“Solar is really a great financial investment because it can pay for itself in a relatively short time,” says Stanley, whose company provides solar consulting, system design and installation. He notes that installed systems start at about $19,000.
Solar allows customers to create their own electricity and lower their overall utility bill, Stanley says. In addition, they can sell unused energy back to their local electric utility in the form of credits. Moreover, the long-term maintenance costs are low compared with other energy sources, he says.

“I certainly have customers that are very environmentally conscious and put in solar specifically for that reason, but most of them do it because they’ve analyzed the numbers and recognized that they can get a strong return on their investment in a short period of time,” Stanley says. “For them, the environment is a fringe benefit.”

This practical approach is one reason why Shockoe Solar is thriving in a down economy. The company, begun in 2008, had gross revenues of $540,000 last year and now has five employees. Stanley says that he already has signed contracts worth over $600,000 this year, and he expects that several pending projects that are awaiting financing will push company revenue over $1 million in 2010.

Stanley, who holds a Class A contracting license, spent years building and renovating high-end homes. “When people think of solar, they’re thinking panels and plugs, but it’s really a construction project,” he states, noting that installations can also involve clearing trees, digging holes and trenches and pouring concrete.

Stanley says that while most of his clients are homeowners, he has begun to make inroads into the commercial market. His customers include a veterinary clinic and a large grocery distribution center. His goal is to convince more businesses of the bottom-line justification for solar. “It will take some education for some people to see this as more than a novelty and really a smart business move,” he says, noting that some businesses are willing but can’t get loans. “However, I think it will catch on sooner than later because electric rates are only going to keep rising, and the cost of solar is coming down.”

Original post:  http://www.virginiabusiness.com/index.php/news/article/bottom-line-still-rules-in-solar-decisions

Shockoe Solar from Bernie Stanley on Vimeo.

The best way for owners to maximize their energy system is to make their homes more energy efficient.  Buying energy efficient appliances and moderating heat and air condition can greatly reduce energy consumption.

The Kristiansand-based company has now accomplished its three primary objectives. Silicon production costs have been significantly reduced compared to conventional production. Energy consumption has been cut dramatically. All the while, its efficient methods preserve the power output of silicon-based solar cells manufactured at its facilities, compared to silicon solar cells produced by traditional means.

Traditional production of silicon involves first gasifying the raw material, a costly and energy-intensive method. Elkem’s method is based on traditional metallurgy; the raw material is melted and then undergoes several processing stages to prepare 10-kg silicon blocks for sale to solar cell producers. This method makes production more cost-effective and energy-efficient and is suitable for large-quantity production.

“The market potential is vast, but the financial crisis has led to major reductions in the market price for our product,” says Dr Tronstad. “To be competitive it’s essential to drive production costs down.”

The Research Council of Norway. “Cutting Costs in Silicon Production.” ScienceDaily 15 April 2010. 16 April 2010 <http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2010/04/100415085313.htm>.

Most anyone can get “radically” sustainable with home solar power these days. If you live in any one of the 29 states with mandatory renewable electricity standards (RES), a number of avenues are already mapped for you on the road to home solar power.

Utilities need renewable energy and they need it now — a fact that’s pushed many to come up with innovative ways to get their customers to purchase renewable energy.

Options are out there for everyone. Check out yours below.

Homeowners

If you’ve got the cash, the rooftop is your oyster. Unfortunately for most of us, solar power is still quite an expensive investment despite falling costs. So the federal government, states, utilities, cities and counties have set incentives in place to promote the widespread use of home solar power. Financing options are abundant:

Solar Loans

Some are simple loans, similar to what you’d get buying a new car, and are available from states, utilities, solar installers and private firms. But in a constricted economy, that’s often not enough. Even if loans are available, $20,000 to $30,000 in debt is too daunting, so a good discount or diversion is a welcome addition to the equation.

