Do the right thing, Florida

Published on July 9, 2010 by Dan Hahn.
Categories: Florida.

Have you ever really been screwed? Not sexually impaled screwed, but screwed over? Of course you have. I’m not asking you this question to solely bring back terrible memories. I’m asking you this question so you can bring back some terrible memories, meaningfully resonate with the pain some of our fellow Americans are feeling in the Sunshine State, and do something to help them out.

Here’s the thing. Back in 2006 the Florida legislature approved a great solar incentive program, which paid many homeowners rebates for going solar. Since then, about $23M has been paid out, thousands of new jobs have been created, and residential solar looked like a damn fine investment across the state. The legislature let that program expire June 30th, 2010.

That’s a shame, however, what’s more of a shame is Florida owes residents money, roughly $30M, for going solar before the program expired. Some residents haven’t been paid for over a year. Clearly, the Florida state budget office is dealing with unprecedented constraints at the moment. Hell, they aren’t alone. If you compare their budget to Illinois’ it looks like a bunch of diligent, conscientious actuaries are at the helm.

But, there’s not much sense comparing a trash heap to a garbage dump. The forecasted Florida tax revenues for 2006-2010 were nowhere near their actual amount. The global financial crisis, poor oversight, and woeful contingency planning are to blame for the financial straits many states are now grappling with. Florida is no exception.

Good people, doing their best work, are being laid off from government payrolls. But, faced with the new reality of either raising taxes or cutting government programs, Florida has chosen to cut programs. That’s understandable and defensible in this environment, however failing to pay people what they are owed is not.

Cutting the solar program in the first place was a poor idea, since it contributed to expansion in the local solar energy industry – expansion that would have continued to provide the state with very needed tax revenues. Instead, it seems the heads of state are more interested in shooting themselves in the foot and digging into a deeper hole than investing in growth in business, jobs, and subsequent tax revenue.

Failing to pay Florida citizens what they are owed is not just a slap in the face, it’s irresponsible and fiscally reprehensible. To spurn these early investors kills trust and the partnership between Florida and its citizens, which was on the path to creating many more jobs and opportunities to all kinds of Floridians. We’re left with a smattering of muffled citizens who have been screwed over – by their own representatives who agreed to the deal in the first place. If this was an arrangement gone sour among the mafia, legs would have been broken by now – families in danger.

As we know from the healthcare crisis, a handful of people who get screwed over time and time again usually don’t get much attention until they unite together under a common umbrella and start to make some noise. A group in Florida has started the effort to rally the troops.

We at SPR knew things were a little amiss in Florida just from the chatter on our Florida solar info page over the past few months. However, I got a call yesterday from Jonathan Lee who apprised me of the situation on the ground. He partnered with Mike Pagozalski to head up an advocacy arm of a Florida solar company, STC group. They’ve created a website called, “Do the right thing Florida“.

There, you can help out by signing a petition to urge legislators to pay citizens what they’re owed for going solar. They’ve got district by district accounts of people owed money, and make it easy for you to contact your local Florida legislator by providing templates for letters. They need all the support they can get. Head on over to their site and sign their petition.

How to get hired in the solar industry

Published on July 2, 2010 by Dan Hahn.
Categories: Solar Employment.

I am still getting trickles of emails coming in from my post about how to get a solar sales job over two years ago from some very dedicated and creative people. Because of this, I felt it would be best to follow up with some very specific next steps for those of you still looking to make that career leap into the solar field. The following advice was adapted very closely from Derek Sivers’ aptly entitled, “How to get hired”. Use the following advice and get yourself that job! :

1. Look inward

Do some soul-searching to decide what you really want to do within the solar industry. There’s solar sales, system design, marketing, regulatory compliance/paperwork, customer service, support, IT, etc. Where could you fit?

2. Target and research the hell out of the company

Focus on one solar installer or manufacturer and find the one in your area you feel is doing the best. (The company needs to be near you already. If you don’t live near them, move there first, or choose a closer installer or company. Do not do this remotely.)

It doesn’t matter if they’re not hiring. Learn all about them. Read every page of their website. Get on their mailing list. Read every article about them. Study and memorize this info. Your research only takes a few hours, and is a much better use of your time than firing away resumes.

