Reason No. 3 Why We Need a Solar Revolution

Reason No. 3 is sponsored by VoteVets.org, which has launched a $2 million ad campaign in support of a clean energy and climate bill.  Watch their one-minute ad called “Tough” and forward it to anyone you know who calls themselves a patriot.

The VoteVets ad clarifies a simple truth:  Over the next few decades, we’re going to follow one of two paths.  We will either waste money and lives fighting for every last drop of recoverable oil on the planet and then, when fossil fuels finally run out, witness economic devastation the likes of which we’ve never imagined.  Or we will devote our financial and human resources to a clean energy infrastructure that will help us transition smoothly to a post-carbon economy.  Which will it be?

–Erica Etelson

Reason No. 2 Why We Need Solar

In my last post, I took a pretty dim view of the looming climate legislation battle.  Treehugger has a different and more upbeat take, reporting that 22 high-on-health-care Democrats have already whisked off a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pressing for clean energy and climate legislation this year.

But let’s turn now to what a certain one-celled creature has to say about climate change and the need for a solar power revolution:  Last week, the National Academy of Sciences reported on the results of their efforts to create iron-rich phytoplankton blooms that could sequester carbon dioxide.  The researchers were able to generate massive blooms by dumping liquid iron into patches of ocean.  So far so good.  Except the iron-fertilized phytoplankton was found to harbor high levels of a toxin that is fatal to seabirds and marine mammals and can sicken humans who consume tainted shellfish.

Phytoplankton is the base of the marine food chain, so poisoning it doesn’t seem like such a hot idea.  The results of the 12-year experiment are a major setback to scientists who held out hope that fertilizing the oceans with iron could be a silver bullet in the fight to stop climate change. As lead researcher Charles Trick conceded, “It is an indication that we are not masters of nature when it comes to large-scale ecological manipulations.”

So what do poisonous plankton have to do with solar power?  The experiment should serve as a wake-up call:  We shouldn’t be wasting resources and time pursuing dangerous and improbable high-tech carbon sequestration schemes when we have proven, reliable and safe technologies like wind and solar that will prevent us from generating so much darn pollution in the first place.

There are all kinds of dicey ploys floating around, from geo-engineered trees and crops to shooting clouds of sulfur into the atmosphere.  There’s no need for desperate measures (yet).  Let’s start with what already works and reserve apocalyptically dangerous strategies for if and when there’s no other option.

–Erica Etelson

Smart Grid Consumer Collaboration Required

Part three of Danny’s Smart Grid series is up on SF Gate’s City Brights.

“The last thing that I’ll say about the emerging “smart grid” for now is that it not only requires support and political will; it not only needs all the brains in the Bay Area to engage in building cool tools to make it real; but it needs engaged consumers. This may be the missing piece in the phenomenon gripping electricity grids…”

Reason No. 1 Why We Need Solar Power

One of these days Congress is going to try to pass some kind of climate bill, and the word around the Beltway is that politicians with ties to the fossil fuel industry will dig their heels deep into the earth’s crust to eviscerate it.  In other words, if you think the health care brawl was tough, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet (and remember, the Senate passed the health care bill back when it had a filibuster-proof majority).

The climate bill/international treaty we need to stop catastrophic global warming is one that rapidly brings atmospheric carbon levels down to 350 ppm.  But the numbers floating around the Hill are more in the neighborhood of 450 ppm or no upward limit at all.  Legislating 350 ppm is the climate equivalent of a single payer health insurance system-it’s what the experts say we need and the pundits say is a political non-starter.

So if we don’t get the climate bill we need, where does that leave us?  It leaves us at the mercy of private industry (just like the health care bill leaves our well-being in the hands of private insurers).  Having just watched Capitalism: A Love Story, that proposition strikes me as pretty grim indeed.   On the other hand, there are some businesses (and we like to think Sungevity is one of them) that are deeply committed to selling goods and services that help people and businesses reduce their carbon footprints, and there’s not a climate skeptic in the world who can stop us.

