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.

CEC supports commercial solar projects in our region because we know how important it is to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. Generating our own energy from the sun is a great way to reduce our fossil fuel consumption. However, you can't build a commercial solar project just anywhere. They need to be built in strategic locations to ensure minimal impact on the local habitats (i.e. animals, native plants, migratory paths).

Earlier this year, the San Luis Obispo Board of Supervisors approved two large solar projects on the Carrizo Plain, in the eastern part of SLO county. CEC supported these projects, because the sites are located on previously disturbed land and they are near transmission lines/load centers. Read more about CEC's position...

Although CEC supported the project, not all of the national environmental groups were behind the project. Initially, Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife and Center for Biological Diversity felt that the companies, SunPower and First Solar, had not gone far enough to mitigate the impacts of the projects.

Luckily, both companies and the national environmental groups have achieved an ideal situation – clean energy and minimal impact on the local habitat.

They have come to an agreement that will go above and beyond the requirements of the County to preserve additional habitat, such as:

• Bringing the total protected area to 40 square miles;
• Enhancing migratory corridors by removing 30 miles of fencing;
• Reducing use of rodenticides that often harm protected and endangered species.

This agreement will help pave a smooth path toward 800 megawatts (MW) of clean, local energy in our region. That's more than enough energy to power over 150,000 homes. We applaud the developers and the organizations for working toward a solution and helping to end our dependence on fossil fuels.

The City of Santa Barbara's General Plan Update is coming back to the City Council, Tuesday, July 26.  Key decisions relating to energy, climate change and the environment will occur tomorrow, and the impacts will be felt for decades.  Please help us encourage the Council to empower future generations with appropriate tools and resources. We believe this means embracing new technologies and allowing people to choose from a range of options in transportation, housing, and business. Read more about the specific goals, policies, and implementation steps...

Please join us tomorrow (Tuesday, July 26) at 2pm in the Council Chambers at City Hall to voice your support for a cleaner, healthier built environment with options for all residents.

Send the letter below to the City Council and the City Clerk to show your support:

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• ER6.5 Facilitate Renewable Energy Technologies.
  The City has an exemplary over-the-counter permit process for rooftop solar.  Unfortunately this process does not apply to historic structures or structures in historic areas.  ER6.5 should specifically highlight the intent to facilitate use of renewable energy on historic structures and in historic areas.  It should also lay out a plan for how such a plan might be implemented.
  
  
• ER6.6 Solar Energy
  I support all new construction and significant remodel projects installing solar energy and ask that any residential projects of three units or greater be required to install a minimum of 2kW of solar photovoltaic per unit.  If 2kW per unit will not fit onto the property then the maximum physically feasible should be required. While it is often easiest to install solar on the residential roof, solar may also be installed over a parking structure or on the ground.  All types of installation should be encouraged through this implementation element.
  
  
• ER9.1 Electric Vehicles
  Southern California Edison has identified the City of Santa Barbara as the fourth largest electric vehicle market out of 183 cities in their service territory.  This means that they expect Santa Barbara residents to adopt this new technology faster than almost every other city in Southern California.  Specifically they expect to see 450,000 to 1,000,000 electric vehicles in their territory by 2020, with Santa Barbara making up a substantial chunk.  ER9.1 is vital if Santa Barbara residents are going to embrace options that move them away from the gasoline pump.  Please leave it in the PlanSB update.

Thank you for your consideration.

UPDATE:

We are happy to report that the City Council made no changes to the Sustainability Principles or Environmental Resource Element Goals in the Santa Barbara General Plan. There was even an increase in the solar requirements for 3 or more units!  Many thanks to those of you who attended the meeting, and thank you for sending emails in response to our action alert. We appreciate your support, Santa Barbara!

CEC's annual Solar SUNday event is this weekend – Sunday, July 17, from 11 am to 4 pm at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. Why should you add it to your calendar?

1. Tons of solar information, all in one spot.
   With energy prices continuing to rise, the time to go solar is now. You don't have to go hunting around Santa Barbara for the information you need. It all comes together for you at Solar SUNday. Attend a workshop, talk to some installers and ask the experts all your questions.
   
   
2. Electric vehicles are making an appearance.
   The new Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf will be at Solar SUNday. Some Santa Barbara residents are plugging their electric vehicles into their home solar panels and are driving on sunshine – imagine the possibilities!
   
