FRIDAY EXTRA: THERE GOES THE SUN?

DEVELOPING...
THERE GOES THE SUN?
Herman K. Trabish, March 16, 2007 (exclusive for NewEnergyNews)
- A million solar roofs sounds exciting but what people in the solar business are saying is disappointing.

- Rebate incentives for solar systems are NOT benefiting homeowners. People in solar system installation are beginning to wonder if there is some kind of funny business involving the big utilities like LA DWP, SC Edison and PG&E.
- The California Solar Initiative (CSI), passed last year as SB1 and signed by Governor Schwartzenegger with great fanfare, was supposed to create “a million solar roofs.” But the paperwork that comes with the state rebates is so burdensome, according to Paul Scott of EE Solar, the effect is to discourage installations.
- And, even worse, rebates have actually DECREASED from previous levels. Whereas previous rebates were as high as $2.80/watt, presently the best rebate is $2.50/watt and that is only IF—after time-consuming paperwork and inspections—the installation is determined by the local utility to be ideally positioned and oriented.

- “Is this some kind of collusion between utilities to dampen enthusiasm for solar installations?” Scott asks. “Because that is the effect it is having. If the utilities have other reasons for all this, let them voice them.”
- EE Solar is apparently reaping NONE of the supposed benefits CSI was supposed to create. And, worse, neither are consumers. Faced with triple the paperwork (some 37 pages for a typical home installation) a small installer cannot afford to do it on top of all the other responsibilities entailed in the work. Customers, Scott reports, are more than willing to put money down to buy a solar system but not when they discover that rebates are harder to come by, lower and necessitate extensive regulatory difficulties. “If the government’s intention was to increase solar energy installations, they went about it in a funny way,” Scott says.

- According to Scott, an average cost for solar energy is about $9000/kiloWatt, while rebates which had been $2800/kW are now at best $2500/kW.
- Regarding development of much-heralded new thin-film solar technologies, Scott said solar building materials such as tiles and roofing shingles are still highly inefficient. They require a lot more labor, are a lot more trouble to handle and generate a lot less power. A homeowner should consider them only for aesthetic reasons.
- The thin-film technology touted in recent photo-ops by President Bush, are only about a third as efficient as standard photovoltaic panels and considerably more expensive. For commercial buildings, where there is excessive roof space, if it is new construction or a re-roofing project where the roofing materials are part of the cost anyway, the new technology might make sense. But not when rebates are falling off and red tape is increasing.