Solar Solutions

Once you have decided to go solar, it’s time to choose who will install the solar system. With hundreds of solar installers and contractors in Southern California alone, it can seem pretty overwhelming. By properly researching your solar contractor, you can ensure that you will receive a quality installation and your system will produce the maximum amount of solar energy for the duration of its lifetime. But, where to start?

First things first, research the company’s professional credentials. We suggest finding out the following:

• Are they a member of CALSEIA?
• Are they listed as an eligible vendor at the California Solar Initiative website?
• Are they licensed by the Contractors State License Board?
• Are they a member of the League of California Homeowners?
• Do they have an A+ Rating from the Better Business Bureau?

CALSEIA, or the California Solar Energy Industries Association, is dedicated to spreading solar technology throughout the state. They make sure that their members are avoiding any deceptive acts and are running an ethical business model. Of course, it’s important to check that the company is listed as an eligible vendor on the California Solar Initiative (CSI) website and is also licensed by the Contractors State License Board (CSLB).

We also recommend choosing a solar installer who is a member of the League of California Homeowners. This nonprofit organization does a rigorous background check on their members every year. Among other things, they check to see that the company did not file for bankruptcy and has the proper workers comp and insurance. They also interview three customers a year to make sure that folks are happy with the company’s work.

The Better Business Bureau doles out ratings from A+ to F based on a 16 point system that evaluates everything from the number and degree of any complaints filed to the use of questionable advertising. We would only accept a solar installer with an A+ rating from the BBB.

Second, ask the solar contractor to provide you with customer references from previous installations. Pay attention to the amount of references they give you. For instance, did they provide you with 3 or 30 references? Are the references from recent jobs only or the entire time that they have been in business? We recommend contacting a few of the references to see what they have to say. Ultimately, their feedback might help you make your final decision.

Lastly, research the solar company’s online reviews on websites like Yelp or Angie’s List. Since these sites are unedited, you can get a pretty good feel for the company’s reputation by reading through the commentary. Solar Reviews is also a good website to gauge a solar installation company’s quality of work and service.

Verifying a solar company’s professional credentials and reviewing their customer references and reviews are a few tips that will give you a good start on researching the best solar installer for your project. Be sure to check back in on the blog next week for the second installment on how to choose a solar contractor with even more pointers and advice.

The California Aquatics Therapy & Wellness Center has awarded a solar pool heating project to AMECO, a local company that is considered a pioneer and leader in the solar industry.

Originally organized as the California Communities Pool for the Handicapped in 1956 by civic leader Evelyn DuPont, the nonprofit organization offers accessible and affordable aquatic therapy to nearly 2,000 children and adults each year.

Because therapeutic pools are typically warmer than the average pool, heating the two community pools has become a significant expense for the center, costing upwards of $13,000 a year. The original solar pool heater, installed by AMECO in 1981, was removed in order to replace the roof and make way for more efficient solar panels that will offset the energy needed to heat the pools.

“California Aquatics Therapy & Wellness Center has been a long-standing institution in Long Beach for fifty years now. We’re honored to provide them with clean, renewable energy so that they can lower their utility bill and direct the savings to support their integral community programs,” said Pat Redgate, President & CEO of AMECO.

Community programs include aquatic therapy and rehabilitation sessions offered to children and adults with disabilities such as cerebral palsy, autism and muscular dystrophy. Many of the pool’s members spend all day in their wheel chairs explained Kit Gabel, the Aquatic Director who has worked at the center for five years. “This is the only time that they can feel free,” he said.

The center also provides programs including ‘Moovin and Groovin’ for children from low-income families and aquatic exercise classes for the elderly.

Funding for the project is provided by the Port of Long Beach as a grant to reduce greenhouse gasses. In addition to the solar system installation, the grant will provide funds to educate local community members about solar energy.

As the sun rose over El Dorado Park this past Saturday, large groups of middle school and high school students gathered for the Fourth Annual Solar Grand Prix. The event, hosted by Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske and partly sponsored by AMECO, focuses on solar energy education by challenging students to work together to a design, build and race a model car that’s powered by a solar panel.

While checking in teams from 22 different schools in Long Beach, AMECO was able to evaluate each solar-powered model car.

Many teams tried to utilize lightweight materials in hopes that it would increase the speed of their car. One team made a long, sleek frame out of balsa wood while another group used the Styrofoam shell from the packaging of a younger brother’s toy as the body of the car.

Others team got into the technical aspect of the design by trying out new gears, tinkering with the motor or adding traction to their recycled wheels. One team of young women had taken apart an old sewing machine and used some of the parts for the engine — whenever the car ran it sounded like a sewing machine!

We were impressed by the ingenuity and creativity that the students put into their designs. Some of our favorite creative solar cars included a design that looked like the Endeavor space shuttle. Another was doused in glitter to try to increase the amount of sunlight going to the solar panel, also because the team was made up of 12 years old girls.

After every solar-powered model car was registered and reviewed in detail by the judges, the races were set to begin. The appointed rep from each team prepared their solar car at one end of the track, being sure to cover the solar panel with a piece of cardboard. Once the race flag was lowered, off came the cardboard and the sun gave energy to the solar model cars so that they moved down the wooden race track while everyone cheered. Some cars went extremely fast and completed the race in seconds while other cars went at a steady speed.  Unfortunately, a few teams experienced technical malfunctions and had to rescue their cars from the middle of the track.

While only a few teams received trophies for being the fastest or having the most innovative design, it was a winning day for all of the Long Beach students and families involved in the Solar Grand Prix. The students enjoyed the process of planning, designing and building their solar models cars as much as the thrill of the competition. All the while, everyone learned about solar power and how it’s clean, renewable energy benefits our community and environment.

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.