http://lifestylemags.com/stories/Solar

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All the

R T S A S

Starting in the 1950s, more and more American homes had a contraption up on their roofs: the TV antennae. As we switched to digital TV, down they came. Yes, they’re almost all gone now in Coronado.

But something new is appearing up on the rooftops (and, no, it’s not St. Nick): solar cells are a lot more “low profile” than those gangly antennae. And these rooftop add-ons are bringing in energy to power more than just a TV — how about an entire house…and maybe more.

There are a lot of reasons why it’s the season for solar.

One of the major advantages of solar energy is that once the initial investment is paid for, the energy is mostly free: the sun doesn’t send out monthly bills. And if you’ve looked at your SDG&E bills lately, you’ll note they’ve made a steady progression upward, no matter how much you’ve tried to conserve energy.

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are Aligned for Solar

by Kris Grant Solar is also clean, meaning it doesn’t release pollutants into the air, nor does it damage the ozone. (Al Gore is nodding approval).

And it’s sustainable, meaning it will last a long time with minimal maintenance. You can always add solar panels to a system should you find you require more energy.

The average house in the United States uses about 866 kilowatt hours every month.

A 1-kilowatt solar panel generates about 5 kilowatts of energy a day, or about 150 kilowatts a month, about one-sixth of a home’s energy needs. So, you can figure, if you’re the occupant of an average home, that you’ll need about 5 solar panels. (But are we average in Coronado?)

There are no shortages of solar companies ready to sell you a system. But two in particular have local affiliates in Coronado: Planet Solar and Sullivan Solar.

Ben Siebert, owner of Planet Solar, is a second generation contractor, who has worked throughout the state of California, beginning in 1983 when the government had a “zero interest” program that paid for weatherization, insulation and double pane windows.

In 1998, he expanded into low-energy lighting, built a company around those patents, then sold it.

But now it’s back to solar. “There is no doubt about it,” Siebert said. “Now is the time for solar.”

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residential solar systems will pay for themselves. In essence, the amount you’ll likely pay to finance a solar system over a 15 or 20 year period will replace what you’d pay for your SDG&E bills.

Siebert explains: “First, there’s a 30 percent federal tax credit. Not a deduction, but a credit, straight off your taxes. A year ago it was capped at $2,000. Not anymore. So I called my customers and said, ‘You know that system you were on the fence about? Well, it just got about $6,000

make the environment the centerpiece of my administration and turn back the clock on pollution,” said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. “My Million Solar Roofs Plan will provide 3,000 megawatts of additional clean energy and reduce the output of greenhouse gasses by three million tons, which is like taking one million cars off the road.”

And it gets even sweeter. This past October, the Governator signed AB 920, which mandates that utility companies

cheaper because now you can carry the credit over.’ It’s good for people who are retired or who have an income but don’t need the credit. You can carry it forward five years or you can carry it backwards.”

And then there’s the state rebates, Siebert added, which range somewhere between 20 and 30 percent, depending on the size of the system.

Why is California giving out rebates, one might ask. It starts with the Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his Million Solar Roofs Plan.

“When I ran for governor, I vowed to

now have to write you a check if you own a solar power system that generates more electricity than you use and those surplus solar electrons are sent back to the grid for use by your neighbors.

Siebert said there is a practical side to the governor’s pro-environment plan.

“The Sierra Club will fight to stop any new hydroelectric projects; coal is a fourletter word, natural gas is expensive and nuclear is just not going to happen in this state. So where will the government get additional electricity?” asks Siebert.

“It will come from sunny Southern

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California,” he says. “The perfect place to go solar and instead of having huge solar plants in the desert and have to transport it, why not put it on people’s roofs where they are actually going to use that electricity? Only 20 percent of electricity in the U.S. is actually used; the rest is lost in transportation.

“Residential solar is perfect — you make it on the house and you use it in the house,” he said.

Planet Solar will soon be adding panels to the Valero Service Station at Fourth and Orange, an interesting client considering that it’s a company that distributes gasoline.

Solar installation

But according to Planet Solar’s local representative Katie Weiss, service stations are typically large energy users.

“They have several refrigerators, ice machines and freezers, and lights that need to operate 24 hours a day,” she said, noting that refrigerators are usually the greatest user of energy in a home as well.

David Iwashita, a member of the Iwashita family that has owned the Coronado service station for several decades, said his family has been considering solar panels for quite some time for

the station. “Planet Solar was able to outline all of the benefits of going solar,” Iwashita said. “And they offered us the highest quality products with very affordable pricing. We will definitely be working together with them.”

How much solar does a customer need?

Both solar companies say they will evaluate people’s bills, taking everything — their lifestyle, number of people in home, size of their roof and its orientation to the sun — and then present a custom system.

Both companies will design a system free of charge. Sullivan Solar holds seminars in Coronado to familiarize potential clients with the new tax incentives, state rebates and how solar works. With a company to make Coronado the first city in the nation to be a “100 percent solar powered” community, Sullivan also offers an additional in-house “Coronado Community Discount Program,” which is essentially a rebate to Coronado customers, depending on the amount of kilowatt hours achieved in certain buying periods, with three tiers offering discounts: 70 kilowatts, a 3.75 percent discount; 100 kilowatts, 6.25 percent; and 150 kilowatts, 8.75 percent. Phase One closed with 76.8 kilowatts on 20 homes.

One of the most interesting pieces of knowledge gleaned from attending a Sullivan Solar seminar was learning more about how SDG&E structures its energy bills. Baseline charges are only 12.5 cents per kilowatt; and the next tier is 14.5 percent. But watch out for tiers three and four, which jump to 31 cents and 33 cents respectively per kilowatt hour. The more you use, the higher your rate.

Planet Solar does not offer an in-house rebate, but “works to provide the most cost-effective system that is reliable,” says Siebert.

“There are hundreds of solar panel manufacturers,” Siebert said. “Of the 25 I’ve investigated, I use one that is the

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largest manufacturer in the world by twice any other system. They are the most innovative and technically astute engineering team in the industry. And for customers who prefer an American company, there is one that I recommend.

“What sets us about,” says Siebert of Planet Solar “is that all of our installers are 20-year plus licensed general contractors and we like to teach people how to be more energy efficient before we install the system.”

Siebert says that every dollar a person spends on energy efficiency saves them $4 in a solar system. “We’d rather have you spend less for a system, be happy customers and tell your friends about us than sell you more of a system than you need,” he said.

Siebert said that “Most likely if someone’s electricity bill is $80 to $100 or more per month, solar will pay for itself from day one.”

Where do we all sign up?

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