Feb
22
Rhone Resch, President and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, has pointed out that with Congress back in session it is important that we all make a big push to get Americans to sign the Solar Bill of Rights.
Tags: Congress, Rhone Resch, SEIA, solar activism, solar bill of rights, Solar Energy Industries Association | 
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Comments (0) Feb
18
Yesterday, we attended a sold-out Smart Grid event that was sponsored by CommNexus-San Diego, a non profit network of communication and defense industry companies. While the event itself lasted 90 minutes, you had the feeling that everyone in attendance would have stayed a couple more hours to have all their questions answered. The fascinating thing is that the development of the Smart Grid is essential, while at the same time being confronted with maddening obstacles. Logic-be-damned politics is at the center of many of these obstacles, posing the question: Will we have the political will to overcome them all?
There is so much that can be said about the Smart Grid. It has so many components and aspects. For now, I’ll try to keep it simple. First off, from a very high point-of-view, the Smart Grid is simply about consumer empowerment. The more a consumer knows about his or her own consumption, the more likely he or she will be willing to alter behavior to save money. More importantly, without a Smart Grid the power distribution system will be unable to sustain the projected growth in energy demand. Using a Smart Grid, consumers will be charged premium rates for energy usage during peak-demand time periods and lower, discounted rates during low-usage periods. Existing energy grids are old and antiquated.They must be built to accommodate the highest required volumes for peak-usage periods. Put in other words, the capacity of the existing energy grid is largely unused because consumer usage varies widely throughout a day and in different seasons of the year.
The introduction and wide-scale adoption of electric vehicles (EV) will further challenge the capacity of existing energy grids. A single EV requires more than 6 kW over a 3 hour period to re-charge. This is more energy consumption than than the average-sized home. Imagine what effect a mass migration from gas service stations to plug-in electric re-chargers could have on an already maxed-out grid.
As has been the case in the wireless industry, there are no Smart Grid industry standards. We heard that San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) uses Zigbee and Z-Wave for their in-house wireless network, but the panel of experts agreed that there likely will ever be any such industry standards. Will this slow down the Smart Grid development?
Incorporating renewable energy that is generated withing the grid itself seems to be the biggest no-brainer of all in the discussion about Smart Grid development. When I think of in-grid renewable energy, I see photovoltiac panels on the roofs of an entire community. I see these solar panels funded by PACE programs (California AB811), companies like SunRun or by the utilities themselves. If we increase the capacity of energy generation closest to the point of usage, we significantly reduce the cost of building infrastructure – a major savings to consumers. But I was shocked and amazed to hear that in the state of California the renewable energy program DOES NOT INCLUDE residential roof-top or ground-mount solar when calculating how much of a utility’s energy is green and how much is fossil-based. In other words, there is no incentive for the utilities in California to vigorously pursue the development distributive solar energy generation.
While there seems to be strong legislative consensus that renewable energy is the way to go, there are other similar legislative obstacles to getting there. I’ve written about some already at this blog site: a solar bill of rights, innovative financing, national net metering, grassroots advocacy and, probably most importantly, general consumer ignorance and apathy. If you add to this list feed-in-tariffs and shifting government subsidies from fossil fuels to renewables, we’re really talking about a uniform national energy program that would be essential for national security. Such an ambitious concept brings up the age-old debate of states rights (and autonomy) versus Federal rights.
At the event yesterday, this point was driven home clearly. Tom Blialek, Chief Smart Grid Engineer for SDG&E, stated that the California PUC program to create more green energy would result in 150MW of wind power being created in the Imperial Valley of California. Since wind energy is generally created at night and energy storage technology is still being developed, it will be necessary to order these windmills to be shut down, as is the current practice in Europe. This raised the question: why not sell excess energy across state lines rather than shut the windmills down? The answer was symbolic of the whole area of Smart Grid and renewable energy development: while the question makes a lot of logical and practical sense, from a political stand-point, there are too many issues to get sorted out before a national or world-wide smart grid will be able to happen.
This is why we must build the solar tribe. This is why we must have meetups in our areas. This why we need to do what we can to get our communities involved. This why we need to blog, tweet and use social media to inform and involve others. The power to outsmart the obstacles is in our hands. It’s an exciting time to be alive.
