PV: Solar Panels Give Power to The People

[brucedp@iname.com]

NEWS 
Solar Panels Give Power to The People / Electricity crisis spurs new 
interest 
Bernadette Tansey, Marshall Wilson 
01/28/2001 
The San Francisco Chronicle 
FINAL 
B1 
(Copyright 2001) 

Rising PG&E rates make you feel powerless? 

Not Norman Pease. 
Two years ago he installed a 10-kilowatt solar panel system on his 
Orinda roof and now watches his meter run backward on sunny days. His 
huge 40-panel system provides all the juice for his 11-room house and 
charges the batteries of his electric-powered Honda. 

Pease is typical of the California homeowners who took the state 
up on a 1998 offer to subsidize the purchase of residential solar 
equipment. A well-heeled retiree strongly motivated by environmental 
concerns, Pease didn't necessarily need his solar panels to yield a 
quick financial payoff. 

Even with the state assistance, the cost of an average home solar 
system is steep -- about $14,000 -- and until recently was projected 
to take 15 years or longer to pay for itself. Only a few hundred 
people signed up in the first couple of years. 

But the economics of energy in California may soon make solar 
power an affordable option for mainstream consumers. Already, with 
rolling blackouts and the prospect of soaring electricity costs, 
homeowners of more modest means are flooding solar power companies 
with inquiries. 

State rebates to cut the cost of the systems by 30 percent are 
being renewed, and the state's Energy Commission is considering more 
favorable terms. Solar industry trade groups and environmentalists 
are lobbying the state to force utilities to buy the excess 
electricity a home-based system pumps back into the state's grid. 

That means a homeowner with a solar system could, in theory, turn 
a profit. 

All in all, the deregulation debacle could turn out to be the best 
thing that ever happened to solar power in California. 

"Three thousand more systems like this," said Chris Beekhuis, a 36- 
year-old San Jose resident with solar panels on his roof, "and it 
would get the state over the hump" from the energy crunch. 

Beekhuis, vice president of engineering at efinance.com, is no 
back-to-nature hippie. He has an espresso machine, laptop computer, 
microwave, cell phone, halogen lighting and the rest of the 
accoutrements of the 21st century. 

He considers his 2.2-kilowatt solar system, which cost $13,000 
after state and federal rebates, a sound investment for the 
environment. But even ardent backers of solar say the cost, red tape 
with utilities and the state, and shortage of incentives pose major 
hurdles to widespread solar use. 

"You need stubborn people like us to go first and sort out the 
details for everyone else," said Richard Eckman, a 38-year-old 
mechanical engineer who shares the San Jose home with Beekhuis. 

Although more than 560 systems have been installed or are in the 
pipeline through the state rebate program, California consumers have 
used less than a fifth of the $54 million authorized through 2002. 
But a growing number are giving solar a try. 

In sun-drenched San Diego, where utility rates first shot through 
the roof last year, more homeowners have purchased solar systems with 
the state rebate since June than had signed up in the first two years 
of the program. 

And a major national builder, Shea Homes, has just announced plans 
to put solar electrical generators in all its new housing 
developments in San Diego. 

In the Bay Area, solar power firms like Concord's Light Energy 
Systems are training new workers to keep up with the demand. The 
firm's business has doubled over the past year, and could double 
again in 2001, company spokesman Burke O'Neal said. 

"I can't really imagine a better time to be in the solar 
business," O'Neal said. 

Karen Campbell and her husband, Duane, started the company 20 
years ago. They have seen government subsidies wax and wane, and have 
had to ride out the changes by diversifying their business to include 
services like solar pool heating. 

Karen Campbell is reluctant to take on panicky customers now 
asking about solar systems solely to avoid high utility costs. She 
doesn't want them to regret installing a system later if state 
regulations and market changes restore lower rates from utilities and 
reduce the financial advantages of a home solar generator. 

Like Pease, one of Light Energy's customers, many of the firm's 
clients choose solar because they relish declaring independence from 
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and want to help wean the region from 
pollution-causing energy. 

At Beekhuis' and Eckman's modest San Jose home, solar cells that 
convert sunlight to electricity rise a few inches off their sloping 
roof. No shade -- not even a stray tree branch or utility line -- 
crosses the panels to prevent them from operating at peak efficiency. 

Beekhuis and Eckman hose off the panels about once a week, the 
only maintenance needed. If their use exceeds the power generated, 
they draw electricity from the power grid, like any other customer. 

But when generation exceeds demand, their meter literally runs 
backward, pumping electricity into the grid. In the evening, they can 
draw power from the grid with credit for what their system supplied 
during the day. 