By bringing solar down to a price that any homeowner can afford, solar companies are driving nothing less than a renewable electricity revolution.  If the government won’t do it, and the utilities won’t do it, we will…with your help. Become a solar evangelist by telling everyone you know about your solar lease, and help homeowners outside of California find local installers or PACE programs that offer assistance with financing.

Solar power alone won’t get us to 350.  But in conjunction with wind power, energy and fuel efficiency, and whatever climate bill or treaty does eventually pass, solar will be a big part of the solution.

For the rest of this week, I’ll be blogging on the theme of why we need a solar revolution–even the phytoplankton agree, as we’ll see in tomorrow’s post.

–Erica Etelson

Sungevity and U.S. Bank Create $24 Million Fund for Ten-Year Solar Lease

Solar home specialists offer first ever 10-year solar lease – making it easier than ever for California residents to get electricity free from the sun, with no money down, at the click of a mouse!

OAKLAND, Calif., March 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Sungevity, the leading online residential solar provider, announced today a new partnership with U.S. Bancorp to finance solar systems for Californian homes. U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) is the parent of U.S. Bank, the fifth largest commercial bank in the United States.

“We’re excited to partner with Sungevity on their solar lease program,” said Darren Van’t Hof, Vice President of Renewable Energy Investments for U.S. Bank. “We like the residential solar space and are convinced its growth will outpace commercial solar development in the coming years.”

Together the two companies have created a new tax equity fund to finance solar leases for Sungevity’s future customers. Sungevity has become a leader in the solar industry because of its ability to offer easy and affordable residential solutions with its unique online design and sales process.

“Sungevity has always put its customers first, and we are thrilled to be able to offer the best solar lease on the market with the first ever 10-year term using this fund while maintaining a service unparalleled by our competitors,” said Danny Kennedy, President and co-founder of Sungevity. “Having a great partner like U.S. Bank that believes in the power of solar helps ensure that more home owners than ever can reap the savings coming from solar power in their own homes.”

Sungevity started providing solar leases this month and has already sold one-quarter of a megawatt under the offer. Leveraging the easy online “iQuote” process, which enables Sungevity to use satellite images and aerial photography to assess customers’ roofs remotely and accurately determine the homes’ solar potential, the company has been able to furnish thousands of customers with a firm proposal to use solar power with no capital cost. Demand has been huge with over 1000 iQuotes requested through www.sungevity.com in the last week alone.

The offer gives most customers savings from the start of their Sungevity Solar Lease. The graphic compares a typical customer’s monthly electric bill over a ten year period – savings from the solar lease starts immediately and increases significantly over time.

“This is the killer app for driving the mass adoption of solar,” said Kennedy. “We’ve made it more than affordable to access electricity free from the sun, and we’ve made it easy by selling it over the internet.”

“The Sungevity Solar Lease is a game changer: In one day this month we sold more solar power than our previous biggest month – people are voting with their mouses to get a lower electricity bill and do something for the planet.”

About Sungevity: Sungevity is a solar sales company, with a mission to take solar to the mainstream market. Our company has a strong team that brings together successful start-up experience, environmental leadership and solar industry knowledge. Sungevity has designed and launched a unique online sales process to make it easy and affordable for homeowners to go solar.

About U.S. Bank: U.S. Bank is the fifth largest commercial bank in the United States. The company operates over 3,000 banking offices and over 5,000 ATMs, and provides a comprehensive line of banking, brokerage, insurance, investment, mortgage, trust and payment services products to consumers, businesses and institutions. Visit U.S. Bank on the web at www.usbank.com.

Get Involved in Smartening the Grid

Check out part 2 of Danny’s Smart Grid series on SF Gate’s City Brights.

“The difference between the 20th century’s electricity grid and the 21st century’s “Smart Grid” is data and how it is used to manage energy services. Think what an opportunity that represents for the knowledge workers of the Bay Area!”

Sungevity’s Preferred Installer Network

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The process of buying and selling solar involves lots of people. However, one of the most integral steps is the actual installation. At Sungevity, we utilize our Preferred Installer Network (PIN). Our PIN is made up of a group of highly trained, highly experienced and well-established solar installers and contractors. To join the PIN, installers must have passed Sungevity’s rigorous quality controls and adopted Sungevity’s proven installation practices and techniques.

