July 30, 2010

From racecars to temperature changes, this has been quite the week for solar and environmental news. Check out this week’s hottest stories in today’s solar news roundup.

State of the Climate: The hottest story this week has undeniably been a report released on Wednesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that found this past decade to be the hottest decade on record. The annual “State of the Climate” report incorporated findings from over 300 scientists in 48 countries, using data from sources including “satellites, weather balloons, weather stations, ships, buoys, and field surveys.” The report doesn’t include data from 2010, which is predicted to exceed the hottest average global temperature ever recorded.

Solar Cells: On Tuesday, Vodafone Essar released a new kind of “solar cell” – a solar cellular phone! The phones are targeted towards Indians living in rural areas that lack access to electricity, but receive a lot of sun. The phone, which requires 8 hours of direct sunlight to fully charge provides 240 minutes of talktime and 200 standby hours. It’s currently priced at $32 and is expected to go on sale in stores in August.

The Sunshine Track: The NASCAR racetrack at Pocono Raceway has gone solar!   Pocono’s 3 megawatt, 250 acre ground-mounted solar system is finally up and running with 40,000 photovoltaic solar panels. Like SunRun home solar systems, the NASCAR system is tied to the grid, and provides enough energy for the whole racetrack and 1,000 neighboring homes. NASCAR estimates that the system will produce 72 million kWh of energy over the next 20 years, offsetting over 3,100 metric tons of CO2 every year.

Solar in Hawaii: Eric Wesoff also took some time this week to examine the state of solar in Hawaii – a state in which solar would be a “no-brainer” (lots of sun, high electricity rates). What he discovered was that despite the appeal of solar in the state, upfront costs continue to be the greatest barrier to going solar in Hawaii. Despite this, the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative has a goal of having 70% of the island’s energy come from clean sources by 2030.

And of course, we mustn’t forget to mention Good Morning America’s solar spotlight on Thursday! SunRun president Lynn Jurich spoke with GMA’s Sam Champion on affordable ways for homeowners to go solar. Judging from the great response we’ve received since yesterday, the future looks bright for clean solar power!

Please let us know if you’d like a particular story included in roundup. Happy weekend!

Can’t find the answers to your home solar questions? Look no further, Ed and Lynn are taking any questions you may have about going solar!

SunRun’s co-founders, Ed Fenster and Lynn Jurich, have created a solar webinar video series in which they’ll take your questions about home solar and answer them live. The first solar video in the series – an overview on home solar financing. Our next webinar will be recorded live, featuring call-ins from listeners. Watch Ed and Lynn discuss solar financing, solar leases, and solar power purchase agreements below!

Send us an email to submit questions for future webinars, and please stay tuned for the next airing. We can’t wait to see your questions.

This is the first in our series of guest posts from our SunRun customers! If you’re a SunRun customer and interested in writing a guest post for us, email nami@sunrunhome.com. We want to build a solar community here at SunRun and we’re always interested in adding new voices to our blog.

Hi Everybody,
My name is Ted Reynolds, a SunRun customer since June 2010, and I’ve been invited by their folks to blog on my solar experience, specifically my interaction with our solar panel system and how it has affected my lifestyle.

First things first: a little about myself. I am retired, married, and an “empty nester”.  I live in Orange County, Southern California, near the coast. I have an engineering background, love camping, fishing, hiking, my dog (and my wife, of course), reading, my computer and getting my hands in the dirt. I have a couple of favorite sayings: “All eyes and no sight,” by Shakespeare and “Bad luck is the residue of bad planning,” by an author whose name I’ve forgotten. All this, I believe, played into my decision to go solar.

I guess you could call me an environmentalist, but more of a practical kind. My philosophy is that if it is within your means to help, no matter what your age or situation, you have a duty to do so. Going solar, I decided, was the biggest, single impact I could have on the environment with no small effect on our future finances.  I am a practical person and I know large increases in the cost of electricity are coming!

I had looked into solar photovoltaic panels 3 or 4 years ago and decided that they were too expensive. But recently, I realized that rebates/tax credits would drop, electricity prices were increasing, and panel prices decreasing. No sooner had I started mulling this situation over when I received a serendipitous e-mail from Real Goods. I set up an appointment with Real Goods and had a long comprehensive consultation with their representative, David. After learning about the SunRun program, the decision to go ‘solar’ was easy. We finished up with a twenty-four module system, 5.04 kW DC, 4.3 kW AC. At present, it is turning out energy excess to our needs on most days. I am really happy with what I see so far!

