October 01, 2004

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Palo Alto Online

Solar makes cents

by Tony Burchyns

W ith electricity prices soaring, more and more Palo Alto homeowners are turning like flowers toward the sun, seeking solar power.

To showcase how some converts to solar are using cutting-edge technology to evaporate their energy bills and sell power back into the utility grid, Palo Alto -- and several other Bay Area communities -- are offering solar home tours and workshops in the coming weeks.

In Palo Alto, the idea is to add renewable fuel to the solar fire.

"We have one of the highest rates of adoption for solar electricity nationwide," said Lindsay Joye, a Palo Alto Utilities marketing engineer. "It's a combination of strong environmental values, tech savvy and people with the funds to make the investment."

Since 1999, more than 80 Palo Alto homes and businesses have gone solar, a carbon dioxide-cutting move tantamount to the production of 37,000 trees, according to the utilities department.

The fifth annual Palo Alto Solar Home Tour will take place Saturday, Oct. 9. Two identical workshops on solar power are scheduled for 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. in City Council Chambers.

An open-house-style tour involving 11 solar-powered homes happens from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., along with a solar-power vendor fair on City Hall Plaza.

"At the workshops, people can pick up a map for the self-guided tour," said Joye, who urges interested Palo Altans to register online for spots in the workshops.

The cost of installing a solar system has been a deterrent in the past, but today a typical photovoltaic system, generating up to 2.5 kilowatts, takes less time than ever before to pay for itself.

Gone are the 20- and 30-year commitments.

"It can take 12 years," said Alex Legato, a technical sales representative for a Santa Clara-based solar systems company that's been in business 30 years. "In general, smaller systems usually cost between nine and 11 dollars per watt, and that's for the panels, the wiring, labor, warranties -- everything. The total would be anywhere between $20,000 and $25,000, before incentives."

And those incentives pack a wallop -- in a good way -- for solar panel buyers.

With state and local rebates worth thousands of dollars and a California income tax break worth 7.5 percent of the cost of the installed system, the price usually drops to about $12,000, Legato said.

A little elbow grease can bring it down more, as Susan Osofsky and Christel Casjens of Ross Road found out. The two women saved on labor when they installed their 12-panel system two years ago with the help of friends. After rebates, their 1.7-kilowatt system cost $7,000.

Osofsky and Casjens' one-story sloped roof home is featured on this year's solar home tour. If it's a sunny day, tour takers will be able to step into their back yard and watch their meter run backwards.

"The energy you don't use, it goes into the grid," Osofsky said, adding that she and Casjens receive credit on their energy bill for any power they generate but don't use. "Either we're using it, or our neighbors are using it -- and the electrons we're using may or may not be the ones we produce."

It's the kind of setup that allows modern solar users like Casjens and Osofsky to forgo expensive batteries to catch excess solar energy before it's wasted.

In the winter months, the two women buy conventional power using the money they saved during eight months of excessive solar production.

Even with backward-spinning meters, Joye said the solar systems in Palo Alto often take a few years longer to break even than those in neighboring cities because City of Palo Alto Utilities charges less for electricity rates than PG&E does.

Palo Alto residents currently pay an average of 8.5 cents per kilowatt-hour, while PG&E users in other cities pay 12.6 cents for the same amount of juice. As a result, the average energy bill in Palo Alto is $33 cheaper than the average PG&E user's bill, Joye said.

But if some homeowners are hedging on going solar because electricity rates are so good, the tide may soon be changing.

Palo Alto's 40-year contract with the federal government for hydroelectric power expires at the end of 2004, Joye said, so watch out for looming rate increases.

"We'll be buying more of our power on the open market, with greater exposure to market influences," she said.

While forecasted hikes in electricity prices -- along with Palo Alto's $4 per watt rebate on new solar installations -- may attract some Enron-weary homeowners toward the solar solution, others such as Osofsky and Casjens who've already put up panels tout green incentives and political motives first and foremost.

"What's the real cost of electricity?" Osofsky asked, adding that she wouldn't mind if it took 30 years for her own renewable energy source. "Extracting coal's really bad, going to war in Iraq for oil's really bad -- everyone as an individual has to take the action that they can. It starts with the individual."

For Joe Bellomo of Kipling Street, that means designing buildings that work individually with the sun.

Recently, Bellomo -- who runs his own architectural firm -- completed a modern two-story concrete and glass guesthouse on his property with eight solar panels installed on a trellis. The personal project is one of the 11 homes on next week's tour.

"It's really a good feeling," Bellomo said of his new 2-kilowatt system, which cost $8,000 after he took $10,000 in rebates and tax cuts. "I think it's pride of ownership -- you feel that you're creating power -- the concept is, the house is working for itself."

Bellomo said the system went online two months ago and will pay for itself in eight to 12 years.

He said he wanted to gracefully integrate his solar apparatus into the design of the guesthouse. As a result, the slightly tilted panels are barely visible from the street.

"It's not really an experiment, it's just combining what we've been doing and pushing it to the next level, building something's that sustainable," he said. "You can't always do it with every (pre-existing) house, but I think with new houses, with every commercial and residential building, you should use (a solar integrated design)."

Bellomo said he helped "Color of Palo Alto" artist Sam Yates design his eye-catching garage structure on City Hall Plaza, and added that his firm is working on a commercial project on University Avenue that involves extensive solar paneling.

"I'm confident that solar technology will be our energy source of the future," he said.

Editorial intern Tony Burchyns can be reached at tburchyns@paweekly.com.
What: San Mateo County 2004 Solar Home and Building Tour When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 2 Where: Start at Lunardi's Market; 1085 Alameda de Las Pulgas at Ralston Avenue in Belmont. Info: Several homes around the county, including ones in Menlo Park and East Palo Alto, will be staffed by the homeowner and the solar provider. Pick up a tour booklet after registering and choose which homes you'd like to visit. For information, call (888) 442-2666 or visit www.RecycleWorks.org. Cost: $15 per car group
What: San Jose/Silicon Valley 2004 Solar Home Tour When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 2 Where: Start at Santa Clara County Water District, 5750 Almaden Expressway, San Jose. Info: www.norcalsolar.org/tour/silicon/ or call (408) 279-5262 Cost: $15 per car group
What: Palo Alto Solar Home Tour and Vendor Fair When: 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 9 Where: Pick up a map at City Hall for the self-guided tour Info: Workshops at 11 a.m. and noon; call (650) 329-2241 or register online at http://www.cpau.com/events/stour/2004sht_form_new.html. Cost: Free

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