   
3. Kids love this event.
   We're offering two art projects and a Chumash storyteller, who will be telling Sun Stories throughout the day.
   
   
4. Museum is FREE all day, and the butterflies are back!
   Admission to the Museum is free all day, thanks to the CEC and our sponsors. Solar SUNday is the perfect opportunity to visit the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History's "Butterflies Alive!" exhibit – one of the most popular exhibits. Visitors stroll through a beautiful atrium with more than 1,000 free-flying butterflies fluttering around.

CEC's Solar SUNday introduces our community to the resources and experts in Santa Barbara that can help make our buildings, and lives, healthier and prosperous.

RSVP to the event on Facebook...

Watch this video from Solar SUNday 2009:

Until recently, when homes and businesses with solar panels produced more electricity than they used, the surplus went back into the grid, with no compensation to the building’s owner. Home and business owners were essentially donating free power to the utility company - not the fairest situation.

Almost two years ago, the California legislature passed a bill, the California Solar Surplus Act (AB 920), that required the utilities to pay homeowners for any excess electricity generation or to credit the account for excess generation, just like cell phone “roll over” minutes. While the bill does not allow solar owners to become power plants for their neighborhoods, does allow them to reap all of the benefits from their investment. Even though the bill passed, the dollar amount that the utilities were required to pay had not been determined. This effectively put the program on hold.

Good news

Finally, that has changed. Last week, California electricity regulators decided upon a price of approximately 4 cents/kWh generated. That price may rise to 5.8 cents/kWh depending on the value of renewable energy credits and the establishment of a tracking mechanism for those credits. Now, families and businesses with solar have a financial incentive to be more efficient and use less electricity so they can get paid for excess generation. For the Duncan family, that means they would have received $22 for the extra 555 kWh they generated last year instead of receiving nothing at all.

A win for the clean energy movement

Homes and businesses can now contribute renewable energy into the grid and get credit for it. While the price is significantly lower than the retail cost of electricity, it represents an important milestone in California’s efforts to get 33% of our electricity from renewable resources.

This month marks our one year solar power anniversary. Am I still a happy solar camper? You betcha!

Based on my calculations from the last year, we generated 555 kWh more than what we used. That's right -- we generated an extra half a megawatt hour. In the previous year we consumed 8,561 kWh. The year before that, 9,260 and before that, 9,779 (so year over year our consumption was decreasing as we became more energy conscious). For more information on kWh check out: http://www.carbonlighthouse.com/2010/08/kwh-vs-kw/

Enough KWH... How much money did I save?

We saved $1,357 dollars in the last year on electricity. Yes, we "paid" less than 20 bucks for electricity for the entire year. ("Paid" because our last bill ended up becoming a credit so we've been working off that credit.) We're now down to -$117, i.e. at 2 bucks or less we might not be paying a bill for a long while.

And guess what? The California Assembly passed a bill which was signed in 2009 (AB920) where we're going to be paid BACK by the Electric company for that extra 555 kWh we generated. Yep, we're going to bill the electric company! We just got a letter this week saying they are trying to figure this out... so we're not running off to Vegas with our extra cash just yet.

Upfront and Ongoing Costs

Upfront cost was $29K. After a $6.5k rebate from SoCal Edison we paid $23K out of pocket. This year we filed for our energy tax credit, which went smooth as silk. A 30% credit on the cost of the panels and installation (after the rebate from SCE).

$29,000 (Upfront Cost) - $6,500 (SCE Rebate) - $7,000 (energy tax credit) = $16,100 end cost

And an important point is we own these panels. They are ours forever. If we move, we can take them with us. Also, since we own them, they are officially an asset and increase the value of the house a good deal (either when sold or if we ever rent it out).

The only future project cost is that the inverter (which converts the DC from the panels into AC for the house) will need to be replaced in 10 years or so. Currently those run a couple grand. Who knows how much they'll cost in 10 years - hopefully less given that there should be a high volume.

Lessons Learned

In the end, it looks like we may have over-provisioned (i.e. got too many panels). Our installer offered a number of options (14, 16, 18 panels, etc.) and great guidance, but in the end it was up to me and I erred on the side of over vs. under and picked 18.

