We’re not as far ahead as scientist predicted we’d be 20 years
ago (at least we haven’t seen any flying cars around these parts
lately), but California’s recent electrical crisis has sparked an
economically driven move toward green power. Solar is
cost-effective, clean and quiet
– pretty important if you’re going to be putting 500 to 600
square feet of solar paneling on your roof – the average size.
We’re not as far ahead as scientist predicted we’d be 20 years ago (at least we haven’t seen any flying cars around these parts lately), but California’s recent electrical crisis has sparked an economically driven move toward green power. Solar is cost-effective, clean and quiet – pretty important if you’re going to be putting 500 to 600 square feet of solar paneling on your roof – the average size.
“You probably wouldn’t want it in your bedroom if you’re a really light sleeper,” said Mark Klaiman, co-owner of Pet Camp in San Francisco along with his wife Virginia Donohue. “There’s a fan that cools the system, but that’s the only part that makes any noise at all. In a business setting, you don’t notice it, and if you’ve had a fan in your room at home, you wouldn’t either.”
In June, Klaiman received a rebate from PG&E for $141,851’s worth of surplus electricity generated by his photovoltaic system, which produces more than 20 kilowatts, the largest in San Francisco.
That got your attention, didn’t it?
Still, don’t expect to rake in big bucks from PG&E. The company doesn’t reimburse in cash, but in credits accumulated throughout the year. Those credits don’t roll over into the next fiscal year.
“It’s like use it or lose it vacation time,” said Klaiman.
“If you’re not going to take the hours, you’re going to be giving them away.”
Solar power isn’t about quick returns. It’s about shifting our understanding of electricity’s economics. And it’s a hedge against an uncertain future.
“I like to use the analogy of renting a home versus buying a home,” said Cara Eisenberg, a communications manager at British Petroleum Solar in Fredericksburg, Maryland. “People are used to buying electricity on a month-to-month basis, but what you’re buying with a solar system is insurance against what’s going to happen to electricity rates in the next 20 years.”
Considering that high-tier electric rates – which make up a portion of most homeowners’ monthly bills – are now hovering around 19 cents per kilowatt hour, the potential savings generated by even a small system, which would keep your actual electrical consumption down in the lower tiers of PG&E’s scale, would be quite a return.
Solar panels mounted on your roof, or in any open space with a clear view of the southern sun, collect the sun’s light as energy. The light collected is transformed into DC, or direct current, power by the panels, similar to the power a battery would provide, according to Alex Legato, a marketing and sales representative for MC Solar Engineering in Santa Clara, which serves the South Valley region. An inverter transforms the direct current into AC, or alternating current, which wastes less energy as it encounters resistance while moving through transmission lines.
People commonly think that solar production is based on heat, but this is not the case. Cool weather with plenty of sun is the kind solar panels function best in.
Most people choose to put in a medium-sized system capable of producing about 6 kW per hour, according to Eisenberg. The retail price tag for a system of that size in our area is not cheap – $51,000. But thanks to hefty state rebates ($15,390) and state tax credits ($2,003), the total would drop to about $33,607. Best of all, your total electricity bill would likely be cut in half by the system, saving the average home-owner more than $1,000 per year. Legato says most local customers prefer to go with 2.5-3 kW systems, which averages a little more than $18,000 after rebates and qualifying tax breaks.
The start-up cost may seem daunting, but the long-run returns will feel pretty good. Installing a medium-sized solar system is the equivalent in clean-air savings of planting two acres of trees.
And the entire system is guaranteed for at least five years – the solar panels themselves for 25.
“They’re expected to last longer,” said Eisenberg. “We’ve been around long enough in this industry to see solar panels that are more than 25 years old functioning just fine. We also put them through testing to simulate 30 year conditions. California has pretty nice weather, but they have to be able to stand up to more – one inch hail at 125 miles per hour.”
The solar panels that are used on ocean rigs in Alask and at rest camps on Mt. Everest are the same that are used on homes in the South Valley. They probably aren’t going to face much trouble in this mild climate.
Legato said more than 500 have been installed by his company in Northern California, almost all of which have continued functioning with no problems. And the maintenance? What maintenance?
“Pretty much, every three months or so you go up on the roof and hose off the panels to make sure they don’t get too dirty,” said Klaiman. “That’s best to do in the early morning or late afternoon when it’s not too hot. Really, I don’t do anything else.”
Klaiman got his system two years ago this December as a financial move. The San Francisco Energy Cooperative, a nonprofit group working primarily with businesses in the Bay Area, came in to help Klaiman and his wife figure out how to conserve energy in their pet-care facility, which serves as many as 180 dogs and cats each day, providing day and overnight care.
“They started mentioning solar,” said Klaiman. “We’d looked into it in the past, but chickened out because it was a lot of money. If PG&E put in $140,000 toward our system, we had to put in that much, too.”
The Klaimans decided to make the investment because of the money the would save in the long run.
“On the anniversary date of the system they have to balance the books, so I get a bill once a year. It does come out to about $11,000 or so, but that’s so little compared to what we were spending … about $2,500 a month before solar.”
Solar power is still in it’s infancy, said Legato, and most of the people buying today are early adopters “more concerned with the haze on their horizon than the panels on their roof.”
In fact, the reason most people who contemplate the option choose to forgo it is cosmetic. The panels are large, and despite their beautifully deep blue color, take up a substantial chunk of roof space.
Manufacturers are working on panels with higher power densities, reducing the number of panels that would be needed for the average system. And in the next five to 10 years, we may begin seeing some major changes.
“There will be another kind of technology that will look just like their roof tiles,” said Legato.
“Right now there are some solar shingles, but their cost and their payback tends to be higher since there’s a lot more installation involved. That will probably change.”