Tags: AB811, CommNexus-San Diego, electric vehicles, EV, Michael Powers, national net metering, PACE, San Diego Gas & Electric, SDG&E, Smart Grid, solar bill of rights, solar fred, Tom Blialek | Comments (0)
Comments (0) Oct
30
I just got back from the Solar Power International show. Wow, what a great three days. So many good things to cover in the next few blogs. Today, I want to share the Solar Bill of Rights which was presented by Rhone Resch, President and CEO of SEIA. In a message of industry unity that was later complemented by calls for exerting political by New Mexico Govenor Richardson, Rhone laid out eight amendments of the Solar Bill of Rights and then stated, “We declare these rights not on behalf of our companies, but on behalf of our customers and our country. We seek no more than the freedom to compete on equal terms and no more than the liberty for consumers to choose the energy source they think best. These rights, like those on which country was founded, are a simple matter of common-sense. In fact, you might even call them ’self-evident.’ But that doesn’t mean they’re self-evident in the halls of power, especially when our opponents are pumping as much haze into the energy debate as they are into the environment.”
So here it is, in Rhone’s own words:
Solar Bill of Rights.
First Amendment: Americans have the right to put solar on their homes or businesses. Today’s systems beautify and add value to communities and homes, and yet antiquated rules prevent many homes and businesses from going solar. From restrictive covenants to onerous connection, permitting and inspection fees these rules create fundamental barriers to solar. Utilities should not be allowed to restrict green power with red tape.
Second Amendment: Americans have the right to connect their solar system to the grid with uniform national standards. This is as simple as creating a standard jack for telephones. Can you imagine buying a phone in Nevada and bringing it home to California and finding out it doesn’t fit into the wall jack? Other industries don’t stand for this and neither should we.
Third Amendment: Consumers have the right to Net Meter and be compensated at the very least with full retail electricity rates. Call this solar’s eminent domain—utilities use the power we make, and we expect to be compensated at its actual value. This is not just the cost, but the true value of solar including our security benefits, peak power benefits and environmental benefits – as well as the true price for carbon.
Fourth Amendment: The Solar Power Industry has the right to a fair competitive environment. It’s the most basic right there is—equality under the law. Today, solar has anything but. And that’s not just an opinion, that’s a fact. From 2002 to 2008, federal subsidies for fossil fuels were $72 billion while solar received less than $1 billion. This is completely disconnected with the desires of the American people. Recent independent polling shows that 92% of the public supports greater use of solar. And yet taxpayers are forced to subsidize companies like ExxonMobil, companies that are the richest in the history of the world. It’s that simple—and that wrong. Subsidies aren’t the only issue of fairness, which leads me to number 5.
Fifth Amendment: We also have the right to equal access to public lands. Oil and natural gas companies are operating on 45 million acres of public lands. Today, solar companies have access to ZERO. America has the best solar resources in the world and we can’t harness the full potential of the sun without accessing our sun-baked lands of the West. Of course, there’s little point in collecting energy unless there’s a means of distributing it.
Sixth Amendment: We have the right to interconnect and build new transmission lines. Here, too, we seek no more than what other industries already have. The next great build out of our transmission lines must connect the vast solar resources in the southwest to the population centers across the United States.
Seventh Amendment: Americans must have the right to buy solar electricity from our utilities. Consumers have no choice but to buy power from utilities. Although recently some utilities have started to listen to the 92 percent of Americans who want them to prioritize a kilowatt of power drawn from the sun over any other energy source. We have a long way to go. Therefore, for any renewable portfolio standard to be effective, at either the federal or state level, it must contain a large carve out for all solar energy technologies.
Eighth Amendment: Consumers have the right, and should expect, the highest ethical treatment from the solar industry. From minimizing our impact on the environment to providing systems that work better than advertized to ensuring that we accurately communicate how incentives work for consumers, our industry must operate at a higher ethical standard than any other. We will not stand for those who cheat, lie and take advantage of the good name of solar energy.
We declare these rights not on behalf of our companies, but on behalf of our customers and our country. We seek no more than the freedom to compete on equal terms and no more than the liberty for consumers to choose the energy source they think best. These rights, like those on which country was founded, are a simple matter of common-sense. In fact, you might even call them “self-evident.”
But that doesn’t mean they’re self-evident in the halls of power, especially when our opponents are pumping as much haze into the energy debate as they are into the environment.