Under California law, a utility may buy the excess energy produced 
by a home-based solar generator. But utilities don't have to -- and 
PG&E doesn't. It takes the excess energy for free. 

That burns Eckman. 

"I think the law should go farther to say they should pay for the 
excess power, not because I want the money but because it would 
encourage others," Eckman said. 

Harold Hirsch, a PG&E analyst, said that wouldn't make financial 
sense for the company. Only 170 PG&E customers are enrolled with the 
utility both to use and generate power. The company would need to 
hire extra people to keep track of billing and credits and to 
register the electricity with the state power exchange, he said. 

"It becomes prohibitively expensive for us," he said. "There's a 
lot of overhead," while the amount of excess energy produced is 
small. 

Advocates for solar power counter that the utility has no problem 
keeping track of every bit of electricity or gas used. 

A state law that took effect Jan. 1 does require utilities to give 
those with solar generation greater credit on their accounts for 
producing electricity during the day, when demand is highest. 

But it is the state rebate program, along with soaring rates, that 
may finally spread solar among average consumers. 

The state Legislature in October extended the rebate program for 
10 years, drawing on a fee added to utility consumers' bills. The 
Energy Commission is considering greater breaks for consumers than 
the current rebate, which cuts $6,000 off the cost of a fairly modest 
$20,000 system. 

Solar advocates are submitting suggestions to make home systems 
even more attractive. Their ideas include low-interest financing, 
better outreach to make people aware of the benefits of solar power, 
and a mechanism to pay customers if they generate more power than 
they use. 

Matt Freedman, an attorney for the Utility Reform Network, a 
consumer group, is lobbying for more incentives that would prompt 
large commercial users to install solar panels. 

"We think the law is working but it doesn't go far enough," he 
said. 

Regardless of utility rates, the state could create an extra 
incentive for investment in clean renewable energy by offering a 
premium fee for every kilowatt of solar-generated power, said Ed 
Eaton of Solar Energy International in Colorado. Germany and Japan, 
which are aggressively encouraging home solar power, are offering 
such premiums. 

For his part, Pease is considering doubling his solar capacity in 
Orinda so he can power two more of his three electric vehicles from 
home at a fixed rate that will not change with inflation, fuel prices 
or market forces. 

"It's like buying stock in the stock market," Pease said. "If you 
do good, you've never bought enough." 

----------------------------------------------GOING SOLAR 

The California Energy Commission says interest in solar power 
systems is starting to climb in the Bay Area because of soaring 
utility rates.CHART: 

-- An average-size solar system for a 1,500-square-foot home 
provides 
enough power for: Refrigerator Continuous Lights 6 
hours/day Washing machine 1 load/day Dishwasher 1 load/ 
day Color TV 4 hours/day Computer 3 hours/day 
Stereo 3 hours/day Vacuum cleaner 1 hour/week Hair 
dryer 1 hour/week Microwave 10 min/day 

This table represents just over half the energy use of the average 
household without the use of such energy-saving measures as 
fluorescent lights.Information on obtaining state rebates for solar 
power is available from the California ommission at (800) 555-7794, 
or www.energy.ca.gov/greengridSource: California Energy Commission 

PHOTO (2), CHART: SEE END OF TEXT; 
Caption: (1) Norman Pease cleans the photovoltaic cells on his roof 
that power his Orinda home and charge the batteries in his <WCHL>electric</WCHL> 
<WCHL>car</WCHL>. / Lance Iversen/The Chronicle, (2) Chris Beekhuis (left) and 
Richard Eckman showed the control system for the solar electric 
installation that supplies their San Jose home. / Kim Komenich/The 
Chronicle 
 ...
 http://www.sfgate.com/    chronletters@sfgate.com
SFGate Editorial Director, George Shirk  gshirk@sfgate.com
Copyright The San Francisco Chronicle/Examiner. All rights
reserved.Fax# 415-512-8196, SF Editor: William German, 901 Mission
St.,SF,CA 94103, Tel# 415-777-1111  Vmenu tree,use #4 for City desk
 ---
{Statements may not  ____  be my Employer's}    Nonprofit activities:
BruceDP@iname.com  ~/__|o\__           http://members.aol.com/BruceDP
132V S-10 Blazer   '@----- @'---(= Get Amp'd      EV List Editor
'Electric cruis'n the Santa Clara Valley'  Renewable Energy (RE) News
                % Use RE to Charge your EV %

---------------------------------------------------
Get free personalized email at http://iaf.iname.com
-*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*
To unsubscribe send an email to majordomo@crest.org with the following
command in the body of the message:
unsubscribe pvusers
Email the list administrator at: owner-pvusers@crest.org
List sponsored by CREST/REPP
http://solstice.crest.org/   http://www.repp.org/