On May 1, CEC is launching Solarize Santa Barbara – a group purchasing program that makes buying home solar power as easy and affordable as possible. This pilot program is modeled after similar successful programs in cities like Portland, Oregon (which has 60 days of sunshine annually compared to our 300). Solarize Santa Barbara will reduce challenges that keep homeowners from going solar – like finding a contractor, pricing the right system, and permitting.
It works like this: as a Santa Barbara home or property owner, you sign up to be in the group. CEC does all the hard work: vetting and selecting a qualified solar contractor who will offer a group discount on a pre-selected solar energy system, and throw in technical help to get your new solar panels permitted. In no time, you’re generating your own electricity from sunshine.

Time is limited for this pilot program. Sign up today at our Solarize Santa Barbara page, and keep up with us on Facebook. Download CEC’s guides to Going Solar and Solar Financing for helpful information about home solar.

Last week the County of San Luis Obispo took a huge step toward energy independence by approving a 250 megawatt solar pv farm, also known as the California Valley Solar Ranch.  We’re excited about this news. Here’s why:

When it’s up and running, this solar farm will produce enough energy to power over 55,000 homes.

While that’s impressive, it is not the only reason that we like this project.  At CEC we are careful about the projects we endorse. We thoroughly review the full environmental impact report and ensure that the project mitigates the impacts to the greatest extent possible. Here’s a little insight into our process.

First, we check out where they are planning to build the project. The location of the project is the most important way to minimize impacts. We support projects that are:

1. On previously disturbed land – Most of this particular site is grazing land.  Parts are zoned for agriculture and parts were for a development project that never went forward.
2. Near existing transmission lines – The transmission line for this project is 3.6 miles from a substation. This is very close! Check out the map below.
3. Near existing load centers – This project is near load centers in both San Luis Obispo and King Counties.

Next, we investigate how they are minimizing their impact on the environment. In this project, SunPower plans to (among other things):

1. Avoid the most critical of habitat for species of special concern, namely the giant kangaroo rat.
2. Acquire conservation lands at a 4:1 ratio. This means that for every acre they disturb, they will put four acres into permanent conservation easements.
3. Participate in Regional Recovery Plans for species on the Carrizo Plain.

This SunPower project meets all of our requirements. We are proud to support this transition to safer, cleaner sources of electricity.

We are proud to report over 38,214 people attended Earth Day this year – our largest event ever! (And thanks to our stellar volunteers, who track entries from 6 locations). It’s a beautiful thing when so many people can gather peacefully to share information, celebrate, and empower one another.

Our Favorite Stats:

• 1,130 people valet parked their bikes for free at Bike World, and more than a thousand others self-parked their bikes. Still more came by foot or bus. Specials thanks to our partners at the SB Bicycle Coalition,, MTD, and Santa Barbara Car Free. 
• We finally found a way to keep everyone hydrated thanks to two Water Monsters, which take local tap water, filter it and serve it cold to anyone with a refillable bottle.  The amount of water distributed by the Water Monsters this year was equivalent to 3,200 6,000 plastic bottles (Edit: We recalculated and discovered our savings was much more than we originally thought).
• 523 people took a ride and drive in one of the new plug-in vehicles in the Green Car Show. Thanks to the teams from Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf, and Toyota Prius for making this possible.
• All of the waste generated by the festival is being hand sorted by one of our major sponsors, MarBorg Industries. We will know our diversion rate at the end of the month.

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Share Your Photos
We know you took some great shots -- please share them! You can post your photos and videos to one of our sites (including Facebook or Flickr) or mail a disc to CEC for a chance to be used in festival promotional materials for 2012.

Special Thanks
A huge thank you to our core production partners, +One Events and LoaTree, as well as dozens of other production partners and hundreds of volunteers. We invite you to join us in applauding their incredible energy and commitment.

You Can Still Give Back
For those who participated in our text donation drive, many thanks. If you didn't get a chance, you can still make a $10 donation by texting "Earth" to 50555. We'll be pulling our raffle winners tomorrow - prizes include a bicycle, water bottles, and more. Your support allows us to host this event year after year.