Programs with No Up-Front Costs

Most radical of late is a program first conceived and implemented in Berkeley, California. Known locally as FIRST and nationally as PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy), the idea is to offer municipal bonds for home solar power systems that leave the homeowner paying little or no up-front costs. Instead, those initial costs are carried by the city or county and paid back through a voluntary increase in property taxes. The real ingenious part is that the cost of the solar power system is tied to the property and not the owner, reducing risk for all parties involved and giving birth to a wave of solar rooftop opportunities. Berkeley’s pilot program sold out in under 10 minutes, and a host of other cities are adopting the idea led by the national PACE guidelines.

Group Buying for Cheaper Rates

Group buying is another burgeoning grassroots solar discount option. Around the country, neighbors and communities are getting together to save money on solar power. It’s the same principle that makes buying cereal from the grocery store out of a bin cheaper than out of a box; the more you buy at once, the lower cost per unit. Group buying in solar power enables homeowners and neighborhood organizations to bargain collectively for cheaper solar rates.

Savings can be very substantial and all parties benefit, from the money-saving homeowner to the installer who gets to install, say, 20 systems within a few square blocks. One Block Off the Grid (1BOG), SolarCity and a handful of other companies and nonprofits are leading the way in community solar power.

Solar Leasing Options

SolarCity also offers solar leasing options that essentially allow homeowners to “rent” solar panels, contribute to a better environment and save a decent percentage on their utility bills.

Renters

As new and improved as home solar financing options are, the truly radical and innovative steps toward distributed solar power involve the other side of residential power consumption: renters. Going solar is usually tough for renters. There’s no control over the property and usually no permanence to the living situation.

Yet renters occupy a high percentage of homes in many cities, especially college towns, where youth are at the front of the green movement but lack the means to take major steps, like installing solar power.

Cities like Santa Cruz, California, however, are working to motivate renters and landlords to go solar. It may sound like a tough job, considering that renters usually pay the electric bill and landlords are rarely present, but plans are in the works and we’ll see what blows out of that brainstorm.

Solar Shares & Renewable Energy Offsets

More readily available are options like solar shares or renewable energy offsets from the utility company. I myself am a renter and 100 percent of my household electricity is renewable, with no solar panels, wind turbines or geothermal heat pumps to speak of. And checking a box was all it took to make it happen.

Now, living in Portland, Oregon, the majority of that renewable power comes from wind out of the Columbia River Gorge, but solar power is increasingly available here, there and everywhere in the United States. Utility-scale solar power is not without its obstacles, but it is growing, and utilities are offering that power to customers at a typically reasonable monthly fee, usually less than $10 per month (based on personal experience).

Community Solar Arrays

In some cases, utilities build municipal solar arrays and sell “shares” of the resulting solar power to renters or homeowners without the means for their own solar system. Such community solar arrays are popping up in Sacramento, Tucson, and elsewhere. As of now, they’re more about serving the environment than saving money.

In fact, that’s what being a “solar renter” is all about, and perhaps what makes it the most radically sustainable part of the solar industry. These days, economics dominate the discussion about solar and renewable energy. The debate is very heated as to whether solar can ever be as cheap as coal or natural gas. Yet the truly pressing need is to curb climate change, and the more renters that buy shares of solar power, the more arrays utilities will build and the bigger dent we’ll make in solving climate change.

There are a plethora of ways to get radical about sustainability, from eating and volunteering locally to composting to recycling and everything in between, but know that it can be as easy as checking a box and spending a movie ticket’s worth of extra cash each month. Check your local listings.

Original source:  http://solar.calfinder.com/blog/going/going-radically-green-with-residential-solar-power/; photo from http://www.saic.com/feature/energy/solar.html

System:  8.9 kW roof mount
Module:   Schott Poly 220
Inverter:  Enphase Micro-Inverter
Mounting:  S-5! Mounting system

See what the system is doing on this public link:

http://enlighten.enphaseenergy.com/public/systems/Scvu2674

Schott solar panels mounted on residential roof

S-5 mounting bracket holding Schott solar panel