You may remember when we featured Katie D. and her family on our blog back in December in “A personal struggle with climate change.” She talked about how her family was able to power their home and their car with their rooftop solar panels. Back then, she said, “I never go to gas stations anymore. I’ve stopped giving oil companies my money. I feel a bit like a junkie who’s finally starting to kick her addiction.” We’re proud of Katie and her family – they are the perfect example of Santa Barbarans who are powering the clean energy movement.

During CEC’s Earth Day Festival, we asked festival goers to make an “Earth Day Resolution” – like a New Year’s Resolution, but focused on how to make a difference for the environment. Katie has already done so much to lessen her environmental impact, so we were curious what her resolution could be. This year, she said “My Earth Day Resolution is to share my story about how it is possible to actually save money and be carbon neutral at the same time. You can always do more, and we all have to do that because it’s not up to one person.”

She decided the best way for her to share her story was through video. She created the video below to share her calculations for the payoff of an electric vehicle powered by solar panels. Over a 10 year period, her family will save $15,125! That’s not to mention the environmental benefit. Fueling her car will emit 0 pounds of carbon dioxide, whereas a fossil fuel car would emit 114,500 pounds over 10 years.

Watch her video

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Environment California recently released a study comparing adoption of solar among California cities. As expected, big cities, San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Jose (respectively) came in on top for total number of installed systems, and total installed capacity. Environment California also analyzed small and medium sized cities, and installations per capita. That’s where things get interesting.

Of the 170 municipalities in California with populations over 50,000, Santa Barbara ranks 9^th in number of solar installations per capita (0.81 installations per 100 people). While we don’t fair quite as well in installed capacity per capita (19^th), we are by far above average in both categories.

The other cities in our region that made the list are Ojai, ranked 12^th in the small cities category with almost four solar installations per 100 people, and Paso Robles ranked 7^th in the large town category with 0.17 installations per 100 people.

We give credit for this accomplishment to a combination of forward thinking individuals and good government policies.

Ever since the 1969 oil spill, Santa Barbara residents have recognized the importance of moving away from our dependence on fossil fuels for environmental and economic reasons. By installing solar, residents have stabilized their energy costs and those with electric vehicles have switched to fuel supplied by the sun for their transportation needs. We at CEC like to think that we might have helped some of those people make the decision to go solar with events like CEC's Earth Day Festival and Solar SUNday, and our publications like Get Started with Solar (PDF).

The City of Santa Barbara also deserves recognition. Not only has the City has installed solar on government facilities; they have also created a streamlined permitting process for rooftop solar, allowing homeowners to get a permit in less than an hour. Streamlined permitting creates certainty and reduces costs for solar. CEC is proud to have helped develop that process years ago and continues to work with the City on further improvements to the solar permitting process.

Read the full study (PDF) >

And a big thanks to Environment California for collecting and analyzing the data. We look forward to next year’s report.

I have quite a bit of experience with solar systems in terms of remote telecommunications facilities where utility power isn't practical. These involve large battery banks and over-engineering to ensure reliable power for radio, microwave, and telephone relay stations that need to be up 24/7.

So, the idea of a solar system in a suburban area with plentiful utility power didn't make sense to me at first. Electricity is readily available at reasonable rates. It would be satisfying but not practical to pull the plug on Edison.

Then, I stumbled across a mention of solar "co-generation" on Southern California Edison’s website. Co-generation is when a customer connects a source of power such as solar or wind into the electric grid. With solar, California supplies a rebate to pay part of the cost, and the federal government provides an additional tax credit.

On further research I found the idea of co-generation kind of exciting. I can use the entire utility grid as my energy storage. I don't need a battery and I don’t need to design the system any bigger than my load.

I was also considering my electric vehicle (Chevy Volt). I decided the convenience of the 240-volt charger was worth it. Rebates cover half the cost of the charger and installation. If I came home from a day trip with a depleted battery I could plug in for a couple of hours and then go out to dinner on electricity. However, the Volt would be away from home when my solar panels would be generating power from the sun.

With co-generation, I just produce more power than I need when the sun shines, feed it to Edison, and then pull power from Edison at night to run my home and charge the car. I also switched to a rate plan that gives me much lower electric rates at night and credits me at higher rates in the daytime when the sun is shining and I'm producing electricity. Some friends were predicting that the Volt would cause my electric bill to skyrocket –ha!

