Vote for the Solar Lease

Love your lease? Wish millions of Americans could learn about how they too can lease solar panels for their homes? Your dream — and ours — is about to come true…

In April, Planet Forward is airing an Earth Day Special on PBS that will feature the energy innovation idea that won the most votes. The Solar Lease is the first idea to be nominated — help make it a winner by voting for it.  Go to http://planetforward.org/idea/leasing-solar-panels/ and click on the blue thumbs up icon.  (You’ll have to register to vote but it only takes a minute).

Thanks for showing the lease some love!

Heads up green bargain hunters!

If you like shopping online and you want to buy products with the Green Business Seal of Approval, Green Deals is for you. You can also sign up at Green Deals to receive green deal alerts in your inbox. And while you’re on the Green Deals site, be sure to check out the Green Living tip of the week–all the bamboo utensils in the world won’t create a sustainable economy, so when you’re done shopping, turn off your computer and go find that weatherstripping you bought in November but never installed.

Moving toward a Solar-Powered Union

President Obama scored big with clean energy advocates during his State of the Union speech last night, likening the need for clean energy technology to the race to put a man on the moon.  Here’s an excerpt:

Already, we’re seeing the promise of renewable energy. Robert and Gary Allen are brothers who run a small Michigan roofing company. After September 11th, they volunteered their best roofers to help repair the Pentagon. But half of their factory went unused, and the recession hit them hard. Today, with the help of a government loan, that empty space is being used to manufacture solar shingles that are being sold all across the country. In Robert’s words, “We reinvented ourselves.”

That’s what Americans have done for over 200 years: reinvented ourselves. And to spur on more success stories like the Allen Brothers, we’ve begun to reinvent our energy policy. We’re not just handing out money. We’re issuing a challenge. We’re telling America’s scientists and engineers that if they assemble teams of the best minds in their fields, and focus on the hardest problems in clean energy, we’ll fund the Apollo projects of our time.

Obama went on to call for 80% of our electricity to come from “clean energy sources” by 2035 and to pay for the transition by eliminating billions in oil industry subsidies:  “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but they’re doing just fine on their own.  So instead of subsidizing yesterday’s energy, let’s invest in tomorrow’s.”

Great line — you gotta love the guy. Unfortunately, Congress isn’t exactly chomping at the bit to redistribute money from the fossil fuel industry to clean energy. And many members seem to think that government cannot accomplish anything and shouldn’t even try. Let’s hope Congress can get beyond partisan posturing to embrace clean energy solutions we all know are good for the environment and the economy.

Obama is trying hard to move us forward on energy in the face of some of the most hostile and powerful special interests that have ever fed at the trough.  In a era when uttering the word “government” without the requisite sneer can lead to charges of socialism, this is no small thing.

Obama’s clean energy proposals are spelled out in greater detail in a Fact Sheet released by the White House. His budget would increase spending on clean energy technology by a third over 2010 levels, double spending on energy efficiency and increase spending on renewables by 85% with a specific goal of bringing the cost of solar down to $1/watt. If that’s socialism, bring it on.

–Erica Etelson

Sungevity Launches .org Website to Support Schools & Non-Profits, Help Local Communities Go Solar

Helen Hunt and Ed Begley, Jr. to Join Kick Off Event at Participating School for

First-of-its-Kind Solar Partnership

OAKLAND, Calif. – Jan. 25, 2011 – Sungevity, the nation’s fastest growing provider of residential solar installations, today announced the launch of Sungevity.org as an innovative way to help schools and non-profit organizations raise money while getting more homeowners to put solar on their rooftops.

Organizations can raise $1000 by bringing Sungevity new solar customers. For every customer that a participating non-profit or school sends Sungevity’s way, the company donates $500 to the school or non-profit and gives the customer a $500 American Express gift card (or the organization can opt to collect the full $1000).

“Our online solar leasing system is designed to make it simple for homeowners to go solar,” said Danny Kennedy, Sungevity Founder. “Like our dot.com site, the .org program now makes it easy for non-profits and schools to raise funds while getting their local communities to go solar. We are continuing to bring sunshine online with Sungevity’s innovative, first-of-its-kind partnership that goes well beyond the bake sale.”

To kick off Sungevity.org, the company is starting a partnership with the Westside Waldorf School in Pacific Palisades (Los Angeles) where Helen Hunt and Ed Begley, Jr. are hosting an event tonight at the school. Ms. Hunt is a Sungevity customer herself, having recently had a 7kW system installed on her home that is estimated to save her more than $200 per month on her electric bill.

Non-profits and schools can enroll in the Sungevity.org partnership through an easy online process that can be completed in minutes. In addition to the Westside Waldorf School and The Oaks School also in LA, non-profits engaging in the fundraising program include Rainforest Action Network, Green America, Clean Water Action and the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. The money raised is typically used for general funds (e.g, supplies, etc.) that are sometimes hard to come by for budget-constrained schools and non-profits that usually rely on only one fundraiser per year.

Go EPA!

Yesterday, the EPA revoked Arch Coal’s permit for a mountaintop removal mine in West Virginia. The decision strikes at the heart of the West Virginian coal mining industry which, having nearly mined out the state, is desperate to compete with Wyoming’s relatively cheap and abundant coal reserves.

