DIY Solar Power System
June
Breaking news on rising rnergy costs in California…
From Associated Press : “Calif. regulators approve SoCal Edison rate hikes”
ROSEMEAD, Calif.—California regulators have approved a Southern California Edison Co. rate hike that adds $2 to $4 a month to the average residential bill.
Rosemead-based Edison says rate hikes are necessary to upgrade transmission lines and buy equipment.
The California Public Utilities Commission approved the increases Thursday. The hikes go into effect April 4.
PUC president Michael Peevey says it will add $2 to the average monthly residential bill of $85, but consumer groups estimate it’s closer to $4. Rates for business firms also increase.
Edison estimates 65 percent of its 4.3 million residential customers would see little or no change in their monthly charges because they participate in special programs for low-income families or consume little power.
From Orange County Register : “Regulators approve $2.1 Billion electric rate hike”
State regulators have approved a rate hike that will give Southern California Edison an extra $2.1 billion in revenue over the next three years.
The hike will raise the average residential bill $2 or so, to $85 a month, officials said.
Some details of the proposal changed on the dais, but regulators granted the utility $106 million for employee incentive pay, and $4.4 million to start re-licensing San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, where licenses expire in 2022.
Thursday morning, the California Public Utilities Commission chose the greater increase of two rate hike proposals before it, on a 4-1 vote. Emerging victorious was a slightly-scaled-down plan penned by commission president – and former Southern California Edison executive – Michael Peevey.
The rejected proposal would have given Southern California Edison a smaller increase – about $1.4 billion over three years. That was not enough.
“I cannot support a decision that would leave California hamstrung,” Peevey said. The less-expensive rate hike “would require deferral of vital infrastructure projects and potentially lay off hundreds of workers,” he said.
Commissioner Dian Grueneich was the only one to disagree.
“If ever there was a time to leave these dollars in the hands of Southern California Edison’s customers, now is the time,” said Grueneich.
The smaller increase was robust and prudent, she said. It would have saved ratepayers $765 million over the next three years, while still allowing Southern California Edison to invest in infrastructure.
Grueneich took particular exception to Southern California Edison’s claims that the smaller increase would force it to lay off 1,000 workers. “Edison’s claim defies logic,” she said, suggesting the utility was “crying wolf.”
More excerpts:
“Edison is taking advantage of economic concerns to drive through rate hikes that can only add to the pain,” TURN executive director Mark Toney said in a prepared statement. “The CPUC did all Edison customers a disservice today.”
That sentiment was echoed by the Division of Ratepayer Advocates, the PUC’s independent consumer advocacy arm. This decision gives Edison “excessive revenue increases,” it said in a prepared statement.
“The cumulative amount of the increases and the resulting rise in electric rates will impose an additional financial burden on Edison’s Southern California customers and households during these difficult economic times,” said DRA Deputy Director David Ashuckian in the statement.
For the full story click here .
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June
Media Advisory: Porsche to Receive First-Ever Certificate of Recognition for New Solar Panel Installation at its
Award to be Given to Porsche by Green Valley Initiative at Dedication Ceremony
Porsche will dedicate and reveal its extensive new solar panel system at a ceremony being held this Thursday, March 19, 10:30am at its Regional Support Facility in Ontario, California. The solar panel power array is the first on a Porsche facility in the U.S. and one of the area’s most significant. Porsche partnered with HelioPower and Sharp on the project.
At the ceremony, Porsche’s new solar panel installation will receive the Inland Empire’s Green Valley Initiative (GVI) award, the first ever “Certificate of Recognition” for environmentally sound projects in the region. GVI is a regional effort to establish the Inland Empire as a leader in green and clean technologies, a collaborative effort that will bring jobs, commerce and a better quality of life to the region. The Green Valley Initiative is a cooperative effort between government, business, academic and community leaders from throughout San Bernardino and Riverside counties, and is a project of the nonprofit Green Institute for Village Empowerment.
The Ceremony will feature speeches from Porsche Cars North American (PCNA) representatives, and city and state officials, HelioPower, Sharp, as well as attendance by local environmental organizations.
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HelioPower and groSolar have been awarded the new San Diego 1BOG program, which kicks off this week. The program brings homeowners together to secure group pricing for solar power installations.
From the 1BOG website:
We’re extremely happy to have partnered with both solar integrators, and they are working very closely on this program with each other to keep it simple and provide the same pricing and service to all 1bog participants. When we decided to chop up San Diego I anticipated a 4 hour conversation before we had an equitable split of territory, and it actually only took 30 seconds. groSolar said, “We’re thinking this, what do you think?” to which HelioPvower replied, “yup that works for us.” And since then they’ve been meeting regularly to discuss best practices for the program. (Dave Llorens, co founder)
From the groSolar RFP response: “From the panels to the smallest bits you’ll see us use the highest quality parts in the business. We build our systems to last, and back them with a full system 10 year warranty. Moreover, if your system goes down, we will fix it in one day or pay you for the lost power until we do get it fixed –this is our one day reliability guarantee and it is also good for 10 years. This guarantee is not just your standard manufacturer’s warranty, but is in fact our pledge that we will stand behind the return on investment promised in each of our proposals, and we will put it in writing and back it up with our pocket books.”