3. Make contact

Start contacting them to tell them how much you want to work for them. It doesn’t matter who you speak to first. Start with anyone. Just start.

Tell them, (in your own way), “It’s my dream to work with you. If you have any aspect that could use a little help, let me do it, and I promise you it’ll thrive. I’m that passionate about this.”

Eventually, contact different people in the company, especially the executives, not just HR.

Ideally, you could be more specific, telling them ways you could improve one of their projects, evaluations, or installation process.

4. Be persistent and succinct

Combine phone, email, and in-person. You must use all three methods, since each has its strengths.

Always be succinct. Don’t take more than two minutes of their time. But always show your passion, and how much you can help them.

5. Vary your message

Sometimes ask advice. Sometimes give advice. But always make it clear how much you want to work there.

6. Do this every week

It’s OK to be almost annoying. Polite manners don’t prove passion. Do this until hired. Eventually they will be hiring, and they’d be damn foolish not to hire you.

Especially when faced with the alternative of opening up the floodgates to help-wanted ads, they’ll much rather go with this person who has persistently proven their passion. (Could do this with a few installers at once)

What has five times the ROI of solar in the desert?

Published on June 16, 2010 by Dave Llorens.
Categories: New Jersey.

Plugfoot brings tidings of new Solar Group Discounts

Published on June 15, 2010 by Dave Llorens.
Categories: Solar Trends.

Hey Y’alls, quick up date on where group purchases are now available at 1BOG:

Homeowners in Orange County, Inland Empire, Los Angeles, and the southern part of New Jersey are now the newest areas of the U.S. that now have access to a 15% group discount on home solar energy installations. The discount is offered by my other company 1BOG which helps you buy home solar by negotiating group discounts with local solar energy companies. So, 1BOG is now available to more than 23 million people, woot.

Taking the Mystery out of Solar Energy

1BOG has established installation and performance standards for its installers, which include Heliopower (Orange County and Inland Empire), Trinity Solar (Southern New Jersey), and REC Solar (Los Angeles). To see all of the details you can sign up right here on SolarPowerRocks.com.  Once signed up, you’ll see specific information on the solar panels used by each company, pricing, timeline, and your personal checklist for what it takes to go solar. After checking that out, you will be contacted to determine if your home could make a suitable site for a solar installation by using the online estimation tool. If you’re interested in moving forward, the installer will get in touch and perform a free home assessment.

If you’re not in one of these cities and you sign up, we will tell you how many people near you are signed up so we can get closer to launching a solar group purchase program there!

Very Generous Oregon Feed-in Tariff Program Set to Launch in July

Published on June 11, 2010 by Dan Hahn.
Categories: oregon.

What follows below is the story of you waking up on a Saturday morning to Jesus knocking on your door:

YOU: “Who the hell is this?”

YOU: (put on pants)

YOU: (look through the peephole)

YOU: “Jesus Christ?! Oh, man what does he want? For Christ’s sake it’s Saturday. I’m not in the mood.”

YOU: (begrudgingly open the door)

SOLAR JESUS: “Hi sorry to bother you this morning, but I thought you might like to know that since you have a nice sunny south facing roof and it appears you own this fine Oregon home, that I would be willing and happy to give you $300 a month. Is it a deal?”

YOU: “Jesus? What? It’s Saturday I was going to come into church tomorrow I swear.”

SOLAR JESUS: “No, it’s true. Check it out. If I can install solar panels on your roof, your electric company – PGE Power right?”

YOU: “Yes, PGE. Bastards keep increasing my rates”

SOLAR JESUS: “Right those same PGE bastards will cut you a check for about $300 a month if you install solar on your home. Since I am Jesus, I will deliver their tithe to you.”

YOU: “Oh? For how many months? Is this some kind of ploy to get me all geeked out about solar energy but then I’m stuck holding the bag? I don’t think I’m interested in that.”

SOLAR JESUS: “15 years, my son.”

YOU: “What?! PGE will pay me $300 a month for 15 years if I install solar? That’s like $45,000! Are you sure about that? I don’t believe you.”

SOLAR JESUS: “No it’s true. See look here.”

