners, is supporting the project through the expansion of its solar installation apprentice training program.

You’d like to make energy upgrades on the casa, but you’re a little short on the green.

Not enough green to green is a common problem right now. Yet, there are some changes you can barely afford not to make. One of these easy fixes involves addressing the build-up of heat in your attic this summer. If you live any place south of Washington, Maine and Michigan, you’re going to experience some days when it’s difficult to cool the house, and the typical attic compounds the problem by trapping heat overhead. If your AC unit is installed up there, the situation is even worse; the extreme heat will make the air conditioning system work harder and run longer as it pushes cooled air through hot duct work.

An attic fan, especially one run on solar power, is a way to circum-vent this issue.

This will cost a few hundred bucks compared with the thousands you might spend on other energy fixes, like rooftop solar panels, new HVAC systems or even a solar hot water heater.

And the impact can be great. Cooling the attic, and therefore the house, can pare back electric bills all season long.

“There’s a very short payback to this one in our view,” says Geoff Foreman, chief executive officer of U.S. Sunlight Corp., which manufactures a 12-watt solar-panel attic fan with a 38 volt motor.

That payback time – the point at which energy savings equal the initial cost – will likely be just months, and easily inside a year, Foreman says.

Here’s why: The company’s Solar Powered Attic Fan is $399 (uninstalled; add about $125 for professional installation according to Foreman). It qualifies for a federal energy efficiency tax credit of 30 percent of the cost, which brings the cost to around $280 (or about $400 with professional installation).

If you live in California or another state with state or local incentives, you’ll get even more back. In Burbank, Calif., the attic fan qualifies for another $200 tax credit, which if you installed the thing yourself, brings the cost to less than $100 — little more than the price of a 12-pack of quality CFLs.

That’s pocketbook efficiency.

U.S. Sunlight isn’t the only company making solar attic fans; but for Californians, they’re a local company, based in Livermore in the Bay Area. Other companies include: SunRise Solar Inc., of St. John, Indiana; Solatube, which makes the Solar Star Attic Fan and Natural Light Energy Systems of Phoenix .

Foreman promises that U.S. Sunlight offers one of the best warranties now that they guarantee the solar panel on the attic fan for 20 years. The device will ventilate about 1,250 square feet of attic space, providing about 10 air exchanges per hour for a typical ranch house of about 1,700 square feet, he says.

That amount of air flow is much better than that provided by more passive air venting systems, such as such as roof ridge vents and the “whirly bird” turbines on many houses. Those systems rely on the relatively weak movement of hot air out of the house. The solar powered fan works like an electric fan, actively cycling the hot air out; but unlike the electric attic fan, it is powered by sunlight and does not add to the electric bill.

The fan’s solar panel does need to be oriented to the Southern or Western sun, though the panel can be remotely placed to best absorb sunlight. (A side benefit, keeping the attic vented in winter can help reduce moisture build up that can nurture mold and mildew.)

Foreman says that customers have been “exceptionally pleased” with the product, and those customers include himself.

“I just re-roofed my house I put two of my units on my roof. I have one facing south in a portion of the attic, and another facing west, but tilted and rotated to catch the southwestern sunlight in a different portion of the attic.” The heat in what was the hottest spot in the house has gone from “unbearable” to comfortable, he says.

Like many new energy entrepreneurs, Foreman is proud that his operation is Earth-friendly.

“This is a low cost way (homeowners have) of doing something meaningful,” he says, “not only for the comfort of their home but also for the environment.”

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

From KTRK – Houston

There’s a big push for Texans to go green. Area lawmakers want more people to do things to save energy, including installing solar panels on their homes. The problem is that a lot of homeowners associations don’t allow it.

Turning a home built in 1929 into a marvel of the 21st century is no easy task.

“I’m proud of the fact that I have collectors,” said University of Houston architecture professor Charles Tapley, who is adding solar panels to his Montrose area house.

> Watch Now

Business types, evidently, feel they know all they need to know about Tempe, Ariz., firm First Solar, a nine-year old company being called “the Google of solar.” In a year and a half, investors drove its stock price up from $25 to $250. But aside from reports that this year’s sales are projected to hit $1 billion, what exactly do they know?

The company is highly secretive about its innovations, it seems, going so far as to refuse to speak with journalists. Now, an in-depth story in IEEE Spectrum Online attempts to get to the bottom of how, as the journal says, “within five years, this company’s thin-film solar cells could compete with coal.”

First Solar uses cadmium telluride (CdTe) rather than silicon, and the thin CdTe films it manufactures are a hundredth the thickness of silicon solar material and take a tenth as long to produce — advantages that could offset the fact that they aren’t as efficient as conventional silicon devices at turning sunlight into electricity. And the company is churning them out: The story’s author Richard Stevenson reports they’re on their way to having an annual production capacity of “just over 1 gigawatt by 2009.” (By comparison, the Mitsubishi solar production expansion we just reported on here hopes to hit three-fifths of that capacity by 2012.)

Stevenson’s article gets impressively technical on the second and third pages, doing detective work with industry analysts to guess at the exact nature of First Solar’s new processes, and wraps up with a list of competing companies and other technologies (using multiple substances to capture more sunlight, for example) that could outpace First Solar’s impressive rise.

But for casual readers, all this is just support for the bold claims on the first page that: “…analysts agree that [First Solar] will very likely meet typical grid-parity prices” within two to four years.

Translated that means the company will offer a product that will cost roughly $1-per-watt cell price, matching the cost of other forms of electricity “in developed countries”.

Unfortunately, these groundbreaking panels aren’t currently being sold to the public. First Solar is keeping plenty busy meeting the demand of solar farm operators and corporations who want them on factory rooftops.

Copyright © 2008 | Distributed by Noofangle Media

By Nima Kapadia

An enormous recreation center in Flagstaff, Ariz., is taking advantage of the state’s sunny weather to warm two indoor and outdoor body slides, a family whirlpool and a three-lane lap pool: about 100,000 gallons.

The Aquaplex Recreation Center will use a 70-panel solar heating system for its multiple pools in a facility that is larger than 51,000 square feet. 

Novan Solar Inc. of Golden, Colo., provided the turnkey solar thermal system. The company’s founder and president, Jacob Futro, said in a statement: “Their (the city of Flagstaff’s) adoption of solar energy demonstrates a real commitment to their patrons, taxpayers and the environment.”

The Aquaplex’s heating system, which will generate 92 million BTUs of energy each year. More than 60 tons of carbon dioxide will also be offset, which is the equivalent of:

• Energy use in 11 passenger cars
• 140 barrels of oil
• 6,810 gallons of gasoline
• Electricity use in 8 homes

Novan is one of the largest providers of solar heating in the Southwest. In addition to Aquaplex, the company built a 144-solar panel water heating system for the North Boulder Recreation Center in Colorado and 70-panel system for the New Erie Colorado Recreation Center. Novan also has projects pending in Utah and New Mexico.

For more information on the Aquaplex Recreation Center, which will also feature amenities such as a gymnasium, dance room and climbing wall, visit the City of Flagstaff’s website.