[Click image to see more...]

As luck would have it, I have a great roof for solar. It is south-facing and doesn't have any vents or obstructions. I had enough area to install panels that could generate about 4kW peak power. I'm good with my hands and have a lot of experience with wiring and electrical things. My initial plan was to install the solar as well as the level 2 car charger myself.

I quickly changed my mind about installing the solar because I'm not comfortable with the permit process and roof penetrations kind of scare me. I shopped around and chose Coastal Constructors to provide the hardware, do the mechanical work and take care of the permit paperwork. They did the wiring at the same time as they wired the charger, and everything passed inspection. Modern panels are a lot better looking than the earlier ones. I'm very happy with the appearance as well as the performance.

Another modification I considered was the inverter systems. Most grid-tied systems connect a number of panels in a series string to produce high-voltage DC, and then put in a large wall-mounted inverter to convert this to conventional AC power. I was not excited about this design. A fault in one panel can bring down a whole string. Due to the high DC voltages, the wiring is complicated.

I discovered a company in the Bay Area, Enphase, that does things differently. They manufacture micro-inverters. Each micro-inverter handles the output from one solar panel. One mounts underneath each panel and they connect in parallel. If one panel or inverter goes bad, the rest of the array keeps going. The DC wiring is low-voltage and needs no conduit.

In addition, my solar system has its own website that not only shows real-time and historical data for every panel, but can also alert me if there's ever a problem. If there's debris such as bird droppings on or an electrical problem affecting one panel, the other panels are not affected, and I get an email describing the issue and showing me which panel is in trouble.

It's now been in service for almost 10 months. I've ”banked” a bit over 6 megawatt-hours of electricity with Edison. Carbon offset a bit over 4 tons. Every month since installation I've produced more electricity than I've consumed. Not only am I driving on daylight, I'm powering my house with it and even providing solar energy to my neighbors via the grid-tie.

Kermit was wrong. It's easy being green. Take a look at my solar production >

We all agree that rooftop solar is important. But what about utility scale solar? At CEC, we think that both have a place in our energy future, but only if they are completed in a responsible, environmentally beneficial manner.

Right now we have the chance to shape solar in our community through two opportunities. First, the County of Santa Barbara has begun a scoping process for the environmental impact report (EIR) for a solar project in Cuyama Valley. Second, the County is considering an amendment to the Land Use and Development Code that would allow solar on agricultural land. If you have concerns or comments on either of these topics, it is crucial that you get involved now so that those issues can be examined and addressed. This is the time during the planning process to have your voice heard.

CEC does not take a position on any project until we have examined the final environmental impact report. However, we do participate throughout the process, increase transparency, and encourage public participation.

To get involved, examine the project proposal. Then email or mail comments, suggestions, or concerns to:

Kathy McNeal Pfeifer ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )
Planning & Development, Energy Division
123 E. Anapamu St
Santa Barbara, CA 93101

Send your feedback by Friday, January 20.

Michel Saint-Sulpice is a gentle soul who takes his responsibility for the planet seriously, and always has. Growing up in France, his family was careful with resources, and he has carried forth that strong environmental ethic into his adult life as a Santa Barbara architect.

Michel aspires to be fossil fuel free by the end of 2012, and he’s well on his way. Solar panels provide his home with electricity, and he’s been driving a Toyota Prius since the second generation first hit the market. He completely removed his lawn to make room for a beautiful drought tolerant landscape. Greywater and collected rain water (with back-up well water) will soon irrigate a “food forest.” On the drawing board is a geothermal system that will heat the entire house (with cooling option), all his domestic water and his swimming pool year round. Since Michel produces all his electricity, his carbon footprint will be zero, and he will not be paying electric and gas bills any longer. He has taken these measures to express his deep appreciation for nature and beauty.

Recently, however, Michel took his environmental commitment to a new level, after attending a screening of “Revenge of the Electric Car,” co-sponsored by CEC in October. He was so inspired by the film and the subsequent panel of speakers (the director, two of the film’s stars, a Chevy Volt owner and a Nissan Leaf owner) that he went out and bought an all-electric Nissan Leaf the next day!