Jul
21
Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of one of the most inspiring collective human achievements in history. It’s etched in our memories or, if we weren’t born yet, we all know the famous words behind this achievement: “Tranquility Base. The Eagle has landed,” and “That’s one small step for man…one giant leap for mankind.” More importantly, less than 10 years earlier, a President incredibly challenged our nation “to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade.” At the time he uttered those words, there were so many reasons that it couldn’t be done. It was impossible, but yet he made the declaration, not because it would be easy, but because it was a challenge.And on the 40th anniversary of the accomplishment of this impossible feat, the Apollo 11 astronauts were paraded in front of the press. They were guests at the Oval Office, where President Obama praised NASA, fortunately, without getting into specifics about future plans, while at Cape Canaveral these astronauts and their colleagues complained that there should be more support and commitment to go to Mars.
Eugene Cernan, the last astronaut on the moon in 1972, told a news conference at NASA headquarters that the nation could “recapture the kind of spirit” that infused the risk-taking, cutting-edge Apollo program. “We had to accept challenges, we had to be bold, we had to take risks, we had to make sacrifices,” Cernan said.
The world’s priorities today are very different from what they were in the ’60’s, but the spirit and example set by NASA and the 30 or so astronauts like Cernan is exactly what the solar tribe should embrace today. There have been numerous blogs comparing the challenge of putting a man on the moon in the ’60’s to that of bringing our climate under control today. There have also been members of the solar tribe taking action to bring this analogy into the publics conscience. In the blog entry below this one, I have posted a letter from RePower America which plays to the same line of thinking.
The point is: we’ve done this before. Then it was “man on the moon in 10 years.” Today it’s “Reduce CO2 dramatically in 10 years.” This may not be a universally popular idea at the moment. It may not even seem possible to some. But neither was “putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade” in 1961. And for those of us who remember living through that decade, it wasn’t like everybody was a part of the daily effort. There was political will and out of that came lots of jobs and technological breakthroughs that not only made it possible for Armstrong to step onto to the lunar surface that summer of ‘69, but also changed the way a generation lived, improving the quality of life.
Together, we stand with a passion toward something even more important than “man on the moon.” Are we just going to read about it and think about and take no action? What are we waiting for? What have we got to lose? Let’s celebrate the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11 by committing to ourselves and each other to renew the same political will that made that history possible. Political will is a renewable resource and it’s up to each one of us to bring it forth.
Tags: ACES, American Clean Energy and Security Act, Apollo 11, clean energy act, clean energy and climate legislation, green, NASA, Neil Armstrong, solar, solar tribe | Comments (0)
Comments (0) Jul
19
We just got back from an RFP Conference with Southern California Edison, followed by the InterSolar trade show. Aside from keeping us busy, the two events were thought-provoking.
At the SCE RFP Conference, I learned a lot about the limitations that current transmission capacity has on expanding solar and wind power. SCE intends to purchase 250MW of renewable energy from pr
ivate sources under PPA arrangements. one of the major criteria in awarding contracts will be interconnectivity. Much of their power grid is pretty close to being maximized. At the Intersolar show, we saw many, many German, Spain and China companies who are highly motivated to break into the U.S. solar market. One exhibitor had taped a handwritten sign that said “Solar Panels $1.50/Wp.” Although the name of the exhibitor did not sound like that of a solar company, it was an example of how competitive things are getting for the “have nots” in the industry.
All of this got me to thinking about the pilot rooftop program that Duke Energy announced several weeks ago, where they plan to rent rooftops of their customers and install PV solar modules, thereby creating a distributive solar energy capability. There are other utilities around the country who have announced similar programs. It makes a lot of sense. And while they’re at it, why not take advantage of potential new entrants into the U.S. market, thereby keeping the cost down?
There are very good companies, such as CEEG and Best Solar, offering top quality solar panels, offering insured warranties, who would make compelling bids to get their panels on the Duke Energy or other utility rooftops. And there are companies like WholeSolar, who could facilitate these types of deals and help to select qualified installers at the best prices to do the installations.
It makes too much sense. This will clearly be one of the paths to solar energy ubiquity.
Labels: Best Solar, CEEG, Duke Energy, InterSolar, PPA, SCE, solar, solar 101, Southern California Edison, whole-solar, wholesolar
Tags: Best Solar, CEEG, Duke Energy, InterSolar, PPA, SCE, solar, solar 101, Southern California Edison, whole-solar, wholesolar | Comments (0)
Comments (0) Jul
8
In an earlier blog post, I shared about California AB560 a net metering bill being considered by the California state senate. The bill moved through the California Senate Energy Committee 9-1 yesterday, but still has a couple of critical votes to clear. This is an important bill for at least three reasons that I can think of. First, its passage will further open up the solar residential and commercial market. Second, its passage is essential in order for another bill, AB920 (a bill that is about creating fairness within California’s solar market and about spurring ever greater consumer interest in investing in solar power bringing with it important environmental and economic benefits to the state) to pass, bringing a little more logic and sanity to solar energy policy. Finally, I believe that the nation looks to California as a leader in energy and climate control legislation.
