Our Residential Customers

Solar System Type: Solar Electric (PV)

Solar System Details: 20 PV Panels with Micro-Inverters and Monitoring System

Electric Bill After: $22

Reduced by 90%!

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Ever since the neighbor across the street installed a solar system six years ago, Rita and Nick had been toying with the idea of going solar. With Rita working from home and two teenage girls constantly watching TV and using blow dryers, their electricity bill was already on the high side. But it wasn’t until 2012 when Edison hiked electricity rates and they saw their bill increase significantly that the family became more serious about investing in a solar system.

Another selling point was that AMECO offers a technologically advanced solar panel with a micro-inverter attached to the back, often referred to as an AC panel. This set-up allows the DC power generated from the sun to be immediately converted into AC power that can be used in the home. Since each panel works independently, it allows the configuration to produce the maximum amount of energy. Also, you can easily enable a monitoring system and access it online as Rita and Nick have done.

Rita reported that the installation process went smoothly, “I was at home the two and a half days that it took for the installers to complete the project. They were so polite and pleasant, and always made sure that our dogs were safe when coming in and out of the house.”

All in all, Rita and Nick are very happy with their AMECO-installed solar electric system. A few neighbors and friends have already come by asking about it and they are eager to share how they’ve reduced their electric bill to practically nothing. “I wish we could say that we went solar to be green and save the environment,” they said, “But we really did it for the other green . . . to save money!”

If your home has a solar energy system, how does this translate into value for a potential buyer when the house is “For Sale”?

Today, whenever you purchase a product that uses energy, information provided by Energy Star Label is available to make comparisons. However, there is no standardized approach to assess these features for the many houses that were built before Energy Efficiency methods became widely adopted. Since there is no accepted metric used by appraisers and the real estate industry as whole to gauge the dollar value of energy saving or producing features of older homes, it is important for the prospective buyer or seller to look for an appraiser that uses the Green Addendum and for sellers to insist that solar and other green features be highlighted in their listing.

In the past, the American Appraisal Institute estimated that any feature that saved a dollar a year in operating costs would add twenty times that amount to the home’s value, because such savings would potentially increase the loan amount available to any buyer. This is an example of reverse engineering that could be considered optimistic, or even fanciful.

Since then, thousands of homeowners have installed solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and enough data now exists so that Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory was able to conduct a comprehensive survey and establish a value for homes that produce their own energy through solar panels. Their research analyzed data from the sale of 72,000 homes in California, 2000 of which had a solar electric system. The study indicates that the average solar system added between $3.90 to $6.40 per watt, or approximately $17,000 in value for a house with a 3.1 kilowatt solar system. This would mean that in most cases today, the entire pre-incentive cost of a grid-tied solar PV system will be recaptured once the home is sold.

Many other studies have been published that speak to the importance of solar energy and other energy saving products when selling a home. The National Association of Home Builders reported that home buyers would be willing to pay an extra $7,095 for a home that saved $1,000 in utility costs. Another survey by the National Association of Realtors indicates that 87% of today’s buyers rate energy features as important.

In yet another study, the University of North Carolina has discovered that there is connection between homeowners who install green features and mortgage default rates. The researchers also determined that homes with savings of 15% or higher on utility bills are 32% less likely to default on home loans. This may be connected with the fact that houses with solar panels or other green features are cheaper to live in, and therefore mortgages are easier to pay.

There are so many reasons to go solar, not the least of which is the fact that it’s a home improvement that will not only pay for itself, but will recuperate any funds initially invested in the solar system with value added to the home at the time of sale.

By Joshua H. Silavent – Staff Writer, Long Beach Business Journal

December 4, 2012 – Patrick Redgate has seen the solar power industry grow from its nascent days of potential several decades ago to a market today that is expanding to meet increased residential and commercial demand.