Before seeing the film, Michel had done his homework and knew he wanted to take advantage of the current government incentives to promote electric vehicles. But that night, he knew the time was right.

The added bonus for Michel is that when he plugs in his new electric vehicle at home, he has enough solar panels (63 of them!) on his roof to power his home and the car. In fact, Michel is part of a growing group of “early adopters” who are driving around town in cars powered by sunshine instead of oil.

One hour’s worth of the sun’s rays hitting earth could supply all of earth’s electricity needs for a year. Only if it could be captured, that is. Michel captures as much of that sunlight as he can, to power his life and energize his spirit. He envisions a future where all households are run efficiently and powered by the sun. Part of his life’s pleasure is working towards achieving this himself, and extending his grace (and extra energy) towards others.

I never go to gas stations anymore. I’ve stopped giving oil companies my money. I feel a bit like a junkie who’s finally starting to kick her addiction.

It started with changing a light bulb or two. Then I started eating more local food from a CSA and less meat (Cows are up there with cars when it comes to emissions.) They were little things, like deciding to only buy California wine (not a major a sacrifice!). But they were enough to make me start realizing that there are things I can DO besides wring my hands when it comes to reducing my carbon footprint. I went a little further -- creating a video that has over 60,000 views on YouTube (link in footer) and a website on ocean acidification. However, I was still using electricity and driving a minivan.

My husband and I are not generally early adopters. We're careful with money. But we did our research, and so our next step was not just a vote for a new technology, but a practical move as well. We put ourselves on a waiting list for the Nissan Leaf, an all-electric car. In the meantime, we got solar panels on our house, producing way more energy than we needed for our energy-efficient house -- specifically planning for the electric car. That meant that when we got the car this summer, we just drove home and plugged it into the sun.

We haven’t invested in a charging station. We just use a regular outlet. We charge it overnight and can drive up to 100 miles on a charge. We try to maximize all our miles on it, so sometimes we get low on miles. Once when we got low, we stopped at my in-law's house, plugged it in there, went for a pleasant walk while it charged a bit, and then headed home. But generally speaking, 100 mile range is more than enough. It re-charges when you are stopping and going downhill so you can drive it up the mountain, and then watch it recharge all the way down.

The Nissan Leaf fits my two kids and a dog, and handles better than any car I've ever driven. And I really love never having to stop for gas! But it wasn't until a friend's daughter stopped by the other night with a bunch of her college-age friends to show off the car, and when another friend's 13-year old daughter took a picture of it with her smartphone to share with her friends, that I realized that while we chose it sight unseen purely to reduce our emissions, we've found ourselves driving something that really is very cool.

And indeed, with its touch-screen and rear camera, it feels like a luxury car, but without the luxury price. In fact, a $5,000 tax rebate we got covers the lease for the first year. Since we don’t pay for gas, the car is essentially free right now.

Obviously solar panels aren’t free, but they are a sound investment. We spent $18,000 after tax rebates on lots of solar panels. Here’s the simple math: $50/month electric bill + $200/month gasoline bill = payoff in 6 years. Electric is a lot cheaper than gasoline so it’s not exactly a fair comparison. But with expected inflation in electric costs and the fact we can now get paid for excess energy we produce, it still makes sense from a strictly economic perspective.

I can’t kid myself that I’m home free when it comes to the environment. What about the energy used to make my new electric car? What about all those plane flights we like to take? However, I am closer than I have ever been to feeling like it is indeed possible to be carbon neutral.

A few years ago, when my son was about 6, he liked me to read him Calvin & Hobbes comics. In one comic, Calvin says, “Hey mom, what’s this I hear about the greenhouse effect?” “They say the pollutants we dump in the air are trapping in the sun’s heat and its going to melt the polar ice caps!” “Sure, YOU’LL be gone when it happens, but I won’t! Nice planet you’re leaving me!”

His mom says, “This from the kid who wants to be chauffeured any place more than a block away.”

Calvin replies, “Hey, nobody told me about the ice caps, all right?”

Re-reading this comic to my young son 20 years after it was written in 1989, I realized how long I’ve known about global warming. And it’s not just theoretical anymore. The ice caps are melting. Disasters of all sorts (fires, floods, hurricanes, droughts) are increasing, and this is with 1-2 degrees of warming -- not the 11 or so that may happen in my children's lifetime. It will get worse, but our actions now determine how much worse.