A national net metering policy would make a lot of sense. It sets up the classic debate about Federal government versus state’s rights, but the quality of the environment is clearly a national, if not global issue that begs for a national net metering policy. In addition, any energy policy that moves us away from fossil fuel energy is really a national security issue. There are many issues, where I argue passionately for state’s and local community rights and against big government, but this is not one of them.
The net metering issue is really quite simple: just think of being able to turn your electricity meter backwards when your solar panels generate power. Why should anyone be afraid of this? Clean energy channeled into the grid, thereby reducing the demand for energy that comes from other sources. We’re worried that we’ll convert to solar too fast? Now wouldn’t that be a nice problem to have?
A national net metering policy would perhaps have the effect of further accelerating the development of a national (intra-national) and international smart grid. Admittedly, this will take time, but in theory a global smart grid will solve one of the largest problems facing the industry: wasted energy…energy generated but not used. Until we develop advanced energy storage technologies or a global smart grid, this will remain a large cost item to the utility industry.
Clearly there are many issues facing us as we all work to make solar power mainstream. National net metering is one of the vital issues. It is important that we keep talking and blogging about it. Let’s join together and keep the drums pounding.
Tags: AB560, AB920, Al Gore, American Clean Energy and Security Act, California State Senate, clean energy and climate legislation, green, net metering, solar, solar power, Vote Solar Initiative | Comments (0)
Comments (0) Jun
30
It seems like things have been so busy lately, running the business, networking and rallying the solar tribe to go into action, that I have not had time to write the next blog. I want to pass along the letter I received today from Al Gore:
Dear Roy,
This Independence Day, we have a lot to celebrate — including a major victory for our planet.
The historic vote on the American Clean Energy and Security Act in the House of Representatives last Friday moves this bill to the Senate. Now, we must continue to build momentum and work for its passage.
Just as our founders struggled to achieve our nation’s independence, we must encourage our leaders to stand up to the entrenched special interests in another struggle of great historical importance — the fight for our energy independence.
Tell Senate leaders Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell that you support bold action on clean energy legislation. This July 4th, declare your energy independence and demand that they work to do the same in the Senate.
Declare your energy independence to Senators Reid and McConnell.
Today, our nation lives under the oppressive thumb of foreign oil, dirty energy and a climate crisis that could change life as we know it.
We are held hostage to volatile gas prices, as Americans send hundreds of billions of dollars overseas each year. This dependence on foreign oil leaves our nation vulnerable to unstable and hostile regimes, burdening our military and their families.
And our reliance on dirty energy continues to cost us — average annual household energy spending increased approximately $1,000 between 2001 and 2007.
It doesn’t have to be this way, and clean energy is the path we need. Add your voice and declare your energy independence now:
http://www.RepowerAmerica.org/declaration
Repowering America with clean energy can revitalize our economy by creating millions of clean energy jobs, stabilizing energy costs, strengthening our national security and addressing the climate crisis.
Show our Senate leaders that we mean business: stand together with us and demonstrate your support for change.
Our founders fought to live in a free nation — and they succeeded. The clean, prosperous and energy independent America we seek now and for future generations is closer than ever, but this legislation must succeed in the Senate.
That’s why I’m asking you to declare your energy independence to Senators Reid and McConnell today:
http://www.RepowerAmerica.org/declaration
Thanks for all you do,
Al Gore
As soon as I post this, I’m going to follow the links to declare my energy independence. What are you waiting for? Join me by taking action at RepowerAmerica.org
Tags: Al Gore, American Clean Energy and Security Act, clean energy and climate legislation, repower america, solar, solar power | Comments (0)
Comments (0) Jun
20
It’s time to change our culture, time to change our strategies, time to change our thinking about solar power. There are so many ways that we, as a culture, can change the way we think about solar power. In the weeks and months ahead, I hope to dive into as many new ideas as I can. Your feedback is very important. We are all in this together. The best thing that has happened in blogging about the solar tribe, is meeting new friends and colleagues who are each thinking along the same lines. Please feel free to shoot me your questions and ideas. My email is roy@whole-solar.com
In the last blog, I described the how Berkeley is leading the way in the municipal space, but there are other communities who are attempting to break new ground in this area. We can’t have a conversation about the emerging Solar Tribe efforts in the municipal space without talking about a non-profit organization known as the Vote Solar Initiative . Vote Solar’s website is a virtual hub of information about the status of these various municipal programs. Vote Solar’s mission is to stop global warming, foster economic development and increase energy independence by bringing solar energy into the mainstream. I couldn’t have said it better myself. Put in my own words, Vote Solar is part of our Solar Tribe, having earned one of the lead positions.
