San Francisco Bay Area Solar Installation Report - 2008
November 30, 2008 by admin
Filed under Installations
The Northern California Solar Energy Association released a report charting the growth of solar installations in the greater San Francisco Bay Area.
More than 60 percent of the country’s solar installations are in the Golden State, and the number of the installations has grown 30 to 40 percent annually for the past several years, Molly Tirpak Sterkel of the California Public Utilities Commission said in her forward to the report.
Bay Area Solar Installation Report - 2008
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New Federal Tax Credits For Solar Installations
November 29, 2008 by editor
Filed under Resources, Solar Tax Credits
On October 3, 2008 H.R.1424, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 was passed. Division B of this bill includes the Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008. This landmark legislation extends critical Federal Investment Tax Credits for solar customers and other renewable energy projects. This bill contains $18 billion in incentives for clean and renewable energy technologies, as well as for energy efficiency improvements.
See the entire bill, including Division B: Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008.
As part of this legislation, the solar investment tax credit (ITC) has been extended for 8 years through December 31, 2016. Here are the key provisions of the ITC: Read more
California Honors 2008 Enviroment & Economic Leadership Winners
California State Capitol
California this week honored 21 companies and organizations with the Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Awards, the state’s highest prize for contributions to environmental issues.
The Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Awards program was established in 1993. Recipients are selected by a large panel of evaluators and the Secretaries of Cal/EPA, the Resources Agency, Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, the Department of Food and Agriculture, the State and Consumer Services Agency, and the Governor’s Office. It honors projects in nine categories.
Here are the 2008 award winners in each category with comments from the California EPA:
Climate Change
- University of California, Irvine - Sustainable Transportation Program
Irvine’s Sustainable Transportation Program seeks to change the commuting culture by raising awareness of environmental impacts and encouraging the use of green alternatives. The program uses incentives, infrastructure improvements, policies and educational outreach to develop a culture of environmentally conscious commuters, whose lifestyle changes help preserve the natural beauty and quality of life in California. This comprehensive program eliminates over 39 million vehicle miles traveled, 18,600 tons of greenhouse gas emissions, and saves the University more than $21 million each year.
- Dixon Ridge Farms - Energy Self-Sufficiency by 2012
The goal of Dixon Ridge Farms’ energy self-sufficiency plan is to eliminate all types of outside energy use by 2012, while also being carbon and nitrous-oxide negative from using nonfood sources for energy and maintaining its strategic and sustainable growth. The farm pioneered Biologically Integrated Orchard Systems to reduce pesticide and fertilizer usage in walnut production, re-circulate irrigation water runoff and embrace alternative sources of energy. In 2007, Dixon Ridge set an ambitious 5-year goal for energy self-sufficiency and became the first on-farm user of a 50kW co-generator that converts walnut shells into renewable energy. To date, this is the farm’s largest step in moving “off the grid” and “off the pipeline” as this new, green technology will supply 40% of the farm’s overall electricity needs.
- Marin Sanitary Service - Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions
A family-run business, Marin Sanitary Service has pioneered state-of-the-art recycling methods,
technologies, and programs resulting in a 75% recycling rate. They also recycle more than 547 tons of waste water per day - saving the equivalent of 2 million trees and 900 million gallons of water. Since 1990, the company has recycled over 2.2 million tons of waste, representing a reduction of almost 4 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions. Marin Sanitary Service has created new recycling technologies, and effectively worked with residents and businesses to create partnerships and education programs to further reduce waste and greenhouse gas emissions.
Children’s Environmental Education
- Golden Gate Audubon Society - Eco-Oakland and Eco-Richmond Environmental Education Programs
The Golden Gate Audubon Society’s Eco Programs offer year-round environmental education to elementary school students and their families. Begun in 1999, the programs serve over 10,000 students and community members in the Bay Area.
- Contra Costa Water District - Water Education Program
The Contra Costa Water District’s Water Education Program is a comprehensive water-related program for students in grades 2-12. It targets students in over 100 service-area schools with a wide-ranging water-related environmental science program. During the 2007-08 school year, the program’s classroom presentations, field trips, and school assemblies reached more than 30,000 students and teachers in Central and East Contra Costa County.
