Solar Cells Info

By Cody Kraatz, Bay Area News Group / Jan 2, 2008
Source: San Jose Mercury News
http://www.mercurynews.com/localnewsheadlines/ci_7865498?nclick_check=1

A group of residents is trying to put the sun in Sunnyvale and turn the city into a sea of rooftop photovoltaic panels and solar water heaters with a grassroots group-buy program. “The whole purpose for our group is to maximize and accelerate the adoption of solar energy,” said James Tuleya, a Sunnyvale Cool Cities Team leader spearheading the solar program, which is also hosting a series of educational seminars.

Tuleya, who does not yet have solar himself, added that people should consider solar water heaters if their electricity bill is already low.  “Everybody’s looking at today’s energy prices and trying to decide whether or not it’s cost-effective to go solar, and one thing I think is real clear is that today’s energy prices are no indicator of tomorrow’s energy prices,” said Dan Hafeman, a Cool Cities member. He installed a 1.5 kw system one year ago.

While Foster City-based SolarCity is the only company Tuleya found with a formal community buying program, Los Gatos-based Akeena Solar and San Luis Obispo-based REC Solar have also entered the fray with their own offerings, creating some significant price reductions. “The solar market is competitive in every market,” said Bruce Karney, SolarCity community programs manager, noting that solar companies distinguish themselves through their own financing, services and technology offerings. For example, they offer different levels of monitoring services, and most will take care of the state rebates as a courtesy, rather than requiring customers to pay first and wait for the refund.

“The community model really was pioneered here in the Bay Area and has been outstandingly successful, and we’re exporting it to Southern California,” said Karney.  Here’s SolarCity’s deal: If the Sunnyvale community, including residents, businesses and government entities, buys 100 kw worth of solar panels by the end of February, buyers will qualify for a $7.20 per watt installation cost, said Karney.

SolarCity normally charges $8.03 per watt, which is about the market rate. Buyers can also get the deal by signing a contract within 14 days of receiving a quote. Karney, who was hired after organizing a similar grassroots group-buy effort in Mountain View in February, said that with the average home needing a 3 kW system, about 33 customers would have to sign up, unless a big business bought a big system.

Akeena Solar is offering a $6.95 per watt installation deal, said Jeff Watt, an Akeena design consultant, compared to the normal $8 to $8.50. Akeena is offering the cut rate on inventory it wants to sell because it is moving to a newer technology, said Louis LaLonde, Akeena general manager. “We are kind of playing their game against them,” he said.

REC Solar, which has an office on Kifer Road and has installed systems for Costco, is charging the industry standard of $8, with no price reductions right now, said Kent Halliburton, Bay Area sales manager. However, Sunnyvale resident Jan Boehm said she was interested in its partnership with a company that reduces the cost of the 2 kw system she wants by 50 percent.

Confusing
This should make for a great time to buy solar, right? Maybe, but it might take a lot of questions and comparisons. For example, some of the solar salesmen claim that the average solar installation can add $20,000 to the value of a home. Not so fast, said Mark Burns, president of the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors in Cupertino.

“They add perceived value, but not a lot. It’s in the eye of the beholder,” he said, adding that very environmentally conscious people might pay more for a home with solar, but “there’s no rate for it.” He is planning to put solar panels on his own home but expects them to add only half of what they cost to put in to his house value, in part because the annual energy savings is relatively low.

“It’s a lot of work because you’ve got to think about it a lot and you’ve got to compare…more than three vendors,” said Boehm, 73, a retiree who has quotes from three of the solar companies and is mostly motivated by economics. “The more times I talk to them, the more questions I seem to have.” She is seriously considering a 2.4 kw system from REC Solar for $18,600 before a $4,437 state rebate, or about $7.14 per watt.

She said she would really like to see a city-assisted solar buying program, such as the city of Berkeley recently initiated, through which residents can borrow the $15,000 to $25,000 installation cost and then pay it back over time through property taxes. The Sunnyvale City Council will be looking into that and other ideas in January.