Essentially, what Sungevity has accomplished with the creation of the PIN is to create a widespread network of extremely capable solar installers with local knowledge. Having your installers be part of a local crew means that they are familiar with any local issues and that when the install is complete, they aren’t going to simply vanish. Instead your PIN crew will remain a viable element of the solar community ready to help both you and your friends.

For me, one of the greatest parts of the PIN is that it is proof of the emergence of the green-collar economy. A Pew Institute study reported that the clean energy economy is growing robustly. Between 1998 and 2007, the clean energy economy grew at a rate of 9.1 percent, which is impressive when you look at it in the context of the traditional job market, which grew by only 3.7 percent during that same time period.

So how do these jobs play out in the solar industry? According to the Solar Living Institute, every megawatt of solar installed in the United States employs 10 people for a year. At the rate solar is currently being installed, that is a lot of jobs being created!

-Nat Smith

Thanks, SF Green!

SF Green/The Thin Green Line, the San Francisco Chronicle’s community page for environmental issues, plugged our new home solar lease today.  You can read the post, “Paying for Clean Energy Just Got Easier” here.

We’re thrilled to see our local news organizations recognize that new financing mechanisms like the solar lease are game changers in the world of distributed solar power generation.  The more homeowners understand how easy and affordable it is to go solar now, the more the solar industry will continue to grow and kick some coal n’ nuclear booty.

Where does my electricity come from?

Have you been lying in bed at night wondering where your electricity comes from?  Just in case, NPR developed this incredibly informative interactive map showing the location and energy source of all electricity in the United States.

Some points of interest on the map:  Look at the areas with the largest solar capacity, then click over to the areas that are the windiest–I was blown away (sorry) by the lack of overlap which, just to clarify, is a good thing because it means there’s a renewable source of electricity for everyone.  In some areas, like Northern California, we’re doubly blessed with high winds and big solar gain, yet wind and solar together comprise less than 3% of our total mix.

NPR also points out that, in the areas that are best for solar, one measly square foot can generate 260 kilowatt-hours a year (enough to power an Energy Star dishwasher for a year).  We have a moratorium on new nuclear plants in California and are going to lose hydroelectric capacity as the snow pack disappears.  Since utilities finally seem to grasp what most of learned in third grade about the finite nature of fossil fuels, the development of a massive renewable energy infrastructure is inevitable.  No time like the present.

–Erica Etelson

The nuclear boondoggle

How would you feel about a nuclear power plant being built in your area?  If you’re like most people (60%), you’d oppose it. So what’s up with the 40% who would be pleased as pie to live near a nuclear power plant?  How many of them would change their minds if they learned of the lax regulation and state of decrepitude of most plants in the United States?

In a recent article in The Nation, investigative journalist Christian Parenti exposes the dangerous reality of “zombie nuke plants” that are allowed to continue operating (sometimes at 120% capacity!) after their licenses expire.  The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) routinely renews the licenses of 20+ year old plants that do not meet today’s safety standards, including plants that are leaking radioactive substances into drinking water.  And, lest we not forget, we still don’t have anyplace to store the spent fuel during the 10,000 years it will take to cool.

Nuclear power isn’t just dangerous, it’s outrageously expensive.  At $10-$18 billion per plant (not counting cost overruns), the nuclear power industry is hard-pressed to find investors or insurers who will put up that kind of money.  Ratepayers in California are still paying off $25 billion in stranded costs of the Diablo Canyon plant built in San Luis Obispo in 1985.

Despite all these drawbacks, the NRC has 19 applications for license renewals and a handful of applications for new plants, and the Obama administration has offered up to $54 billion in loan guarantees.  As a solar company, we can only dream of what we could achieve, with $54 billion (and we’re pretty confident that far fewer than 40% of Americans would object to living next door to a rooftop PV array).

Share your thoughts:  If you were energy czar, what would you do with a cool $54 billion?

–Erica Etelson