- Orange County Department of Education - Inside the Outdoors
The Orange County Department of Education’s Inside the Outdoors program was established in 1974 to empower students, teachers, parents and the community to explore their natural world, while expanding their knowledge and understanding of science and the wonders of nature. Each year, more than 125,000 students experience hands-on environmental education through one of Inside the Outdoor’s three programs. Inside the Outdoors also has a public program with offerings such as a sustainable cooking classes, fire ecology sessions, eco-friendly fashion shows, art sculpture, full-moon hikes and summer nature day camps.
Sustainable Practices or Facilities
- Ferry Building - Green Initiatives
The San Francisco Ferry Building, a historical icon originally opened in 1898 and
restored in 2003, is a unique and exemplary project because of its resourceful conservation efforts,
public food marketplace, green initiatives and environmentally friendly commuter benefits. The Ferry Building’s green practices include the procurement of an industrial size compost dumpster for retail food scraps; yearly green office and restaurant supply open houses; recycling tips and recognitions via office/tenant e-mail newsletters; setting printers to only copy doublesided; switching from bottled water to filtered tap water for meetings; trash audits reported to individual tenants and groups; and, public transportation education. It’s most measurable environmental benefit is its aggressive recycling and waste management program, which results in a 64% diversion rate for its more than 50 offices and shops, 800 employees, and 10,000-20,000 shoppers per day.
- Kunde Family Estate - Innovation Sustainability
The multi-generational ownership of Kunde Family Estate is committed to the creation of wines that are unique to their land while farmed with an ethical and sustainable pedigree. Kunde is committed to continuing its journey through generations to sustainable stewardship of the estate. “Because all great wine should be GREEN,” Kunde uses sustainable, organic and biodynamic farming practices.
Kunde’s sustainable winegrowing is a balance of economic, environmental, and social practices.
- Alameda County Juvenile Justice Center
Lauded as “a model health, wellness and youth development center,” Alameda County’s Juvenile Justice Center is the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) gold-rated green building of its kind in the country. The United States Green Building Council awarded the project 43 out of 45 points submitted towards its certification, including perfect scores in the categories of energy and atmosphere, and innovation and design process. Exceptional levels of efficiency include the use of a water-efficient irrigation technology which reduces site water consumption by more than 50% and saves over 5 million gallons of water annually; waterless urinals and water-efficient plumbing fixtures which reduced water consumption by 41% and save more than 2 million gallons of water annually; an 850 kW rooftop solar panel to provide over 60% of the building’s energy demands; purchasing 100% of the building energy needs from wind generation; and recycling 93% of construction waste.
- Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company - Green Insurance for Commercial Buildings and Homeowners
Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company developed specialized coverage for green buildings to spur
sustainable development in California and the nation. In order to offer financial incentives to building green, Fireman’s Fund became the first insurance company to offer green insurance for commercial buildings. The first green insurance product offered owners a 5% discount in their insurance premiums if their building was certified green. They expanded their green coverage to policyholders who upgraded to green during reconstruction - effectively endorsing the use of nontoxic, low odor paints and carpeting, water efficient plumbing, energy saving interior lighting, Energy Star roof and insulation materials, and included extra costs to recycle construction debris.
- Bank of America - Commitment to a Greener California
Bank of America, one of the world’s largest financial institutions, has a legacy of environmental leadership dating back two decades, when it began implementing an environmental focus to its own operations and business practices. Bank of America created its $20 billion, 10-year environmental initiative to encourage the “development of environmentally friendly sustainable business practices through lending, investing, philanthropy, and the creation of new products and services.” Recent examples include lending to a nonprofit to acquire 50,000 acres of redwood forest (the first time 100% private capital has been used to preserve timberland); investing in solar power and other renewable energy efforts at schools, municipalities, and businesses; offering new products such as the Brighter Planet credit card that enables reward points to be invested in renewable energy projects; and, using new energy-saving lighting and HVAC technologies in its retail banking centers to reduce energy consumption. Bank of America does not finance projects that would destroy primary moist tropical rainforest, certain endangered forests, or companies involved in illegal logging. The company reduced paper usage per associate by 40% and set aggressive, voluntary goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the company by 9% through the reduction of its energy consumption. And Bank of America reimburses its associates $3,000 when they buy a hybrid car, a benefit that began as a pilot program in Southern California.