Mountaintop removal is, believe it or not, exactly what it sounds like. The mining company blasts off the top of the mountain to get to the coal underneath it.  If you’re wondering where that mountain of dirt and rock winds up, it’s dumped in nearby streams, literally burying them alive under millions of cubic feet of debris.

Arch Coal’s “Spruce” mine would have been the largest mountaintop removal mine in West Virginia, a state whose topography was rewritten by years of Bush-era regulatory permissiveness.  In its ruling, the EPA stated that the Spruce Mine, which would bury seven miles of streams, would irreparably damage the environment and threaten the health of nearby communities.  Duh!

Arch Coal’s shares fell 2.3% upon news of the permit revocation.  Gee, that’s a shame.  Arch Coal said, without any discernible trace of irony, that it was “shocked and dismayed” by EPA’s action. Looking at aerial photos of mountaintop removal mines, I’m pretty shocked and dismayed myself.

The ruling comes at a time when the EPA is under fire from Republicans and coal-state Democrats eager to rein in EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. It’s an encouraging sign that the EPA is not going to back down in the face of threats.  The coal industry may be able to bully or buy half of Congress, but the EPA will holds its ground.

–Erica Etelson

The Dow of Solar

When a solar company like Sungevity tells you that going solar is a wise financial move, you may take it with a grain of salt.  After all, though we strive for honesty and transparency, we’re not what you’d call ” impartial.”  So don’t take it from us, take it from the twenty Fortune 500 companies who generate their own solar electricity to power their extremely profitable operations.

That’s right–the fossil fuel industry would have all believe that the bottom line of corporate America demands ongoing reliance on coal-burning power plants.  But if conventional electricity is such a good business decision, then why did Dow Jones install 13,000 solar panels on the roof of its 200-acre South Brunswick campus?  Why do Safeway and Federal Express and Johnson & Johnson generate solar power on their corporate rooftops? What about Dow Chemical–did it reincorporate to save the world rather than maximize profits while no one was looking?

What these profit-driven entities understand is that going solar pays big dividends and that these dividends will only increase as fossil fuel reserves dwindle. While coal, oil and gas will be long gone by the end of the century, the sun is predicted to continue shining for the next five billion or so years.  As the Taoist philosopher Lao Tzu said, “All difficult things have their origin in that which is easy, and great things in that which is small.”  Saving the planet is difficult, but making money by going solar is easy..and great.

–Erica Etelson

Passive homes

I was feeling pretty good about my old Berkeley home’s energy efficiency…it’s well insulated, not too drafty by 1924 standards, is solar-powered, and is inhabited by family members who,  like it or not, wear sweaters and hats instead of cranking the thermostat up above 62.  Then I read about passive zero-energy homes and am feeling green with envy indeed.

A passive home is built to maximize passive solar gain and is uber-insulated and ventilated.  Air warmed by nothing more than bodies and cookstoves stays indoors rather than heating up the outdoors.  In the summer, the design works in reverse, keeping the house cool without air conditioning.

The Landau family is building a passive home without a furnace in frosty Vermont. They’re spending an extra $50,000 more than it would cost to build a conventional house, but expect to make that money back in energy savings within 10 years.  Watch a video showing the Landaus house being built here.

Passive homes are a novelty in the United States but are old hat in Europe, where the cost of building a passive home is only 2-3% higher. (But you probably knew that already–name any energy policy or practice you want to see adopted in the U.S. and, odds are, it’s been in place in Europe for years).

Most of us aren’t building homes from scratch like the Landaus, but there’s plenty we can do to make our old houses way more efficient. And with a federal tax credit and a host of local rebates available now for home energy retrofits, there’s no time like the present.

–Erica Etelson

Sungevity awarded Green Seal

Sungevity is a proud new member of Green America’s Green Business Network.  Green America awards the Green Business Seal of Approval to businesses that go beyond product and service quality to set the highest standards in environmental sustainability and social justice, and work to solve, rather than create, environmental and social problems.

You may not be aware that Sungevity is a B Corporation (B for Beneficial), meaning our mission is far more complex than simple profit-seeking.  B Corporations meet rigorous, independent standards of social and environmental performance. Sungevity’s articles of incorporation explicitly consider the interests of its stakeholders, such as employees, communities, and the environment.  Since 2006, B Lab has certified 369 B Corps, launching a revolution described by Esquire as nothing less than “saving capitalism from itself.”

I don’t know about saving capitalism but, as a green B Corp, Sungevity is dead set on saving the planet.  Joining the ranks of hundred of other B Corps and companies in the Green Business Network, we’re putting unsustainable businesses on notice–go green or get out of our way.

–Erica Etelson

Sungevity Featured On PBS Nightly Business Report

Watch the full episode. See more Nightly Business Report.

Late last year, Sungevity was featured on PBS’ Nightly Business Report as part of Planet Forward’s series on energy solutions. Planet Forward is a forum for experts and citizens to engage on issues of energy, climate and sustainability. It features the best ideas on its website and on television.

Host Frank Sesno interviewed Danny Kennedy about Sungevity’s innovative remote design and leasing process for solar electric systems. Danny explained how this lowers the cost of going solar for homeowners, making solar cost competitive with fossil fuels.

Planet Forward has a page set up where users can discuss solar leasing. Check it out. We encourage you to visit the site and offer up your own suggestions.