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36 Politics (see table below). According to Laura Spanjian of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, the administra- tor of GoSolarSF, annual city installations have more than quadrupled. In the first year of GoSolarSF, residents submitted 827 applications requesting $4.8 million in rebates, and San Fran- cisco committed to nearly 2 MW in residential solar installations – an average subsidy of $2,400 per kW. The rebate may not seem like a lot of money when compared to the $30,000 price tag for a residential system like Barry Wong’s. But the numbers show that the rebate was a tipping point of sorts. »It was clearly the right number,« said SFPUC’s Spanjian. »People just needed a little more money to feel like they could afford it and they were getting a good return in a reasonable timeframe.« Moreover, many installers working in San Francisco coordinate the paperwork for the various incen- California Solar Initiative Application Count: City and County of San Francisco Applications 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 Apr 07 May 07 Jun 07 Jul 07 Aug 07 Sep 07 Oct 07 Nov 07 Dec 07 Jan 08 Feb 08 Mar 08 Apr 08 May 08 2 Feb 07 Mar 07 8 7 16 19 20 12 17 26 22 13 12 27 117 117 Solar spike: Applications from San Franciscans to the California Solar Initiative – the state’s solar rebate program – skyrocketed after July 2009 when the city launched GoSolarSF. In February 2009, San Francisco reduced the GoSolarSF incentive amounts, which may account for the sharp drop in applications at that time. 29 9 14 26 62 68 93 104 111 Jun 08 Jul 08 Aug 08 Sep 08 Oct 08 Nov 08 Dec 08 Jan 09 Feb 09 Mar 09 Apr 09 May 09 Jun 09 Month »We met for 6 to 7 months and did something that task forces never do: We didn’t write a big report. Instead, we decided to implement what we recommended.« tives, so customers simply need to write a check for the attractive net price. But San Francisco’s solar market was not always the gold rush it has been since GoSolarSF began. A »Solar Task Force« to overcome barriers According to Phil Ting, Assessor- Recorder of San Francisco, the city was held back by a lack of leadership when it came to solar. »There were a lot of mega- words, but not a lot of megawatts,« said Ting. As of January 2007, Ting recalled, San Francisco was last among the nine Bay Area counties in per capita solar installations. At that point, said Ting, the 23 27 27 48 35 Source: San Francisco Public Utilities Commission city had 583 buildings with PV systems – roughly 5 MW – well short of the city’s goal of 10,000 solar roofs by 2010. Even when the State of California launched its successful rebate program in January 2007, San Francisco solar installations failed to increase significantly. »We watched the number of installations in California double overnight because of that incentive program, but San Fran- cisco didn’t move,« said Ting. In an effort to change this situa- tion, Ting’s office convened the San Francisco Solar Task Force in 2007. This group of elected officials, solar installers, community leaders, activi- ties, non-profit organizations, and business people met monthly to inves- tigate why the city would not adopt solar, and how to jump-start the market. One major problem that the task force discovered: there were major bureau- cratic hurdles to doing solar business in San Francisco. »Permits (for solar installations) were taking six months to get approved. It was so bad that all the installers we had around the table had written off San Francisco,« said Ting. PV installers chose not to work or even market systems in San Francisco because they could do much better in other Bay Area cities – like San Rafael and San Jose – with more streamlined permitting processes. Task force members went right to the heart of the matter by working with the municipal permit agencies – the plan- ning, building, and fire departments – to streamline the solar installation process. According to Ting, the solar installers on the task force – including Akeena Solar, Occidental Power, and Luminalt – helped to lead this effort, since they are the ones who handle the day-to-day project logistics. Ting is pleased with the results: »Now, 95 per- November 2009
Frederic Neema / photon-pictures.com (2) In the field: San Francisco residents Liz Goldbaum and Ross Wilson <strong>PHOTON</strong> visited Liz Goldbaum and her husband Ross Wil- son. The two had previously considered solar for their house in the Richmond district of San Francisco. »The price was astronomical,« Goldbaum said. But when they heard about GoSolarSF, Wilson did a financial analysis to account for local, state, and federal incentives. »The numbers were spec- tacular and we couldn’t refuse,« said Goldbaum. »The incentive made it so much more viable for us.« Together, the three incentives reduced their starting system price for the 3.2 kW system from $27,983 to $12,179 (see table) – a savings of 57 percent. »Pretty awesome,« Goldbaum concluded. She and her husband ultimately decided to purchase a larger system than they had originally considered because they plan to buy a plug-in electric car and wanted to take advantage of the extra electricity. »Because of the incentive, I felt like we could afford the extra $2,000 to get the larger system,« she said. The system has now a size of 3.2 kW and is expected to produce 4,753 kWh per year. Their first monthly utility bill since going solar was $31.20, significantly down from the previous bill of $159.60. mdm Elizabeth Goldbaum with her young Yellow Labrador »Sarber« at her house in San Francisco. The 3.2 kW system (only partly visible in the picture) on the roof was installed on August 20, 2009. How Goldbaum and Wilson reduced their system price Gross system price $27.983 California Solar Initiative state rebate ($4.228) GoSolarSF city rebate ($5.000) Federal tax credit ($7.126) Community discount ($570) Estimated federal tax on city rebate $1.120 Net system price $12.179 November 2009 37 Source: Liz Goldbaum »
Page 1: A LONG, STRANGE TRIP SOUTHERN EXPOS
Page 4 and 5: 4 Under the Sun National Renewable
Page 6 and 7: 6 Photo of the month The garden of
Page 8 and 9: May we introduce ourselves? The PHO
Page 10 and 11: 10 Readers‘ letters PHOTON, welco
Page 12 and 13: 12 Readers‘ letters So why are so
Page 14 and 15: 14 Under the Sun History A long, No
Page 16 and 17: 16 Under the Sun The headquarters o
Page 18 and 19: Under the Sun selling book, »A Gui
Page 20 and 21: Under the Sun Academy of Sciences,
Page 22 and 23: Under the Sun made to uniquely fit
Page 24 and 25: Under the Sun to figure out how to
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Page 28 and 29: 28 The 13 Solar Colonies PHOTON inv
Page 30 and 31: Politics to federal income tax. Als
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Page 34 and 35: 34 Politics San Francisco From mega
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Page 40 and 41: 40 Politics Stimulus package Feel t
Page 42 and 43: 42 Politics guide companies interes
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Page 56 and 57: Business run three campaigns a year
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Page 60 and 61: 60 Science & Technology AlsoEnergy
Page 62 and 63: System Photonics S.p.A. 62 Science
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Page 68 and 69: Little product, big comeback An old
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Page 76 and 77: 76 Science & Technology Exeltech’
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Page 80 and 81: 80 Architecture November 2009
Page 82 and 83: 82 Architecture November 2009
Page 84 and 85: 84 In Practice Proposals The perfec
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86 In Practice Is your proposal com
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88 In Practice that are predictable
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90 In Practice System: accomplished
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In Practice bluntly: »We have this
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Elkus’ golden trout pond is the l
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Test Laboratory A couple of years a
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Events From system inspection to in
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November 19-20, 2009 Alternative En
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Who should exhibit? • Manufacture
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Education & Training Producer-indep
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Internships New internships in the
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Ask the Editors Whether it’s abou
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Industry Registry Here is informati
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Preview The issue 12-2009 appears a
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