Ecosystem and Watershed Stewardship
- San Mateo County - Pharmaceutical Disposal Program
The main goals of the San Mateo County Pharmaceutical Disposal Program are to help avoid unintended use, reduce or prevent recreational pharmaceutical use, and to help stop the continuing contamination of the environment. The program, which partners with the San Mateo County Police and Sheriffs Association, offers the public a convenient, viable and environmentally friendly alternative to flushing medicines into the wastewater stream or placing them in municipal landfills. This simple yet innovative program has diverted nearly three tons of medicines from San Mateo’s solid waste and wastewater streams, and prevented their unintended use by children and seniors.
- Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour
The Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour was created to educate Alameda and Contra Costa County residents about native plants and their contribution to water conservation, the natural habitat, and the reduction of pesticide use. Contra Costa Water Conservation Supervisor Chris Dundon called it “an excellent, educational program that provides residents with the opportunity to see beautiful, water conserving gardens firsthand and to have their questions about natural gardening techniques answered by knowledgeable and enthusiastic homeowners and volunteers.” The more than 50,000 garden visits that have been made have inspired registrants to make changes to their own gardens. The environmental goals of the tour are to reduce pesticide, water, and fertilizer use, as well as the amount of green waste entering landfills.
Environmental and Economic Partnerships
- Valley Clean Air Now - Tune In and Tune Up Program
Valley Clean Air Now is a nonprofit advocacy group committed to improving air quality in communities throughout the San Joaquin Valley. Valley Clean Air Now administers the Tune In and Tune Up program in collaboration with the Bureau of Automotive Repair and the Advanced Transportation Technology and Energy Initiative Center at Fresno City College. Since 2003, more than 2,500 Valley residents in 11 cities have participated. A typical Tune In and Tune Up event removes approximately 3,000 tons of carbon monoxide, 300 tons of hydrocarbons and 150 tons of oxides of nitrogen from the air in one year.
- GRID Alternatives - The Solar Affordable Housing Program
The mission of GRID Alternatives is to empower communities in need by providing renewable energy and energy efficiency services, equipment and training. In partnership with the San Francisco Department of the Environment, the housing departments of El Monte, Huntington Park, Oakland, Richmond and San Mateo County, and numerous Habitat for Humanity chapters, GRID Alternatives has been bringing energy efficiency to low-income neighborhoods since 2001. Each solar system installed results in an average savings of $10,000 in avoided energy costs over a system’s lifetime.
- Cayucos Land Conservancy
The mission of the Cayucos Land Conservancy is to preserve the character of Cayucos, a small rural beach town in San Luis Obispo County, by protecting the open space around it and providing passive recreational opportunities for its residents and visitors. A private alternative to land perservation by public agency, it has been called “a model for reducing state costs and providing stewardship of public lands” by Assembly Member Sam Blakeslee.
Comprehensive Land Use Planning
- Codding Enterprises - Sonoma Mountain Village
The goal of the community is to build a sustainable neighborhood of 5,000 people which strengthens the community and restores the environment. The 200-acre community of 1,900 homes is being created as a deeply sustainable, mixed-use village that will utilize the deepest green technology as well as the latest new urbanism and smart growth planning tools. The heart of the village - the Town Square - will serve as a community gathering place and support a 5-minute lifestyle with the majority of homes within a 5-minute walk of the Town Square. Through use of new and existing new conservation measures, the community is being designed to beat California’s current energy code by at least 50%, have energy needs met with on-site renewable power, and reduce solid waste to reach a goal of 98% reduction.
Technological and Market Innovation
- Marrone Organic Innovations, Inc. - GreenMatchTMEX
GreenMatchTMEX is an effective, cost-efficient, nonselective herbicide with no safety or environmental issues. It is designed to replace weed control techniques that are environmentally damaging and can pose health risks. The product is an organic herbicide based on lemongrass oil and shown to provide broad-spectrum weed control for four weeks. It contains only plant extracts and surfactants that are on an approved list of food-grade ingredients, making it exempt from EPA requirements for registration for use in both crop and noncrop areas. It also meets the requirements of the National Organic Program rule for use in organic crop production. In sensitive noncrop areas such as parks, public landscapes, and schools, GreenMatchTMEX provides effective weed control with no environmental risks.