SUMMARY FOR MONTH OF JUNE
Energy produced = 626.6 KwHrs.
Energy consumed = 438.6 KwHrs.
Energy credited = 188 KwHrs.

Keeping records like this has made me really aware of how much energy we are using – I will try to conserve more and find out ways to cut our consumption.

Cheers,
Ted

Don’t forget to check out Ted’s blog, where he keeps records of his energy generation and meter readings.

We’re excited to announce a new partnership with Toll Brothers and PetersenDean to provide new solar homes at The Preserve, a community in Yorba Linda, California. The Preserve, a community of 90 luxury homes that’s set to open in September 2010, features solar energy as a standard feature.   The community is being designed and built by Toll Brothers, the solar roofs are being built by PetersenDean, and SunRun is providing affordable solar service.  Homeowners will be able to move into a brand new solar-powered home for no additional upfront cost, and simply pay monthly for clean solar electricity.

Homeowners at the Preserve will pay a fixed rate of $42 per month for their solar power for the next 20 years.  They will save anywhere from $50-$100 month compared to homebuyers who opt out of solar panels.  SunRun will take complete care of every system, including maintenance, monitoring and insurance. Homeowners will move into a state-of-the-art home, complete with a solar roof designed and installed by PetersenDean.  It can’t get much easier and affordable to switch to solar than this.

Toll Brothers is leading the way in providing new homebuyers with things that are important to them – a more sustainable, affordable luxury home. It’s encouraging to see that a leading home developer such as Toll Brothers recognizes the advantage of clean solar electricity in building more affordable homes. Whether you’re looking to go solar in an existing home or in the market for a new home, SunRun offers a clean and affordable alternative to your utility.  If the enthusiastic early reaction to The Preserve is any indication, we hope to do a lot more of these homes with our partners in the future!

Happy Energy Independence Day from SunRun!

This July 4th, declare your independence from your utility, rising utility prices, and dirty electricity. Now, you have a choice. SunRun home solar is the best alternative to your utility today. Not only is home solar clean, but you’ll also be able to lock in your current electricity rates for the future. And best of all, it’s easy to switch – with SunRun, you can upgrade to solar power for little to no cost and your rates will be fixed for the next 18 years. No more unpredictable utility rate hikes.

It’s gotten even easier this summer to declare your freedom and bring clean solar power into your home, with SunRun – sign up with SunRun by July 5th and we’ll give you $610 cash back once you’re up and running. There’s no need to mail in any forms or take any other action. Just sit back, watch the fireworks, and you’ll have $610 cash back in your pocket.

Energy Independence means different things to different people, whether its freedom from rising electricity costs or dirty energy. The recent BP oil spill in the Gulf has been the most recent reminder of our nation’s need to free ourselves from the grip of fossil fuels. Running a country on dirty energy comes with costs outside of our electricity bills, including the loss of human lives, destruction of our environment, and devastation of our local economies. One SunRun homeowner likes the idea of being energy independent in his house because it’s about “saving money and leveraging the sun.” Another homeowner believes that we have to “get ourselves free from importing energy into our country.” And many simply believe that they are being “raked over the coals by the utility.”

What do you think? What does going solar mean to you? Let us know by leaving us a comment!

Millions of Americans tuned in Tuesday night to watch President Obama deliver his first address from the Oval Office. At the heart of the president’s speech was his diagnosis of the BP oil spill. If the disaster can be thought of as a disease, then treatment of the symptoms are the current efforts to clean up the spill and restore the Gulf Coast. But, like with any disease, the most critical step is to understand the cause and prevent a future outbreak. What began as an update on the oil spill cleanup efforts ended as a push for a clean energy future, led by solar, wind, and energy efficiency.

This oil spill was not merely an accident, but a consequence of “America’s century-long addiction to fossil fuels.” As Obama made clear last night, the larger lesson from the spill has been that “drilling for oil these days entails greater risk” and our nation must transition to a clean energy future. Cause and prevention are inextricably tied – preventing future oil spills require eliminating our dependence on oil. “The tragedy unfolding on our coast is the most painful and powerful reminder yet that the time to embrace a clean energy future is now,” President Obama declared, “Now is the moment for this generation to embark on a national mission to unleash America’s innovation and seize control of our own destiny.”