Working closely with other organizations, such as Solarnation, Vote Solar “is working at the state level to implement the necessary policies to build robust solar markets — and pave the way for a transition to a renewable energy economy.” In order to do this, they stay close to solar projects being developed and assist in identifying and removing roadblocks that stand in the way of the wide-scale adoption of solar energy.
Vote Solar has a great website, where you can become a member and financially support their vital work. One of the features of their site is that you can track the progress of various state and municipal solar projects. I’d like to briefly tell you about some of them.
There is no shortage of project in the San Francisco Bay area, In addition to Berkeley, Marin, San Francisco, Oakland and Richmond have all been getting in on the act and staking out success in their respective programs. Back 2001, San Francisco approved a $100 million bond initiative calling for the city to borrow money for solar panels and energy efficiency measures for public buildings. The money that would have gone to buy electricity from power plants instead goes to pay down the debt. Just last week, the City authorized a 10-year solar incentive program for city residents and businesses. Under the program, which is called GoSolarSF, the city offers incentives ranging from $3,000-6,000 for residential installations and up to $10,000 for commercial installations. Program funding is generated by revenues from public power generation sales. In Oakland, Vote Solar worked with the city council too prepare a request for proposal to purchase a megawatt of solar energy (Vote Solar has made available a lot of valuable resource material that other cities can use and not have to “reinvent the wheel”).
This last March, Richmond City Council voted unanimously to support a goal of developing 5 megawatts of solar photovoltaics on municipal, commercial and residential buildings by 2010. In Marin, city officials put solar panel systems on their own buildings and have identified local business owners with solar-friendly roof-space, and are educating them about the benefits of solar. And that’s just the Bay area!
San Diego, New Mexico, Hawaii and the California State university system each have initiatives calling for the installation of solar power. The point to all of this is that it is up to each one of us to become aware of the efforts and initiatives going on in our communities, use the resources available to the tribe and take the actions to push the progress forward. Solar makes sense in so many different ways and there is an army of us available to help in the push.
Labels: Marin, Oakland, Richmond, San Diego, San Francisco, solar, solar 101, solar power, Solarnation, Vote Solar Initiative
Tags: Marin, Oakland, Richmond, San Diego, San Francisco, solar, solar 101, solar power, Solarnation, Vote Solar Initiative | Comments (0)
Comments (0) Jun
19
When we’re having a conversation about the goal of solar power ubiquity, the conversation HAS to be about innovations. It’s a conversation that must include ideas previously considered outside-the-box. I have a dear friend who is always reminding me, “to get to a place we’ve never been before, we have to go a way we’ve never gone before.” The city of Berkeley is pioneering a new approach to municipal financing that has become known as “Berkeley FIRST.” It’s such a simple idea. It makes me wonder two things: “why did it take so long for someone to think of it?” and “why aren’t more municipalities grabbing the idea and making it their own?”
With this program in place, homeowners in Berkeley are able to go solar without paying high upfront costs. No barrier to entry! They pay for the solar panel system through their property taxes. The money to purchase and install the solar panel system comes from bonds, not the city’s operating funds. It’s as clean as a whistle. Viola, a solar powered community!
The long name for this program is the “Berkeley Financing Initiative for Renewable and Solar Technology” (if you look closely, you’ll see how they came to “Berkeley FIRST”). Under the terms of the program, property owners can roll the price of a residential solar system installation into a twenty-year increased property tax assessment. Berkeley authorizes bonds to cover the costs of the installations. Both bond holders and property owners participate voluntarily, while the community as a whole has the potential of dramatically increasing the penetration of residential solar systems, thereby removing both the culture and financing barriers discussed in earlier blogs.