SOLAR JESUS: (Pulls out what appears to be a bill from downstate Salem. HB 3909 to be exact.)

SOLAR JESUS: “This program starts next month in July, but will have a cap of about 3000 Oregon homes. Can I sign you up?”

YOU: “That sounds good, however aren’t these solar energy systems expensive? How am I gonna pay for it? There’s all these cutbacks around work, the economy doesn’t seem to be getting better, I just don’t know.”

SOLAR JESUS: “Ok, Amen. But check it out. We can install a solar energy system with a 20 year warranty on your house that will eliminate $60 a month off of your electric bill. Couple that with the $300 a month PGE will pay you and you are ahead $360 a month. You with me still?”

YOU: “Yeah, that sounds simple, but you still haven’t gotten to the cost part. How much do I need to pay for that system Jesus?”

SOLAR JESUS: “Right, we can install that system for $32,500.”

YOU: “Christ.” (Begin to close the door on Solar Jesus)

SOLAR JESUS: “Wait!”

YOU: “Dude, I just told you I can’t afford to spend thousands of dollars right now. What’s there to wait more for?”

SOLAR JESUS: “I can easily get you a loan for your solar system. You’ll only have to pay $250 a month! You would immediately be saving $110 a month! Here look at this.”

SOLAR JESUS: (shows you a nifty graph as cherubs fall from the heavens)

SOLAR JESUS: “See how there’s more dollars and electricity savings every month than there is cost? It would be like me, walking by your house, over the Willamette from Nazareth and giving you 2 tickets to the Opera every month for 15 years.”

YOU: “I hate opera.”

SOLAR JESUS: “It’d be like me giving you 30 square watermelons every month at no cost to you!”

YOU: “You’re getting warmer, but what the hell am I gonna do with 30 watermelons every month?”

SOLAR JESUS: “It’d be like me walking by your house, opening your mail slot, and shoving in one hundred and ten one dollar bills every month.”

YOU: “Are you insinuating that I frequent strip clubs?”

SOLAR JESUS: “I know all, my son. Would you like $110 a month immediately or not? I’ll do all the necessary paperwork.”

YOU: “Fine.”

The above is a completely accurate representation of the Feed in Tariff recently approved by the Oregon Public Utilities commission. Calculations assume a 5kw system installed, and a loan for $30,000 amortized over 15 years at a rate of 5%. The program starts in July 2010, will be limited to 25MW, which would be gobbled up by approximately 3000 Oregon homes and small businesses in a jiffy.

If you live in Oregon, you should definitely fill out our form to get yourself into a collective buying group with our partner, One Block off the Grid. By going solar together in a group, you can wind up receiving even more than $110/month. Sign up before all the watermelons are spoken for!!!

Why do people go solar? They’ve got their elephant and rider in sync!

Published on June 8, 2010 by Dan Hahn.
Categories: solar sales.

For the past 10 weeks, I taught my first college course: “The Psychology of Personal Decision-Making”. Surprised at how quickly I was approved to teach the course on short notice, I drafted a syllabus with one lofty goal: Arm all of my students with the rational tools they needed to make their lives better when confronted with decision opportunities.

However, in piecing together our course text, videos and articles, I realized one major shortcoming which needed to be addressed: We are not robots who can piece together the best probable outcomes for events and move forward. When confronted with major decisions in our life, we are a seriously imbalanced mash-up of ration and emotion. How do you get your emotion and rationality in sync, so you can most effectively decide?

A helpful illustration comes from Jonathan Haidt, who uses the metaphor of the elephant and its rider in his bestselling Happiness Hypothesis. In this example, the rider embodies our most rational, conscious selves and the elephant symbolizes our emotion. Even the most well equipped rider with a whole bunch of analytical tools will have one hell of a time steering that elephant anywhere unless the elephant is motivated to move in the requested direction.

Same goes for us over here at SPR doing our damndest to motivate you to at least get a quote for solar energy on your home. We can and have presented you with all the facts, figures, dollars saved, and payback amounts required, and many times this pencils out to a nice solid investment. We have and will continue to impress the hell out of your rider. However, as long as your elephant is unimpressed and continuing to swat flies with its tail, you aren’t gonna do much of anything with this information.

