PV: California Power Woes Give a Boost to Solar Energy Industry

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California Power Woes Give a Boost to Solar Energy Industry
Dana Hull

01/19/2001
KRTBN Knight-Ridder Tribune Business News: San Jose Mercury News -
California
Copyright (C) 2001 KRTBN Knight Ridder Tribune Business News; Source:
World Reporter (TM)

  SAN JOSE, Calif.--Power rate hikes and two days of rolling blackouts
have been a blessing for the state's solar energy industry.

  Solar companies have seen a surge of inquiries, and many contractors
who do solar installations are now booked solid for the next several
months.
  "People that have been thinking about going solar for a long time
needed this crisis to push them over the edge," said Andy Cazzato, the
owner of Santa Cruz Solar. "I'm telling people that if they wait too
much longer, they won't be able to find anyone to install their system."

  In San Rafael, the Solar Depot is hiring additional salespeople and
warehouse help. AstroPower, based in Delaware, opened a Concord office
last year and just targeted the Bay Area with mailers. And in Sunnyvale,
EcoEnergies has been bombarded with people who were referred by their
existing clients.

  "It's sort of like Y2K has come back -- it's an anxiety-driven
situation," said EcoEnergies president Pete Cary. "We are being run
ragged right now, which is great."

  State officials say that California's energy crisis has inspired a
fresh wave of consumers to explore solar energy.

  "We all take it for granted that the lights will always be there,"
said Sanford Miller of the California Energy Commission. "Now people are
realizing that may not be the case. People want control. We're getting a
lot of calls from people who are looking at solar as a way to stabilize
their electric bill."

  The power in Jim Kubon's San Jose neighborhood was disrupted so
frequently last summer that he took the plunge and bought a $40,000
solar system that should generate all the electricity needed at his East
Hills home.

  "I've been pretty annoyed with PG&E because my power keeps going off,"
said Kubon, who worried that power outages or surges would destroy his
computer and home electronics equipment.

  Last week, engineers from M C Solar, a Sunnyvale company, installed
photovoltaic panels on his roof. PV panels, which have become more
affordable at $135 to $700 apiece, are the most popular type of solar
power for the average homeowner. Mounted on rooftops, the panels absorb
sunlight and convert the sun's "direct current" into useable volts of
electricity with the help of an inverter. Battery backups are also
available to store electricity for future use.

  During the hours when the sun is blazing hot and strong, the Kubons
may get to watch as their power meters literally spin backward as
electricity is fed back into the beleaguered PG&E grid.

  "The PV systems tend to be more popular right now because of concerns
about blackouts," said M C Solar owner Mike Clifton. "We're putting them
in as fast as we can right now."

  In California, more than 8,000 solar energy enthusiasts are thought to
live "off-grid" -- or independent of any utility company. But most Bay
Area residents have what is known as "grid-ties," or solar electric
systems that feed into the PG&E power supply. The California Energy
Commission estimates that about 450 grid-tie systems are in place in the
state.

  Worldwide, sales of solar generators have become a $2.5 billion
market, said Paul Maycock, editor of "Photovoltaic News" in Virginia.
Grid-connected home power systems account for nearly one-third of the
U.S. market.

  Though the solar business is enjoying a bit of a boom right now,
expense remains the No. 1 obstacle to solar power truly becoming
mainstream. The cost of a solar electric system is still high, ranging
from $10,000 to up to $90,000 for some of the larger systems --
prohibitive for most Bay Area families.

  "People who buy a solar electric system don't just do it at the drop
of a hat," said Duane Campbell, the owner of Light Energy Systems in
Concord. "The investment itself takes a bit of research. You can't just
go buy a couple of solar panels and throw them up on your roof."

  Norm Rhett, a computer programmer for a small biotech firm, already
had an electric car and recently decided that he wanted solar power to
generate electricity in his San Ramon home. Rhett plans to charge his
car off of the PV panels recently installed in his backyard.

  "I've been worrying about global warming and resource depletion for a
long time," said Rhett. "California's energy crisis has strengthened my
interest."

  Many states provide a variety of rebates and incentives to subsidize
solar power. Although many consumers are not aware of it, the California
Energy Commission offers a "Buy Down Program" of cash rebates for buying
an eligible renewable energy system.

  Between December 1999 and December 2000, the CEC received 947 requests
for the rebate. But by Wednesday, the number had climbed to 1,053.

  "In the last three weeks we've gotten another 100 applications," said
Miller, the program's account manager.

  Solar industry executives have urged the state to more aggressively
market the Buy Down program as well as expand the size of the rebate
offered. The hope is that the cost of solar systems will come down
further as more are installed.

  "People are still having to pay a lot of out-of-pocket money to own
these systems," said Les Nelson, executive director of the California
Solar Energy Industries Association. "When prices go up for conventional
energy, it does very good things for the solar industry. But we need to
make it easier for families to own them."




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