While working in Saudi Arabia in the late 1970s, during a time of severe gas shortages, Redgate began to think about “where I could make a difference.” He understood the necessity for a robust renewable energy portfolio from both an environmental and economic perspective, long before it was fashionable to do so in either sense.

Patrick Redgate, president and CEO of Ameco Solar, shows off a solar panel
at his company’s headquarters in Paramount. “We have a saying in our
business: Fossil fuels are too precious to burn,” he told the
Business Journal. (Photograph by the Business Journal’s Thomas McConville)

“The energy sector’s huge,” Redgate, the CEO of Paramount-based Ameco Solar, told the Business Journal. So getting in on the ground floor of the emerging solar industry was important for a number of reasons, not the least of which was the world’s need to broaden its energy supply to incorporate sustainable power sources and move away from dependence on oil. “We have a saying in our business: Fossil fuels are too precious to burn,” he said.

Redgate began working with a solar company in Signal Hill in 1979 after his return from the Middle East. He purchased the company two years later and changed the name to Ameco. Today, the company designs, installs and repairs solar energy systems for homes and businesses. “Most of what we do now is photovoltaic, which is electric,” he said.

But it took a while for solar technology to catch up with Redgate’s vision and early entry into the market. “I got to the point where I thought I was just never going to see it in my lifetime,” he said.

These days, however, solar is more popular than ever. One reason lies in the fact that more and more Americans want to reduce their environmental footprint and are resorting to alternative, renewable sources of energy to do so. Solar also makes good fiscal sense these days. “We may put in a system that only tackles 20 percent of their consumption but cuts their bill in half,” Redgate said.

Moreover, companies are finding solar power helps improve the bottom line and adds a measure of credibility for consumers who want to spend their money with socially and environmentally responsible businesses.

“Companies that can afford to go solar and want to present that image just automatically do it,” Redgate said.

The solar industry also has government investment to thank for its recent growth spurt, but many subsidies are set to expire at the end of 2016, which will likely cause some winnowing in the industry, or a “clearing of the field,” Redgate said. But these incentives have helped keep costs down as the industry expands. “I think that people would really be surprised to find out how affordable solar is,” he added.

Net metering, which provides retail rate credits to consumers who generate energy supplies for the power grid, has perhaps been the biggest incentive for consumers to invest in solar. However, utilities are fighting the way this benefit is calculated.

Still, Redgate makes a powerful case for solar. “Not only are we building infrastructure, but we’re creating wealth for the people that live in this state,” he said. Many residents and businesses in Long Beach like the sound of this pitch.

Whereas solar was once an option for the well-to-do, Redgate has seen young families and blue-collar workers clamoring for a new, green-friendly energy source. Furthermore, Ameco has performed installations for a number of small commercial retail centers, as well as doctor and dental offices, in Long Beach.

Ameco holds free workshops once or more a year for interested consumers to learn about the benefits of solar power, both from an environmental and economic standpoint. The company works with three photovoltaic and three thermal manufactures to provide clients with today’s best industry technology.

Thanks to increases in oil and natural gas production, as well as sustained growth in the renewable energy industry, the International Energy Agency reports that the United States is poised to become energy independent in the next decade or so. Redgate understands that solar is but one component of the nation’s energy portfolio, but a strong one at that. “You can’t just go all solar, or all wind, or all coal, or all nuclear . . . You have to have a mix,” he said.

Source: Long Beach Business Journal

Congratulations California, it appears you have passed the solar gigawatt mark.

Rewire is reporting:

“According to live data provided by the California Independent System Operator (CaISO), the agency that manages the state’s power distribution grid, the state of California reached a long-anticipated milestone this afternoon (as I predicted last month). More than 1,000 megawatts of electrical power is coming into the state’s transmission grid from solar sources, making solar the largest renewable energy contributor to the state’s power consumption — at least for a few hours. Statewide demand this afternoon is running at about 41,600 megawatts, so this solar milestone accounts for about 2.4% of total grid energy being used in California.”

Click the link above for the complete article.