Clean technology continues to develop, but much of it is already available. A clean energy future is not, as Obama insisted, “some distant vision for America.” Our nation has already taken “unprecedented action to jumpstart the clean energy industry” with solar panels, wind turbines, and energy efficient windows. Your home pollutes more than two times what your car pollutes. Power your home with clean, solar energy, and you are making a bigger difference than you think. For each home that goes solar, 40% of that home’s pollution is offset. And for every six homes that go solar, 1 clean American job is created.

This is why we’ve created a national cause for 10,000 additional solar roofs in the U.S. in 2010, in addition to the 50,000 new solar roofs projected to be added this year. It’s clear that the time for a clean energy future is not in the future, but the present. We must, as our president urged us last night, “seize the moment….rally together and act as one nation” to make that hope a reality. People all over the country, including solar companies, are uniting behind the 10,000 Solar Roofs Challenge. What more are you waiting for?

Please support a clean energy future by spreading the word and joining the cause today.

SunRun is proud to announce that our very own Edward Fenster and Lynn Jurich have received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2010 Award in the Clean Tech category in Northern California!  The award recognizes outstanding entrepreneurs who are building and leading dynamic, growing businesses.  Ed and Lynn were selected by an independent panel of judges, and the award was presented at a gala event at the San Jose Fairmont Hotel on June 12, 2010.

As a Northern California award recipient, Ed and Lynn will now be considered for the Entrepreneur of the Year 2010 national program.  They’re so excited by the news and honored to be chosen as an award winner!

As the solar industry changes rapidly, throwing out new daily challenges, Ed and Lynn’s ability to adapt and keep SunRun at the forefront has defined SunRun’s culture and success.  Although SunRun continues to grow, Ed and Lynn are determined to continue SunRun’s commitment to community – both employee and customer – and innovation.

Last Friday, SunRun Vice President of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs, Holly Gordon, spoke at Colorado governor Bill Ritter’s final bill signing ceremony.  She spoke on the governor’s renewable energy efforts over the past 3 1/2 years, as well as House Bill 1267, one of the five bills signed on Friday.  With 5 Democratic and 4 Republican co-sponsors, HB 1267 is a bipartisan bill that will promote the growth of home solar power in Colorado.  With the passing of this bill, third-party providers, such as SunRun, will be able to quickly expand their partnerships with local companies, such as Namaste Solar, REC Solar, and Real Goods Solar.

House Bill 1267, as well as the other four bills the Governor signed on Friday, represent one of the strongest commitments to renewable energy and job creation in the nation.  Governor Ritter is one of the most forward thinking governors, in terms of clean energy, and since he’s taken office in 2007, he has signed 57 clean energy bills.  A few months ago, the governor signed House Bill 1001 – a landmark RPS (renewable portfolio standard) bill that mandated that utilities draw 30% of their energy form renewable energy sources by 2020.  Colorado now has the nation’s highest renewable energy standard and will have 100,000 solar roofs by 2020.

It was due to the strong support of Governor Ritter and his administration that SunRun came to Colorado in 2009.  SunRun removes the major barrier to solar for most homeowners by offering a solar lease, which allows them to get home solar panels for as low as $0.  Since SunRun entered Colorado, we’ve allowed hundreds of homeowners to go solar and have created clean, green local jobs, in return.  A recent industry study estimates that every 6 home solar installations creates 1 new job in the United States, or every 10 home solar installations creates 1 new, local job.  ”The benefits of those jobs trickle down to businesses in local communities when new companies buy new products,” Holly told an Associated Press reporter at the governor’s conference. Check out the video below to watch Holly’s speech.

We here at SunRun are proud to be doing business in Colorado and working with Governor Ritter and his administration.  It was an honor to be asked to participate at this event.  Many thanks to the Governor and his administration for their strong support for House Bill 1267 and commitment to a New Energy Economy.

SunRun is a finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2010 Awards and the San Francisco Business Times 2010 Green Business Awards!

The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award celebrates outstanding business leaders who have created jobs, encouraged innovation, development, and growth in the local economy.  SunRun president Lynn Jurich and CEO Edward Fenster have been selected as one of the top entrepreneurs who have not only demonstrated success in their performance but personal commitment to their community.  The winners will be announced on June 12, 2010.

The San Francisco Business Times Green Business Awards honors the top leaders in clean tech and green business and the winners will be announced on June 9, 2010.

SunRun has given thousands of homeowners across the nation access to clean, home solar electricity, and Lynn and Ed have made sure the company’s commitment to community is not forgotten in SunRun’s growth.  Congratulations to Lynn, Ed, and SunRun for their commitment to sustainability and community!