From the HelioPower RFP response: “HelioPower has installed systems in the San Diego area for almost a decade. We were founded in San Diego in 2001 and have a strong customer base and reputation for quality in the area. We actively participate in area events including Green Build San Diego, Western Days, the Avocado Festival, Temecula Balloon & Wine festival, as well as various Earth Day events. Tyler Michael, one of our local San Diego sales reps, is the trusted resource for CCSE when referring utility customers to an expert on the complex NSHP program. HelioPower is also proud of the fact that we’ve installed almost a dozen utility projects specifically for SDGE. We are very familiar with interconnection and permit requirements and have processed hundreds of solar rebates in San Diego.”
HelioPower will be working in the Northern San Diego area, with groSolar taking southern San Diego. More information is available on the 1BOG website .
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May
Featuring Patrick Conlon of the Palm Desert Energy Independence Program, HelioPower will host a
free Solar Financing Q&A session, Tuesday, March 24 at 6pm. The event will be held in Conference rooms 1 & 2 of the Henderson Community Building, 72559 Hwy 111 Palm Desert, CA 92260-3306. Financing solar power systems for residential and commercial properties will be the focus of the free seminar.
Palm Desert’s Energy Independence Program is a model initiative for cities in California. Based on AB 811 legislation, the program works to support energy efficiency and renewable energy installations financed through city loans which are paid back through property tax assessments. For more information, click here .
“Solar in our community is becoming more and more affordable with the help of Palm Desert’s Assembly Bill 811 which will cover their costs of their system and is paid back though their property taxes at a low interest rate,” said HelioPower Energy Consultant, Matt Rifkin. “We want every single homeowner in the city of Palm Desert to realize the opportunity that their community is offering them,” he explained.
Rifkin and his “Team Desert” partner, Matt McPherson, are hosting the event on behalf of HelioPower. They most recently participated in the “Bright Ideas Expo” held by the city on March 14.
“Team Desert is excited to host the event on March 24 th at the Henderson Building. We are hoping to get a great turnout from Palm Desert residents and commercial building owners,” said Matt McPherson. “HelioPower would like to educate the residents of Palm Desert on the amazing program that their city is providing, which allows residents to install solar for almost no money down. By educating homeowners and business owners we hope to help the city of Palm Desert reach its goal of reducing city wide energy consumption by 30% by 2011.”
Palm Desert continues to participate in pushing initiatives that further solar deployment, not only in their city, but statewide. Area newspaper, The Desert Sun , quoted Mr. Conlon on March 12 concerning his efforts to get AB 432 addressing utility feed in tariffs passed. For K. Kaufman’s article, “Palm Desert eyes new solar plan,” click here .
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March
"Porsche Makes Solar Sexy"
Posted by (1) Comment
GVI’s Craig Keyes and Deniene Husted Present Recognition Award to Porsche
On Thursday, March 19, Porsche Cars North America, Inc. hosted a dedication ceremony to celebrate the installation of a new solar panel system at the Porsche Logistics Center in Ontario, CA. The solar power system was designed and installed by HelioPower at 5100 E. Ontario Mills Parkway, using 372 solar modules from Sharp and will produce 135,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of renewable electricity per year .
Following is a recap of what our esteemed speakers had to say about this landmark achievement.
“At Porsche we a have an employee program called Green Choice. It basically says let’s think before we act and make environmentally responsible choices. That’s exactly what we’ve done here with the installation of our new solar panel system.”
Tim Quinn, Vice President of Aftersales, PCNA
Rob Nemchik, General Manager, Porsche Logistics Services
“This is another important milestone in Porsche’s long-term strategy for environmentally friendly and sustainability projects that also makes sound business sense.”
Paul Leon, Mayor, City of Ontario, CA
“We hope many more companies in the area will catch the green initiative they have demonstrated here today.”
Jess C. Vizcaino, Jr., Senior Congressional Representative to Congressman Joe Baca, 43rd District
“California is in the forefront of green technology investment. The new solar power system here in Ontario is an investment that will pay huge dividends for our future.”
Bonnie Montoya-May, Chair, U.S. Green Building Council-Inland Empire 
“I didn’t realize how much Porsche had done to support sustainability until a couple of days ago. I hope you will continue to bring that initiative forward so that other companies will follow your example.”
Steve LoRusso, Vice President of Sales, HelioPower
“The world is on fire and it is companies like Porsche who are doing something about it.”
Deniene Husted, Communications Director, Green Valley Initiative 
“Porsche is saying it’s sexy to go solar. I hope people are hearing that message loud and clear.”
This commercial-scale solar power system will avoid the emission of more than 50,000 pounds of carbon dioxide annually. It represents one of the more significant solar installs in the Ontario metro area.
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