This financing innovation is totally outside-the-box. Wide-scale adoption of this model would significantly accelerate our advance toward solar power ubiquity. “Not so fast, Daniel-San” you say? OK, let’s all quickly agree that Berkeley is not your normal, run-of-the-mill community. A few years before, Berkeley voters had adopted a climate change goal and was not progressing at a pace that was fast enough to achieve it. City officials were smart enough to see the same thing that we see everywhere when it comes to solar power, namely, that high up-front costs represented a significant barrier for even the most willing property owner to overcome. As is the case more and more across America, the willingness and awareness was there, but the financial ability was not. So the City officials came up with the idea of issuing taxable municipal bonds which will be reimbursed as the opt-in property owners pay their property tax bills bi-annually over the next twenty years.
Once the City officials had figured out the concept, the politicking (er, “public policy”) began. Suffice to say, there are a lot of details: creation of special improvement districts, new ordinances (for example, to transfer of property tax assessment obligation to new home buyer when property is sold), city council, city staff, bond counsel and financial advisors, to name a few. How exactly they did it is available publicly to any community that wishes to follow there footsteps. And I understand that many are looking at it.
Most important is that it works. The pilot project has been successful, the interest rates work for both home owner and bond holder and the budget has now been expanded. Berkeley has authorized up to $80 million in total bond financing. Here’s the good news: With a few changes to state law, the FIRST model can be adopted by any city. This is where we come in: we need to keep supporting any and all efforts along these lines. There are several other municipal projects in the works that I’ll cover in my next blog. It makes so much sense that this is one of major routes to solar power ubiquity.
The Berkeley FIRST program also shows that there is money available to finance solar power, if the deal is well thought out and properly structured. There are more examples of this point that I’ll be discussing in future blogs.
Jun
16
Last week, a few of us were bouncing ideas back and forth on Twitter. We were talking about the obstacles preventing ubiquity of solar power in both the residential and commercial areas. Lack of financing, of course, came up. So did the issue of different states and municipalities offering incentives, not to mention varying or even non-existent net metering rules. Jeff Wolfe of groSolar tweeted, “Financing and culture are the two biggest hurdles.” I understood and agreed with financing, but I wasn’t sure what he meant by “culture.” Jeff quickly set me straight, “Culture. Getting people to think about energy, or a future — that requires concerted effort. Changing people’s thoughts on what is valuable.” I got it load and clear.
Jeff is the CEO of groSolar, one of the fastest growing solar companies in America. He has put together a great team of professionals and recently acquired Borrego Solar’s residential operations. In addition to that, Jeff is one of the good guys in the industry. His point-of-view is to be much valued, as he is on the cutting edge of what’s happening in the industry. So when Jeff speaks, I listen. “Changing the Culture” is a pretty big order. How do we do that? What exactly is involved? Let’s try to break it down.
Well, to start with, the regular Joe or Jane on the street just isn’t thinking about energy. They aren’t thinking a whole lot about their future, or the future of their kids. But let’s keep the discussion just about Joe or Jane thinking about there own future. As I mentioned in my earlier blog, three years ago, I was right there with them. Fortunately for me, I got a wake-up call and jumped into action. So how do we wake up Joe and Jane? What does it take to make a cultural change? As Jeff stated, what is needed is “a concerted effort.” We’ve got to change “people’s thoughts on what is valuable.” Many years ago I heard Buckminster Fuller recommend that to bring about change it needed to be an “Each on, teach one” proposition. Hopefully, we can do this by many of us blogging and tweeting. I’m always in search of other blogs that further this cause and I have listed the ones I’ve found elsewhere on this page. Solar Fred has been blogging about how much sense it makes and how easy it is to “go solar.” He has a passion to which I can relate, he’s not on anyone’s payroll and integrity is just as important to him as going solar is. If you know some good blog sites, please shoot me an email at roy@whole-solar.com
Financing needs to be more readily available and easier to access. This is an area that holds great interest for me. I believe there are great investor opportunities to be had in solar in the down-market and I’m personally trying to put together some ideas that will be good to help change the culture. The 1BOG model of bringing community activism into the process to converting community energy to solar at a big purchase discount is definitely going to help change the culture in the communities they reach. The Berkeley First is another idea whose time has come, and more programs along these lines will advance the change in how we think of solar. The Duke Energy model of renting rooftops and installing solar panels has me scratching my head wondering why there are not more utilities following this course. I believe there are people like Mary Shields, and her new company UR Solar Power, who are focused on pushing the possibilities in this arena. All of these separate initiatives will undoubtedly make contributions to the change that is needed…and inevitable.
But for us, right on, let’s stay with the idea of “Each one, Teach on” or as I said in my last blog, “pass it on.” In the process, Joe and Jane will become more fully informed.