Developer Lennar Homes makes solar power standard for all new homes in Bay Area
By Barbara E. Hernandez
CONTRA COSTA TIMES / 22 Feb 2007
source: Contra Costa Times
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/local/states/california/16755975.htm
DANVILLE – One of the nation’s leading home builders pledged to install solar power systems in all its new homes in the Bay Area, representatives for Lennar Corp. said Wednesday. Lennar made the announcement at its upscale, all-solar development in the Milano housing community in Danville. Three other projects in San Ramon slated to open this year will be solar-powered. “Our marketing platform is that everything is included,” said Peter Beucke, vice president of the Bay Area division of Lennar. “So every home in Milano will come with a solar package. … It’s now a standard inclusion in our homes.”
Lennar and SunPower are part of the New Solar Homes Partnership, part of California’s Solar Initiative to install 400 megawatts of solar power in the next decade. The California Energy Commission offers incentives of $2.60 a watt for systems on new homes to promote solar energy. Homeowners also will gain a one-time $2,000 federal tax credit. “Historically, we’ve seen a low participation with solar in new home construction. It’s been less than 2 percent,” said David Hochschild, who co-heads the partnership.
Lennar also is planning one of the largest solar communities, 650 homes, in its WestPark and Fiddyment Farms developments in Roseville. “The state builds around 150,000 homes a year. If we can get more builders interested, we could see as many as half of new homes being solar in five years,” Hochschild said.
Bill Kelly, general manager of the new homes division of SunPower Corp. in Berkeley and who worked on Milano, said Lennar was interested in learning more about solar power projects.
“(Lennar was) investigating solar for the Sacramento and Bay Area divisions last year and decided about six months ago to make a huge investment. They were going to build solar communities now,” he said. “I think the New Solar Homes Partnership and the California Energy Commission incentives were part of the mix of getting Lennar to consider solar power.”
Les Lifter, vice president of marketing for Lennar, declined to say what the system cost on each house in Milano, but experts estimated the 2.3-kilowatt solar power systems placed on the development’s 77 homes probably cost $12,000 to $15,000 each and were cheaper than a typical residential system because of scale and volume.
Dan Ruble, a solar electric consultant for Diablo Solar Services Inc. in Martinez, said a similar system for a residential homeowner would cost about $20,000 with a rebate.
Milano looks no different from many other high-end developments in the Tri-Valley. It comes with standard maple cabinetry, granite counters, stainless steel appliances and homes larger than 3,000 square feet. But along with the roof-integrated solar electric system, it comes with an interactive digital electrical system, a 46-inch Sony Bravia flat-screen HDTV and a home automation system that controls things such as security, music, the thermostat and lighting. Also included are a pest-control system and an irrigation system that won’t water if it’s scheduled to rain. Prices for the homes on Wednesday ranged from $1.3 million to $1.5 million.
Putting solar energy into luxury homes is nothing new. Most of the solar systems integrated into new homes occurred in the higher-end markets of the East Bay and San Francisco. Ventana, Edenbridge Homes’ solar community of 47 homes in Vacaville, is one of the few solar projects that feature moderately priced homes, from $400,000 to $500,000, in the Bay Area.
“We’ve got to make solar accessible and affordable for home buyers at all income levels to be successful here,” Hochschild said. Paul Moreno, a spokesman for Pacific Gas & Electric Co., said homeowners who create more power than they use will receive a credit on their bill.
“You won’t be paid for any electricity, but you are using that credit to draw back from the grid at night when your system isn’t working,” he said. Moreno said that PG&E has 4,000 solar customers on net energy metering, up 4,000 from a year ago. All PG&E solar customers are required to pay a $5 connection fee each month.