These campaigns, where neighbors buy or lease discounted solar energy systems in bulk as part of a limited-time offer, are lighting up the state from Portland to Pendleton. Beaverton just put solar on more than 250 homes. West Linn and Lake Oswego will soon launch a joint campaign. Gresham is gearing up for one, as is Eugene. Northeast Portland is in the midst of its second.

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Brown University Aquatics Center - 160 kW, hybrid PV & Solar Hot Water

Brown University is now home to the nation’s largest solar hybrid installation and the first college campus to house one.  Sunlight Solar Energy is proud to have installed such a record breaking system.

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“We are a team of homeowners from Clackamas County that has been working the past few months to develop a group purchase opportunity in solar energy. Not only for ourselves, but for any interested community members.

We have pre-selected two contractors who are offering great deals as well as lined up a number of different workshops for us to explore solar power together. If you are interested in learning more about how to generate your own electricity or hot water with solar power, join our citizen led initiative for solar. There is no better time for this golden opportunity than now.”

Solar Workshop -Early Bird*

When: February 21st at 6-7:30 PM
Where: Rose Villa, located at 13505 SE River Rd. Portland, Or 97222

Christmas came early this year for the Belmont Municipal Light Department. Unfortunately, it was in the form of a box full of coal from Santa himself. The Department, which acts as the town’s electrical provider, has rules in place such that going solar in Belmont is, in practical terms, not doable. The Department has chosen to opt out of the Massachusetts Solar II Rebate program, meaning that homeowners in Belmont wishing to go solar would have to forgo the sizable rebate offered by the state to entice residents to switch over from traditional sources of energy to solar. In addition, electricity metering policy in Belmont is not only solar-unfriendly, it’s incomprehensible as well. Simply put, there’s a systematic the lack of cooperation on and support for solar initiatives on the part of the BMLD

Santa delivering a box of coal.

With that in mind, Ben Weiner, Director Marketing of Sunlight Solar Energy’s Massachusetts office, and Santa Claus, beloved gift-giving icon to millions of children worldwide, paid a visit to the Belmont Municipal Light Department’s main office. In addition to the coal, the pair delivered a letter handwritten by Santa, who, in addition to readinguntold scores of letter every years, also writes one when he feels it’s for a good cause. Here is the text of that letter:

From the Desk of S. Claus

The North Pole

Dear Belmont Municipal Light Department—

I’m sad to say that you’ve been a very naughty municipal electrical company! Not only do you not allow Belmont residents to participate in the wonderful Massachusetts Solar II Rebate program, you also have a net metering policy that’s incomprehensible, as well as a general ambivalence toward the idea of Belmontians going solar.

As such, I’ve taken it upon myself to put you on the naughty list, and my friends at Sunlight Solar are backing me up. If I could ask you just one question, it would be this: why, relative to the towns that surround you, is it so difficult to go solar in Belmont? Towns like Concord are actively working toward the idea of being more solar-friendly for the people that live there, while in Belmont it hardly makes any sense at all to have a solar installation put in. Who knows how many people in this town have been discouraged from the idea of solar energy because of the prohibitive restrictions in place for doing so? (Well, I actually do know because I can see people when they’re sleeping, awake, etc., but you get what I mean…)

And, if I could ask you for just one more thing, it would be this: think about the kind of impact that you want to have on the future. Do you want Belmont to be remembered as the Little Town That Couldn’t, or do you want Belmont to be remembered as the Town of (Solar) Homes? In my mind, the choice is simple.

Sincerely, 

Santa Claus

The town worker on duty, who would only identify herself with the alias “Prancer,” became visibly agitated at this wave of criticism, and when asked for a comment, said only “Ho ho ho” in a harsh tone of voice.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Sunlight Solar Energy!

December 9, 2011—Santa’s sleigh may be powered by an “all natural” source, but until homeowners can harness the energy generated by flying reindeer, solar power remains one of the best ways to green the home. Unfortunately, several Massachusetts municipalities are on the “naughty list” for the hoops they make potential solar households jump through. And while Santa hasn’t expressed an opinion either way on the situation, Sunlight Solar Energy in Waltham is proactively assessing the towns of Georgetown, Norwood, Belmont, Wellesley, Needham, Peabody, and Somerville with the naughty rating.

The Seven Naughtiest Towns in Massachusetts for Solar Energy

The towns of Georgetown, Norwood, and Peabody do not allow net metering, the process of sending unused electricity generated by solar panels back to the grid in exchange for credits that would allow homeowners to use the same amount of energy later on without needing to pay; typically, a home solar system generates these credits during the daytime, when occupants are out of the house and power usage goes down. (Under federal law, a public electric utility must allow net metering if a customer requests it.)