The good news is that the technology now exists to dramatically reduce our emissions -- if we’re willing to make doing so a priority. And, at least in the case of things like the electric car, it’s actually a whole lot of fun!

The Community Environmental Council (CEC) is a small and dedicated non-profit with a very big mission: ending the Santa Barbara region’s dependence on fossil fuels in one generation. It's been a busy year for CEC. After all, moving our region off fossil fuels is no small task. Check out this infographic of our most impressive accomplishments from 2011.

Thank you to everyone who helped us this year: donors, green-minded businesses, Solarize SB participants, Facebook fans, Earth Day attendees...  you all help power the clean energy movement in Santa Barbara. Consider giving back by making a donation to CEC this year.

Share this infographic on Facebook and Twitter.

Click the image for a full size version.

Share this infographic on Facebook and Twitter.

Isabelle Greene could not have escaped her destiny even if she’d wanted to: it was built right into her family name. Growing up in the wilder, more open-space version of Pasadena and the granddaughter of the notable Arts and Crafts architect Henry Greene, she was exposed early on to both the built environment and the natural world. Today, at the age of 78, she is an energetic champion of “sustainable landscape architecture,” and continues to manage her private practice of 30 years.

But in 2004, Green took on her biggest challenge – renovating a 1948 mail order cottage in the neighborhood behind the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. After decades of creating beautiful spaces for other people, her goal was to design a home for herself.

When she purchased the 1,100 square foot house, it was a warren of small, dark rooms with limited windows and closets. The roof had no eaves – exposing the wood to weather -- and the house had sunk six inches in one corner. But she was taken with the neighborhood, was ready to “be out of cement and traffic and noise,” and had long dreamed of the challenge of renovating a house and imprinting it with her own style.

Greene had traveled extensively to places like Holland, Norway, and Japan, where small living spaces made a deep impression on her with their highly functional, elegant, streamlined simplicity.

“I’ve always been so uncomfortable with huge houses – the number of people it takes to maintain them, the distance you have to walk from the kitchen to bedroom. The more human something is and the more aligned with nature, the better I feel.”

Renovating the cottage took two years – “one to think it through and do the plans, and one to do the work,” she said. In the end she virtually de-constructed the entire house, keeping only one original joist. She incorporated salvaged items wherever she could: acacia wood from a storm-fallen tree for the floor, a piece of the old Santa Barbara pier for the mantle, salvaged red oak for the door. She also added environmental technologies: solar panels, an on-demand water heater, and a solar chimney that draws hot air out of the house.

But while going small had been her intent, it was also her challenge. During the two years between buying the property and completing the renovation, she remarried, so the space had to work even more than she’d originally planned.

“In a small house, you use every inch. I measured and re-measured, because virtually everything in the house had to be custom designed. I had to calculate every detail – like how far the warmth of the fireplace would reach to the couch, and how that would impact the sitting area.”

She removed almost all the interior walls in the front half of the house, using discreet lighting and other techniques to create a number of unique living spaces out of one generously sized room. The kitchen, dining area and sitting areas all flow into each other, with all but one appliance completely invisible. A small functional office is tucked into a wide hallway, and a music/reading nook transforms into a cozy guest room with the pull of a curtain.

In the back of the house are a surprisingly spacious bathroom and a laundry room that offers the only place where Greene and her husband John Mealy can keep separate, personal belongings; all other parts of the house are communal. In the bedroom, wide windows and a sliding door make it easy to access the expansive back garden.

And given that her first love was the outdoors, it’s no surprise that the garden is the focal point of the house; in some ways it is the largest and most impressive room, with the interior space designed to draw the eye to it. She converted the badly-sloped deep lot into a gently terraced space filled with two dozen berry bushes and fruit trees, as well as an oversized vegetable garden. Ironically, although she’s a lifelong plant lover and started her career as a botanist, Greene had never seriously grown edibles before. “Now we’ve become backyard farmers. Our yard provides 90 percent of our produce.”

Merging two households into a small home after a lifetime of acquiring things was challenging at first. The family furnishings that they had both accumulated went to John’s children and grandchildren, with only beloved objects making the cut.