- Rent-a-Green Box
Rent-a-Green Box is the “first comprehensive, zero waste, packing and moving system in America.” Founded in 2006, it converts trash mined from local landfills into a suite of sustainable packing and moving products. The company’s Recopack (Recycled Ecological Packing Solution) is a replacement for cardboard boxes. Rent-a-Green Box recycles plastic trash from landfills to make 100% recycled and reusable packing and moving boxes. Recopacks are rented on a weekly basis to households and businesses.The company delivers each order in their green fleet of delivery trucks. The green trucks are powered by biofuel and waste vegetable oil and reduce emissions by 78% when compared to typical diesel delivery trucks. Recopack boxes can be used over 400 times before wearing out, when they are reground into other Recopacks. The company uses its pallets made from over 700 used, cleaned and sanitized diapers to transport Recopacks. It created Recocubes and Expandos to replace Styrofoam packing peanuts, foam sheets, and bubble wrap. Recocubes are made from recycled newspaper sludge and can be tossed into the garden for decomposition. Expandos are created from 100% recycled food and cereal boxes and are recycled into more Expandos after 100 uses. Each Recopack is projected to save over 12 trees in its lifetime, simulates source reduction, and detoxes and reduces landfill expansion.
Sustainable Communities
- Treasure Island Development Authority - Treasure Island Redevelopment Project
The Treasure Island Redevelopment Project consists of 450 acres on Treasure and Yerba Linda Islands, and is a joint effort between the Treasure Island Development Authority and Treasure Island Community Development, LLC, the competitively selected private master development partner. Highlights of the project include clustered development around a transit hub which will allow two-thirds of the land to be preserved for parks and open space; green infrastructure initiatives to enable the development plan to achieve gold certification under the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Neighborhood Development Program; partnerships with local energy providers to allow the island to generate solar and wind energy; the creation of a intermodal transit hub for bus and ferry services to complement a transportation program which prioritizes walking and biking and includes innovative transportation demand management programs such as resident transit passes, parking policies, and congestion management pricing; affordable housing and housing for the homeless; the creation of over 5,000 temporary construction jobs and 2,500 permanent jobs; and, the creation of a Treasure Island Job Corps to provide vocational training to 600, 16-24 year-olds.
Enhanced Environmental and Economic Leadership
- Fetzer Vineyards - E3 Sustainability Initiatives
The company was the first winery in California to be completely sustainable. Lauded as a “leader and maverick in the field,” by House Representative Mike Thompson, Fetzer continues to be a pioneer in the implementation of sustainable practices for production and marketing of grapes and wine. Building on its successes, Fetzer has developed significant environmental initiatives including the use of a renewable energy system that is currently the largest in the wine industry, the mitigation of carbon emissions and climate change, improved energy efficiency innovations, organic wine grape and wine production, resource conservation, waste reduction and earth-friendly bottle use. Fetzer refers to its team’s passionate commitment to making continual sustainability improvements as E3-the “triple bottom-line” of equity, environment, and economics.
GRID Alternatives wins Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award
Last night GRID Alternatives was honored by Governor Schwarzenegger and the California Environmental Protection Agency at the 2008 Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Awards in Sacramento.
The annual Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award Program is administered by the California Environmental Protection Agency and Resources Agency, in partnership with the Department of Food and Agriculture, Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, and the State and Consumer Services Agency. This is the State of California’s highest and most prestigious environmental honor.
The program recognizes individuals, organizations, and businesses that have demonstrated exceptional leadership and made notable contributions in conserving California’s precious resources, protecting and enhancing our environment, and building public-private partnerships.
Sun Rising on California’s Power Horizon
November 25, 2008 by admin
Filed under Installations, Solar News
Almost 1,000 solar panels stand over a vineyard irrigation pond at the Far Niente winery in Oakville, California.
Solar power accounts for less than 1 percent of California’s energy resources, but Bay Area residents are buying systems in increasing numbers, which is good news for the environment and the solar industry, advocates say.
Californians have more than 60 percent of the nation’s solar installations, and more than 66 percent of the state’s solar applications are in Northern California, according to a report released Monday by the Northern California Solar Energy Association, a nonprofit advocacy group.