In the towns of Needham and Somerville, homeowners looking to go green with solar panels can expect to encounter up to an extra $1000 in engineering fees.

Energy customers in Belmont and Wellesley, meanwhile, are unable to take advantage of the state’s Commonwealth Solar II Rebate program, which earns homeowners a tax rebate that is calculated based on the size and makeup of a solar system when the installation is under 10 kilowatts. A similar rebate is available for solar heating (hot water) systems.

Problems in store for homeowners looking to go solar are not limited to these seven towns. Chris Robinson, Sunlight Solar Energy’s Project Coordinator, sums up the situation by saying that solar is “one of the few industries that has federal and state-level support, but on the municipal level we’re constantly struggling with the way towns operate, which differs from town to town. If things were made more uniform, it would increase the ease of going solar tremendously.”

About Sunlight Solar Energy
Sunlight Solar Energy (www.sunlightsolar.com) is a certified grid-tied solar electric installation contractor committed to providing the highest quality grid-tied solar electric installations for homes and businesses. Sunlight Solar Energy, Inc is a licensed and insured Solar Installer and has installed over 400 solar arrays throughout New England. Sunlight Solar is a Premier Dealer of SunPower solar modules and inverters.

Sunlight Solar was introduced to Chris Bortnem and Greg Ohl through our mutual employment at the Oregon Golf Club in West Linn. We met about a year ago when I decided to accept a position bartending special events on the weekends.  Chris is the Banquet Manager and Greg is the executive dishwasher at the club.  Chris and I both work for Greg.  Chris approached me and asked what kind of deals we had on solar just around the time we were releasing our “SunRun Total Solar Program”.

The first step in the solar journey is a site survey.  Greg, Chris, and I all met out at Chris’ place down the road from West Linn High School in West Linn, OR.  I propped up the ladder and we all got on the roof to design his array according to best possible aesthetic and performance. We figured out together where we would place his solar panels, how we would run the conduit, and where we would mount the inverter.

Greg oversaw the entire project including making sure Chris didn’t make any miscalculations during our site survey

Greg is a hard worker and was very meticulous about chalking out the array. Like he always says “I don’t leave until the job is done”

So now we had the information we needed to put together a formal proposal.  In Oregon it is pretty simple.  A 3.24KW system like Chris’ is $6,000 out of pocket with a $6,000 residential energy tax credit at $1500/year over 4 years.  That’s it, Chris basically got a free solar power system for 20 years of service, cutting his bill in half, and hedging against future rate increases from PGE.  So we signed the deal and within 4 weeks we were installing his system.

The racking is laid down before the panels go up and of course Greg oversaw that to make sure chalk lines were snapped and everything was aligned correctly.

Our electricians arrived with Chris’ solar panels and Greg was present to make sure quality was top notch and to lead the install team while they mounted the solar panels.

The fruits of his labor.

This graph is taken from Chris’ most recent power bill.  In November of 2010 (pre-solar) Chris averaged a usage of 9.1 kWh/day.  This is equal to about 300 kWh/month or $30 of electricity from PGE.  In November of 2011 (post-solar) Chris averaged 3.8 kWh/day.  This is equal to approximately 120kWh/month or $12 of electricity from PGE.  His solar array covered 57% of his electricity requirements!

Interesting side note:  Chris works in his spare time putting on performances for schools all around Oregon with W.E. C.A.R.E. Sports.  W.E C.A.R.E.  performs school assembly programs featuring educational and entertaining shows with hands on instruction for small and large groups.  For more info check out the link below.

Chris’ savings on his electricity bill makes him want to juggle.

For more information on the SunRun Total Solar program, click here.

For more information on the Oregon Golf Club, click here.

For more information on W.E. C.A.R.E., click here.

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I received an email that the movie “Revenge of the Electric Car” would be premiering at the Hollywood Theater on Friday 11/4 so I picked up the phone and dialed up SSE customer John Tangney who has an interest in Solar Power, EV’s, and is on the waiting list to receive a 2012 Plug-In Toyota Prius.

The film follows three auto executives – Elon Musk of Tesla, Bob Lutz of GM, and Carlos Ghosn of Nissan as they spearhead their company’s attempt to move forward with the market release of their electric vehicles (EV’s) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV’s)

John ans SSE installer Robbie Johnson putting the final touches on his PV disconnect and solar kWh meter.

Personally, I enjoyed Paine’s previous 2006 documentary “Who Killed the Electric Car” a little more because it seemed to be full of more facts and statistics, but found this movie to be educational and inspiring.  Here is a link to the movie’s trailer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkRIu5a6Sb0

John Tangney's finished solar array in Happy Valley, OR. This 3.28 kW PV system will produce approximately 3,000 kWh/year. This is enough electricity to power an electric vehicle approximately 12,000 miles.