Solarize Santa Barbara Open Until August 30! #gosolar
CEC's community-led, solar group-purchasing program is back to help residents of Southern Santa Barbara County #gosolar. This year's program will…
Announcing Solarize Nonprofit: A No Cost Solution To Help Nonprofits #GoSolar
CEC is proud to announce the launch of Solarize Nonprofit, a new pilot program to help local nonprofits go solar…
Meet the Murrays: CEC’s 500th Solarize Customer Drives on Sunshine #gosolar
Santa Barbara residents Jill and Michael Murray have always had an environmental interest in going solar. However, even with two…
Clean Energy Revolution Sweeping California #sbcenergychoice
Click here now to sign a letter of support for clean energy. Community Choice Movement A powerful new tool is…
A Billion Solar Watts for the South Coast: A Major Milestone #gosolar
Reaching a Major Solar Milestone on the Anniversary of the Refugio Oil Spill For a community that defines itself by its…
Breaking Down Barriers to EV Adoption
Electric vehicles are on the rise, and nowhere is the growth as fast as in California, where nearly half of…
Two Big Wins For Rooftop Solar #gosolar
The final days of 2015 brought encouraging news for homeowners looking to go solar, with policies secured at both the federal and…
Updated Alert: Protect Rooftop Solar in California
Original Alert: Protect rooftop solar and net metering in California by signing this petition now.
Result: Over 130,000 people, 270+ of which were CEC followers, took action to protect rooftop solar in California. This overwhelming display of support marks the largest number of public comments ever recorded at the CPUC.
IOUs vs. Munis: A strong case for Community Choice Energy
A recent article from the L.A. Times makes a strong case that Independently Owned Utilities (IOUs) are more expensive than…
Solar Fuels a Retirement Plan #gosolar
When retirement knocked on the door of Arroyo Grande residents Angela and Mark Goble, solar answered.
A Solar Dream Come True
When a Solarponics representative flipped on the solar array at Ed and Irene Rush’s Atascadero home, it fulfilled a dream 35 years in the making.
Modern Day Money Trees
Ten years ago, Stephen had realized that he could either continue to pay his power company for increasingly expensive electricity, or he could invest in solar. Once he recouped his initial outlay on the investment, he reasoned, he could bask in free electricity for the duration of the panels’ life — between 30 and 40 years.
Donna & Patrick saved with Solarize Santa Ynez Valley
Despite their appreciation for the environmental benefits of solar power, Donna and Patrick Will thought converting to solar energy would never make financial sense for them. However, after hearing about the Solarize Santa Ynez Valley program, the Wills decided to take another look at solar.
The Kellys Are Driving on Sunshine Thanks to Solarize Santa Ynez Valley
Rick Kelly and his family are self-described “energy hawks,” always looking for ways to improve the energy efficiency of their home. After switching all their lighting to LED bulbs, Rick -- a business manager at UCSB -- was looking for more. Intrigued by solar electricity, he attended a homeowner workshop about Solarize Santa Ynez hosted by CEC and the Santa Ynez Valley Alliance. At the workshop, another homeowner brought up the topic of combining home solar and electric vehicles (EVs), and it spurred Rick to do his own research.
Free Solar Advice and Peace of Mind with Solarize
Who doesn’t dread that monthly moment of opening a mailbox or an inbox and finding a stack of bills waiting to be paid? Electricity bills, cable bills, phone bills, medical bills—like hungry young birds in a nest, they sit there silently peeping until their demands are met.
Ty Lewis, a city employee of Paso Robles, set out to eliminate or significantly reduce one of the more common ones in his pile: his electricity bill.
From Solar Heated Boxes to Hot Air and Water
“6,000 Years of Solar” is a series about the history of solar energy technology drawn from John Perlin’s new book Let It Shine: The 6,000-Year Story of Solar Energy. The series profiles the fascinating people, from ancient Greece and China to late 19th century New York to today, who have made the present day solar revolution possible.
Entering the Driving on Sunshine Galaxy
When Tal first learned about ‘driving on sunshine,’ or powering an electric vehicle with solar energy produced by panels on your home, it seemed like a science fiction fantasy come to life.
The Last Piece of the Renewable Energy Puzzle for One Arroyo Grande Family
Kevin could never get solar panels to pencil out economically...until CEC's Solarize San Luis Obispo program came along.
A Conservative Embraces Driving on Sunshine
Aaron is not your typical “go green” kind of guy. He thinks that the country’s solar industry has been too heavily subsidized. And don’t get him started on climate change. None of that, however, stopped Aaron from installing solar panels on his home or purchasing a plug-in hybrid vehicle. Come again?
A Clean Energy Future
Cameron Clark is a local freelance website designer interested in clean energy issues and environmental sustainability. He is also a member of the Santa Barbara County Water Guardians.
America is a country that rises to a challenge, albeit sometimes reluctantly. Winston Churchill observed: “You can always count on Americans to do the right thing—after they've tried everything else.” Nowhere is that more true than energy.