“It’s so easy to get burdened and cluttered,” she said. “But here, anytime we bring something into the house, we have to take something out. On the rare instance when I end up at a mall, I really don’t have that feeling of desire or consumer lust for material things. There is a daily discipline to living in a small space.”

Article modified from original submission to Seasons Magazine. Check out the floorplans and read it on Seasons’ blog…

The days are getting shorter, but it's still bright and sunny in the solar realm. Both the City and County of Santa Barbara are working to make it easier for residents to get permits for rooftop solar arrays.

As with any construction project, solar permits are required for homeowners and businesses that want to install solar panels on their roofs. Processing time varies widely depending on the city or county where the permit is granted.

A new, expedited solar permitting process makes solar installations go more smoothly for all parties involved. This improved system lowers regulatory barriers for local businesses and simplifies the process for homeowners. It reduces the amount of municipal staff time needed to process the permits. It also cuts the amount of time solar companies spend on the process, which brings down the cost of solar overall. Solar that costs less, paired with a hassle-free process, makes it easier for Santa Barbarans to generate clean, local and renewable energy for our region. It's a good deal for our local environmental and economic health.

The City of Santa Barbara has lead the way for years with an over-the-counter permitting process that is quicker than most other cities. The City has recently revised their guidelines to make them even more user-friendly. With a little nudging from CEC, the County of Santa Barbara recently stepped up as well. They rewrote their guidelines for residential rooftop solar permitting to expedite the process (read the new County process). A process that used to take 2 to 6 weeks will now only take 2 days. We applaud the elected officials and dedicated staff who made these changes possible.

Now, CEC is working with the other cities in Santa Barbara County to take a second look at their permitting processes, as well as encourage expedited permitting for commercial projects.

Are you in?

Fossil fuels have carried us a long way. But after 100 years, it's time to call it. The age of fossil fuels is over.

If we do it right, we can shift into a new economy fueled by clean, renewable energy. One that results in a net gain of $1.5 billion to our county’s economy by 2030. This is CEC’s mission, and we need your help.

Step 1: Watch

Check out this fast-paced 2-minute video about a movement in Santa Barbara to get off fossil fuels in one generation:

A New Movement | Community Environmental Council

Love the video? Share it with your networks. Build the movement.

Share on Facebook | Tweet it

Step 2: We need your support

The Community Environmental Council (CEC) relies heavily on support from the community. We've been pioneering real life solutions to environmental problems for 41 years. Learn about our results in 2011 (PDF download). Invest in a future powered by clean energy. Invest in CEC.

		Support solar power and wind power  Your $60 membership moves our region away from dirty energy. CEC links homeowners with solar installers, helps non-profits go solar, and advocates for large-scale wind and solar farms.
		Stand up for more efficient vehicles Your $60 membership paves the way for more electric cars and hybrids. CEC hosts 3 Green Car Shows a year and is helping to locate and install more than 50 new charging stations this year.
		Choose a more walkable and bikable community Your $60 membership creates a community that centers around people, not cars. CEC gets citizens involved in community planning, and advocates for more walkable, bikable neighborhoods.

On August 9th, 2011 I saw the wheel on my electric service meter go backwards for the first time, and it was a wonderful, almost giddy feeling. Finally, my house was using the sun's rays to silently create the electricity I would be using to run the lights, appliances, computers, and other plug-in components of my life. I couldn't be happier.

I've followed the development of solar energy's capability to create electricity commercially for a long time. I was so disappointed in the early days to see that alternatives to oil and gas couldn't get the funding necessary to get started – that petroleum companies couldn't or wouldn't embrace the opportunity of being energy companies and fund the research and development of alternative energy sources themselves.

My life and my jobs kept me moving around from place to place for many years, but finally, 15 years ago, I settled down in Goleta and bought a house. I considered investing in solar panels from time to time through the years since then. The cost was the main obstacle, but I also needed to investigate my alternatives so I could make the best choice. I also had the nagging feeling that if I waited, the technology and therefore the cost would make it more affordable and efficient.