The goal is not to generate more. Or even 100%. The goal is to generate 80-90%. To generate enough to keep you in Tier 1, or worse case, Tier 2. Look at my bills below. You can see that I actually was charged less during months when we didn't over generate (by a dollar... but still). And fewer panels means much faster ROI.

Other tidbits

• We got a recall notice from SunPower (the Solar Panel manufacture/provider) for an inverter. That freaked me out and so I contacted our installer and they were Johnny-on the-spot. They replied right back that it wasn't actually my inverter, that SunPower sent a blanket letter to everyone of their customers, no matter what inverter they had. And they gave me the tips to prove that to my own satisfaction.
• We continued to have a great relationship with our installer, Sun Pacific Solar Electric, Inc. These guys kept in touch, checking in every so often and responding very quickly to any questions I had. And their work has so far stood the test of time.
• Keeping the panels clean is a little bit of a chore. Given our semi-arid environment, with constant winds, the panels get dusty during the summer/fall. All it takes is a quick spray every couple weeks to clean them, but still a little bit of pain. (Lucky they are uber-easy for us to get at)'
• After a session of some heavy rain and serious winds, there's no leaks, drips or roof issues. Yeah! :)

Now some eye candy.

This is from the solar panel company for the past year. Kind of neat that you can watch how much you generate over the day/week/year. If you're a new solar panel owner, you hit this site about every 10 minutes or so! But once the blush wears off, we've been checking it out every couple weeks. And what's nice is that if "something happens" like a sudden drop off in generation, they will send an email to our installers to let them know something is up. Like a tree grows and begins to shadow the panels, etc.

Here's our electric bill from the year before our panels (2009-2010); And this past year (2010-2011);

(See where the months we didn't over generate we were actually charged less? I had to laugh at that...)

So in the end would I do it again? In a minute. Even with all the credits, savings, rebates, etc, payback is still 7-10 years, so they are not a short term investment. If you plan to keep the property, they will pay off nicely in the long term. Think about how great they would be when on a fixed income/retirement!

We've been nothing but happy and the future is looking even brighter...

Read more about the Duncan Family's solar installation on Greg's blog:

• Solar Panel Installation - We're cooking with Solar!
• Solar Panel Installation Update - The Two-Dollar Electric Bill
• Solar Panel Update - Solar Power in the Southern California Winter - the $1 electric bill
• Our year in the sun... with solar power... (Original version of this post)

For more information on how you can go solar this summer, read more about Solarize Santa Barbara.

Last week the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors took one step closer to generating a significant amount of the county government's electricity with solar power.  There are two solar projects currently underway:

• One at the Laguna County Sanitation District sewer treatment plant that will be one of the largest solar energy projects in Santa Barbara County to date.
• One adjacent to the county jail on Calle Real

Both projects come in at 1MW each; creating enough electricity to power about 400 homes.

Last week, both projects sailed though the County Planning Commission, but the project at the jail still needs Board approval for funding.  The Laguna Sanitation District project is already funded through a Qualified Clean Energy Bond (QCEB). The Calle Real project is hoping for the same type of bond funding.  On Tuesday the Board approved an application for a QCEB, but they must receive the bond and then the Board must approve the final contract.

While there is still some uncertainty, we are hopeful that both projects will move forward. 

If constructed, these projects would increase the amount of solar in Santa Barbara by approximately 30%. 

To keep updated on both projects, subscribe to CEC’s enews.

Solarize Santa Barbara makes it easier and cheaper to go solar. CEC’s Solarize Santa Barbara is a new group-purchasing discount program for homeowners who want to go solar – kind of like a “Groupon” for solar panels. CEC does all the up-front work and makes it easy for you to go solar. When you participate in Solarize Santa Barbara, CEC will connect you with a pre-approved solar contractor who will give you a great value for a great solar power system.

Get started by attending an introductory workshop.

We’ll explain the benefits of buying in bulk with your neighbors, describe how to participate, and provide an introduction to the Solarize Santa Barbara program. Workshops will cover the basics of energy efficiency and solar, with plenty of time for you to ask questions.

Highlights include:

• Introduction to Energy Efficiency
• Basics of Solar Energy
• Financing Solar

RSVP on Facebook for the Santa Barbara Workshop and follow our Facebook Page for program updates.

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.