That’s why it’s so important for us to have you focus on envisioning what going solar really means from more of an emotional perspective. Many times, to get the emotional wheels turning, it takes some sort of visual kick in the pants. It’s the same reason why many charities infiltrate our minds with disturbing images of children without cleft palates, underfed puppies, or bug-eyed Ethiopians with dual xylophones for midsections. Even if our riders are shouting from the top of the elephant, “Whoa, whoa, we can’t possibly save every puppy with this charity, we shouldn’t give them money that could be much better used somewhere else”, our elephant is already quickly hauling ass off the path, through some brush, and whacking our poor rider across the face with branches and leaves.

Solar makes incredibly logical sense in many locations of the country right now. It will just be up to us to re-engineer how you interpret the message so your elephant and rider are in sync. More to come.

Need your help

Published on May 27, 2010 by Dave Llorens.
Categories: tax credits.

From our friends at votesolar.com

Friends,

Building a strong solar industry, complete with local jobs and new business growth, is a national economic imperative. Congress gets that, and that’s why it passed a Treasury Grant Program as part of the Recovery Act to help make solar and other renewable projects more cost-competitive with heavily subsidized, dirty fossil-based energy sources.

Just launched in July 2009, this Treasury Grant Program is already scheduled to sunset later this year. Can you ask Senators not to pull the plug on support for solar right when we need it most?

One of the most important federal policies supporting renewables today, the Treasury Grant Program awards selected commercial solar project developers an upfront grant totaling 30% of the project cost (an alternative to taking the solar investment tax credit). In less than a year, the Treasury Grant Program has resulted in 400 large solar energy systems that have supported 17,000 construction and manufacturing jobs across the country. That, my friends, is policy success. Now is not the time to call it quits on a program that’s putting Americans back to work.
We are asking Congress for a two-year extension on the program to strengthen our growing renewable industry and create another 65,000 domestic solar jobs. Can you help?
Onwards,
Annie + The Vote Solar Team

The Vote Solar Initiative
300 Brannan Street, Suite 609
San Francisco, CA 94107
www.votesolar.org
http://twitter.com/votesolar

Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs) Explained

Published on May 25, 2010 by bmoss.
Categories: 1bog, SREC, Solar Financing, solar video.

Even among the solar-savvy, many people do not know what Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs) are or what potential benefits they represent. As we’ve mentioned before, SRECs (or often simply RECs) allow generators of renewable energy to sell credits to businesses like utilities who need them to comply with government regulations. These credits accrue automatically to solar panel owners and often can be traded and sold like stocks on the stock market.  The team over at 1bog created this video that explains SRECs and how they can yield financial benefits to owners of solar panels.

Solar Fred’s Most Useful Solar Economic Posts on SolarPowerRocks.com

Published on May 2, 2010 by Tor a.k.a. "Solar Fred".
Categories: Affordable Solar, Low Up Front Costs, Municipal Financing, Solar Financing, Solar Lease, feed-in tariff.

Photo : Flickr/Patrick Hosely

For the last 3 years, SolarPowerRocks is and has been a very useful resource for solar consumers. We’ve got tons of information about technology and solar economics–some of which needs a bit of updating because solar rebates change so often in so many states. Forgive us.

However, there are some evergreen solar posts that remain useful for anyone wishing to go solar in 2010 and beyond. These are in no particular order, but they are skewed toward understanding solar economics. The reader comments and our responses are also pretty informative as well.

Ye Old FAQ & More.

Some of these are also mentioned below, but as I said, we’re slanting on economics here.

What’s “Net Metering.”

Net Metering is perhaps the most important solar policy in the U.S. right now. Think of net metering as a virtual battery storage device that sometimes pays you money back at the end of the year.

What’s the Diff? Solar Lease vs. Solar PPA

Solar Leases and Solar Power Purchase Agreements are becoming increasingly popular in the U.S. because they have low up front costs. The down side is that you generally don’t save (or earn) as much money as buying. Be sure to read reader comments for more discussion about this.

San Francisco Picks up the Solar PACE

PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) is another way to go solar with low to no upfront costs. The concept is generally the same in every city, although there can be different qualifications in every state. With PACE, you finance your solar and/or energy efficiency improvements through a special tax assessment on your property. Should you move before 20 years, no problem. Unlike a loan, the new home owner takes over the payments (and the solar savings.)