In the meantime, I've done what I could to live my life with the conservation of our natural resources in mind and to limit my contribution to waste and pollution. I drive my car (a Prius) as infrequently as possible, opting for biking and sharing rides and just not going to some events that require driving. I have rain barrels and a compost bin, a worm bin, and a community garden – the garden is shared with friends who can't have gardens of their own. I wash and reuse plastic zipped-locked bags and cut paper towels in half down the middle (something my Mother used to do). I hang my clothes to dry on a line in the backyard and on nifty clothes racks. My light bulbs are the energy efficient kind, of course, and my Christmas lights are LEDs. And I've finally trained myself to keep cloth bags in my car and with my bike and take them with me into the grocery store.

The Community Environmental Council's (CEC) Solarize Santa Barbara program came along at the same time that I decided that it was a good time to get out of one of my mutual fund investments. With the CEC taking on the hard work of choosing particular solar panel contractors to work with and negotiating reasonable costs and a rebate, it was obviously the time for me to get serious about installing solar panels. The process of signing up and getting an initial estimate was so easy. I was able to review the estimated costs and projected savings and talk to a representative from the REC Solar, the company that I was assigned to work with.

During this preliminary step, I pondered seriously whether installing solar panels was worth the cost and whether the projected 13-year payback period was a show-stopper. I was finally convinced that it was the right thing to do – good for the environment, a way to support the solar service companies, and a better investment for my money than the stock market. The immediate rebate and the Federal Tax Credit for solar installations also factored into my decision.

The installation process was trouble-free. Two very nice and experienced REC employees spent about a day and a half installing the racks, inverter unit, the panels, and the electric conduit from the panels to the inverter and then to my fuse box. Even though it was a foggy day when it was finally hooked up, the electric meter was going backward right before my eyes! It was a wonderful thing to see! I'm so glad the CEC's Solarize Santa Barbara program came along at the right time for me and that I was smart enough to take advantage of it.

As so many of us have hoped for years, solar is finally front page news. Unfortunately, not all the news is good; some is downright troubling and leads to more questions than answers.

Let's start with the good news.

The cost of solar is down.
The cost of solar for commercial and residential buildings dropped 17 percent from 2009 to 2010 and an additional 11 percent in the first six months of 2011 according DOE's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Utility scale projects (very large projects that sell energy to the electricity grid) have also seen a dramatic decrease in price. This means cheaper electricity for all. It also means cleaner electricity as more utilities, businesses and homes install solar. The U.S. currently has 2.7 gigawatts (GW) of solar installed, which is equal to the capacity of almost three nuclear power plants.

There are two main reasons for the decrease in cost of solar. The first is a drastic change in subsidies in Italy. In anticipation of a huge Italian market, solar integrators demanded more panels from manufacturers. When Italy unexpectedly ended its subsidy program, integrators were left holding more panels than they knew what to do with. The law of supply and demand went to work and we have seen a decrease in the cost of solar.

The low cost of solar is spurring industry growth.
According to the 2011 Solar Jobs Census the solar industry is employing 6.8 percent more workers than last year. The industry now supports over 100,000 people. That is great news in a slow economy.

Unfortunately that's not the full picture.

Irresponsible solar manufacturing in China
Some of the low cost solar panels are not from increased supply, but from decreased quality. In those cases, cost savings are coming from decreased quality of the panels (less efficiency) and decreased quality of the manufacturing process. Less efficient panels aren't always a bad thing, but typically these panels are coming from unregulated manufacturing companies that are spewing pollution into our air and water. Stereotypically, these polluting companies are from China, and while there are some responsible companies manufacturing solar in China, there is some truth to the stereotype. Just this week China closed a solar power plant and fined the company after four days of protest by local villagers over dirty air and water. As with most products, cheaper is not always better, so we as consumers must buy our solar from responsible companies.

U.S. renewable energy policy
There is also a lot of noise about the fall and major scale-back of several big solar companies in the U.S. What this will mean to the larger market is yet to be determined, but given the grumblings about Solyndra, a company that received loan guarantees from the federal stimulus, we should take a moment to examine our federal policies on renewable energy.