For 2007, statewide there were 50,466 photovoltaic installations, yielding 244 megawatts of electricity, according to the report.
Solar City: L.A.’s Solar Power Push a Hint of What’s to Come?
November 25, 2008 by admin
Filed under Solar News
As President-elect Obama gears up for his big clean-energy push, it’s worth keeping an eye on California’s own green rush, especially since Golden State legislators hold key environment and energy positions in both houses of Congress.
Widespread installation of solar panels throughout Los Angeles will provide clean energy to homes and businesses in the city.
Take L.A.’s new solar-power initiative, announced yesterday by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. His plan calls for L.A. to get 10% of its electricity from solar power in 2020, one of the most ambitious solar-energy targets anywhere. L.A.’s two-part plan calls for both big new solar plantations in the desert as well as a spate of smaller, rooftop installations across the city.
Bay Area Seeks to Become Electric Car Capital
Hybrid electric cars sit on display in front of San Francisco's city hall on November 20. San Francisco Bay Area cities promised to build the electric car capital of the United States, announcing a plan to work with start-up Better Place to put battery-powered autos on the road in 2012.
The mayors of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose announced an ambitious public-private partnership last week to develop a $1 billion network of charging outlets for electric cars.
The money will be raised by Better Place, a Silicon Valley startup that develops infrastructure to support electric vehicles. The company plans to install about 250,000 charging ports and up to 200 battery-exchange stations in the Bay Area by 2012. The mayors say that they predict that this network will make the area a top-priority market for electric-vehicle manufacturers.
Spots for Berkeley’s Solar Program Snapped Up in 9 Minutes
November 21, 2008 by admin
Filed under Installations, Solar News
BERKELEY - Spots in a new Berkeley program that allows homeowners to install solar systems without any money upfront went faster than tickets to a Bruce Springsteen concert.
If ever there was an indicator in this green city that people are looking for environmentally friendly alternatives for electricity and heating water, it happened the morning after the presidential election.
The Berkeley City Council approved a proposal by Mayor Bates to make Berkeley the the first city in the nation to allow property owners to pay for energy efficiency improvements and solar system installation as a voluntary long-term assessment on their individual property tax bill.
Nine minutes after the city opened its’ online application process for a first-of-its-kind program to help property owners with the cost of solar installation by tacking the cost onto their property-tax bills during a 20-year period, 40 applications were received.
“It’s was 9 o’clock in the morning, and boom, nine minutes later 40 had been submitted,” said Julie Sinai, chief of staff to Mayor Tom Bates.
The properties selected were the first five applicants in each of Berkeley’s eight City Council districts.
On Thursday, an Oakland startup called Renewable Funding, the financial services firm contracted by the city to administer and finance the program, notified the applicants that have been selected for the pilot program, which will cost about $1.5 million.
UCB’s Global Venture Lab Technical Briefs on Large Scale Deployment of Electrical Vehicles in the Bay Area
About the Technical Briefs
U.C. Berkeley’s Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology publishes the Global Venture Lab Technical Briefs. This new series shares analysis of distinct research questions designed to provide insight into solving significant challenges. The initial three briefs represent the preliminary results of a multi-disciplinary research project that models the impact of large-scale deployment of electrical vehicles in the Bay Area.
1. Electrical Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Rollout Strategy
2. Electric Power Supply and Distribution for Electric Vehicle Operations
3. Economic Impact of Electric Vehicle Adoption in the United States
Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Analysis
San Francisco Bay Leaders Plan $1B for Electric Car Stations
Better Place introduces the Rogue, Better Place's newest EV to Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed
SAN FRANCISCO - A $1-billion network of electric car recharging stations will dot San Francisco Bay area highways under a plan unveiled today that aims to greatly expand the number of electric vehicles on the road.
Palo Alto-based Better Place along with San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums and San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed announced the deal to install charging stations in homes, businesses, parking lots and government buildings by 2012.
The company said it will also build mechanized battery swapping centers where robots will remove and replace the batteries in cars that are compatible with the system. The stations will allow electric car drivers to travel longer distances without recharging.
The initiative would make the Bay Area the first region in the nation to create an electric car network.