How to Calculate the 30% Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC)

Until 2016, Americans can receive an uncapped 30% tax credit that helps bring down the cost of solar. However, it doesn’t always come off the top. Here’s a simple guide to calculate the tax credit, but we always recommend confirming everything we say with a tax geek. We’re just solar geeks.

Another post about New Jersey Solar and SRECs in general (and TRECs)

Dave gives a great overview of Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs). Right now, this incentive is hot in New Jersey and a few other states, but as solar markets grow throughout the U.S., SRECs are going to be a great extra cash benefit to going solar.

Solar Fred Info: What’s a Feed in Tariff?

Feed-in-Tariffs (FiTs) are another way to incentivize solar and is widely credited with the solar boom in Germany, Spain, and other countries. Instead of rebates and net metering, you finance your solar system through a bank loan. However, the Utility pays you a huge cash premium for every watt that your system produces. In theory, you quickly pay back your loan and keep making money throughout the 20 year contract. FiTs are only in some states and/or cities, but there is a chance that there will one day be a national FiT.

Naturally, no matter how you finance your solar, we just want you to go solar. If you’re not sure if solar is right for you, forget guessing. Just get a free quote. What can you lose? It’s free, and free is almost as good as free energy from the sun.

Thanks for reading.

How to find out about current solar rebates in your state

Published on April 23, 2010 by Tor a.k.a. "Solar Fred".
Categories: Buying Solar, Los Angeles Solar, solar incentives.

Photo: Flckr/BradleyOlin

Solar is becoming a lot more popular in a lot of states. Unfortunately, our crack staff of solar geeks analysts are overwhelmed by all of the new rebate news that comes out every week. We just can’t update the state  pages fast enough.

So, we’re going to give you all a place where you can go to always check out what’s new in your city, state, or utility, and then plug in the numbers of the examples that we give.

Of course,  the fastest way is to check out your solar costs is through our solar group purchasing partner, One Block off the Grid’s (1bog’s) solar online estimate tool.  It’s accurate and easy to use. The problem is that 1bog isn’t in every city and state–yet.  So, now you’re looking for guidance about what rebates and incentives apply to you in a non 1bog city.

First of all, know that everyone is entitled to the 30% Federal Tax Credit, no matter what city or state you live in.  Read more about how to calculate that 30% tax credit here.  It’s a little confusing, but we tried our best to explain it all.

Now, in addition to the 30% tax credit, you also may receive a state rebate, a city rebate, and or a utility rebate. Usually, it’s just one of those three, but sometimes you can get a utility rebate and the state rebate.

Unlike tax credits, the good thing about rebates is that they automatically reduce your upfront costs, which means you have to take out a smaller home equity loan. There’s also the matter of Renewable Energy Credits or “RECs” or “S-RECS.” These puppies are worth a lot in states like New Jersey, but their value is different in every state.

Now, as to finding out exactly what rebates and other incentives you’re entitled to, you need to know not only your state, but sometimes your utility. Then go to this  government sponsored website where you can look up the current rebates offered in every state and utility. They have a huge staff, so they’re almost always up to date.

Unfortunately, this database of incentives cannot tell you about the value of your state’s REC program. These can change from month to month, depending on your state, although sometimes the value is fixed for a certain time.

However, knowing the incentives offered is only half the battle. For example, you might discover that Los Angeles is offering a $3/watt rebate right now, but how much does that mean for you? Well, if your installer estimates that you need a 4000 watt system to cover all your electric needs, that’s $12,000 off your cost.

Seems simple, but the problem is that you have to know how many solar panels you need in order to determine your actual rebate. Besides your electric usage, there are also certain local policies, such as time of use, tiered rates, and net metering that can also reduce the number of solar panels that you need.

We won’t get into system sizing here.  The point here is that if you want the latest information about rebates and incentives in your area, you can always check out the above site, or …. just get a free quote from an installer, who keeps up with the latest subsidies in your area. It’s free, so the only thing you have to lose is a bit of time. Worst case, you’ll learn a lot from a pro be able to benchmark your solar costs for a future quote.