First and foremost, any investor (including the government) should be careful about how it invests, and CEC supports thorough oversight. At the same time, investing involves some level of risk and we need stimulus on the research and development (R&D) efforts for renewable energy. Government supported R&D is required to keep pace with other countries who are actively trying to catch up to us in the solar market. The U.S. currently has a trade surplus from solar technologies. It will be difficult to maintain this surplus if we depend solely on manufacturing, given the low cost of labor in other countries. To keep the U.S. competitive, there must be continuous development of new technologies and consumers support of responsible manufacturing and development processes.

More importantly, government needs to set a long term price signal for carbon. Renewable energy companies will continue to fail if they do not get to play on an even playing field. Right now fossil fuel companies have direct subsidies from the federal government and indirect subsidies from society. By allowing them to pollute for free, we are lowering the costs of fossil fuels; (this is also applicable to the polluting solar plant mentioned above).

The true cost of fossil fuel dependence

What we aren't paying at the pump or plug, we're paying in disaster relief. We have had ten $1billion natural disasters in the U.S. this year. Most of them can be associated with the changing climate. Society is paying for our dependence on fossil fuels, only it is not directly associated with the fuels themselves, which leads to a false price. If we set a price on carbon either through a carbon tax or a cap and trade system, it will help the price of fossil fuels reflect the true cost. Only when we pay true costs will renewable energy will be able to compete with fossil fuels on an even playing field.

Tucked away on a peaceful cul-de-sac that backs up to Elings Park, Dan Emmett's home wouldn't be thought of as an environmental statement at first glance. The solar paneled roof – barely visible except from the upper lawn in the back yard – might even go unnoticed. But Dan and others like him are starting a quiet revolution, built around the idea that solar electricity can power their homes, hot tubs, and even cars.

Dan and his partner Henri Bristol had a 3.5 kW solar panel system installed on their house last year, in part because they were expecting delivery of one of the first all-electric vehicles to be sold by a major car manufacturer, the Nissan Leaf. "I signed up for the Leaf the day they opened the waiting list – even before the cars had been manufactured," he says.

As CEO of a solar energy startup company, Dan wanted to get as close as possible to driving without fossil fuels. "I didn't want to just get a hybrid; I wanted to be completely off petroleum. I wanted my only trips to the gas station to be to be for a pit stop," he says.

"I like the security of knowing that if something were to happen – an earthquake, disruption to the supply of gasoline, or other crisis – I can still get around," he says. "I love how quiet the car is, and also how clean – no tailpipe, no emissions. My bedroom is above the garage, so I like the peace of mind of not having fumes or combustibles just a few feet under my pillow."

He also points out the financial benefits. By day, if his solar panels are generating more electricity than he's using, that electricity is fed into the Southern California Edison grid, where he avoids paying the highest peak period rates of 55 cents per kWh. At midnight, when he charges the car under special "time of use" rates for electric vehicle owners, he pays 10 cents per kWh.

For the most part – like most electric vehicle owners – Dan charges his car battery at home. When he was on the waiting list for his Nissan Leaf, the company sent out a licensed electrician, who recommended that he install a 220-volt charging unit in his garage. "The car does come with a charging kit for a 110-volt outlet, but they call that a 'trickle charge.' It is very slow – you wouldn't even get a full charge overnight." He opted for the 220-volt charging unit, the cost of which was partially offset by a federal tax credit.

With the solar panels on his roof and the new charging station in his garage, Dan was almost ready to leave Santa Barbara in his sunshine-powered car. He just had one problem – something electric vehicle drivers call 'range anxiety' or the fear of running out of juice. He recalls, "I didn't just have range anxiety, I had range panic. I made it to L.A. on the original charge, but it was really dicey – I was in heavy traffic, and I had two miles left on the battery when I got to my destination. When they said that the car had 100 to 120 mile range, I knew that was variable, but my trip was 87 miles door-to-door and I thought I would have more leeway." Since then, he's gotten more accustomed to driving electric and is a pro at finding public charging stations on longer trips.

"It's amazing where technology is – everything is intuitive and transparent. To anyone who is thinking about doing something similar, I would say do it. You will see your gasoline bills and electricity bills go away. It's a lifestyle choice that I think is only going to get easier as the technology improves."

Article modified from original submission to Seasons Magazine.

Dr. Timothy Rodgers and his wife Pamela live in a 1948 home near Hendry's Beach. Over the years, they've been on a mission to retrofit their home to make more energy efficient. They've replaced single paned windows with double paned, added insulation to the attic, and replaced halogen lights with LEDs. Making a home more efficient is highly recommended before adding solar panels because "you don't want to have to pay for a system that's any larger than you need," Timothy says.

After talking with 6-8 solar contractors and getting several bids, he contracted with REC Solar to install an 8.4 kW solar system on a hillside on his property in 2009. "We went with an 18-year lease – they do all the maintenance, manage any equipment that might break, and will replace the inverter when it dies, which is expected to be after 10 years."

Recently, Timothy was ready to make another statement reflecting his environmental ethic. "I love cars, and I like the idea of electric cars. When the price of gas hit $4.50/gallon, I thought 'that's it!' First, I went to test drive the Tesla Roadster, then I went to the Community Environmental Council's Earth Day Festival, which includes a large Green Car Show. There were three Tesla owners showing their personal vehicles. I was still on the fence, but hearing them rave about their experiences really helped." He ordered an electric blue Tesla Roadster that week.

The only concern that Timothy had was with the range of the car; in electric vehicles circles, this is known as "range anxiety." Although he still owns a gas-fueled sedan, he wanted to see how the Tesla would handle on a longer trip to San Francisco. Because public charging stations are just starting to come online, his ideal midpoint stopping place – King City – didn't have a station. Instead he stopped for a couple of hours in Atascadero and briefly in Salinas, both times refueling at a Rabobank, which offered free public charging, fueled by solar panels on the roofs "so I was still driving on sunshine, even away from home."

Despite what might seem like complex technology, Roger repeatedly said that the process to install solar and purchase an electric vehicle was seamless, with user-friendly systems that allows him to engage with the technology. "There is a transmitter on my solar inverter that sends out data on the amount of electricity that I generate and use, which I can pull up on my computer," said Timothy. "It's kind of nerdy, but I like to see how I'm doing."

Combining solar panels and electric vehicles makes ditching fossil fuels closer than ever. Transportation and home energy costs make up the vast majority of the average person's energy use. By eliminating reliance on dirty energy in these areas, Fossil Free by '33 is well within reach.

Article modified from original submission to Seasons Magazine.

Photo credit: Matt Perko

Keep your eyes peeled for new solar panels on the roofs of your neighbors. For the last 3 months, the Community Environmental Council (CEC) has been spearheading Solarize Santa Barbara, a solar group purchasing program for homeowners in Southern Santa Barbara County. The program made it easier and cheaper for homeowners to go solar, and ended on August 15 with a grand total of 49 people signing contracts to install 205 kW of solar.

This means almost 50 individuals and families will have lower electricity bills, peace of mind that their cost of electricity will remain stable, and a lower environmental footprint.

One of the main goals of Solarize Santa Barbara was to increase the amount of renewable energy in south Santa Barbara County and the program accomplished just that. More importantly, the program raised the profile of solar in this community. People are talking about solar and realizing that it's not as difficult as they thought.

We even met one couple who signed a contract at their first meeting; they had solar installed and their meter spinning backward in a month! While this timeline is faster than normal, it does show what is possible with a simplified process, dedicated homeowners and a responsive installer.

As part of Solarize Santa Barbara, CEC also offered workshops throughout the South Coast in Carpinteria, Santa Barbara and Goleta. Over 75 people attended the workshops and learned about energy efficiency, conservation, and solar energy. Energy efficiency and conservation should always be the first step toward lowering electricity bills because it usually costs less to save energy than to make it. The workshops proved to be a great tool, helping people understand how energy is used, how to save money by reducing use, and how to take advantage of statewide rebates from Energy Upgrade CA.

In addition to helping people go solar, Solarize Santa Barbara has helped CEC further our mission. Included in the purchase price was a small one-time fee based on the size of the solar installation and paid by the installers directly to CEC. This fee will help the CEC continue to promote renewable energy in the Central Coast and be self-sustaining, with no additional cost to the homeowner.

While the program is over, the website for Solarize Santa Barbara is still live and offers plenty of tips for those interested in going solar: www.SolarizeSB.org.

If you are already a proud solarized homeowner, please visit our Facebook page and share your story - How long did the installation take? Any tips for those considering solar? What does your monthly bill look like? We'd love to hear from you.