Categories: "Solar News"

03/05/10

  09:08:13 am, by Jim Jenal - Founder & CEO   , 192 words  
Categories: Solar News

Subscribing to the Founder's Blog

We have recently received some requests for information on how to subscribe to the Founder’s Blog.  So first and foremost, thanks for the interest - we are very gratified to learn that folks are finding this blog informative and useful.  Details on subscribing after the jump.

 

There are two ways that you can subscribe, based on the technology available to you.  If your browser (such as IE) or your email client (such as Outlook) supports XML feeds, you can copy the link for either the RSS or Atom feed and paste that into your application.  (The links are on the right hand side just below the “Go Solar Now” button.  If you do that, you will automatically receive every posting that we make to this blog.

The second method is a bit less direct, but will work if you do not have the ability to handle XML feeds.  If you send an email to “Subscribe @ runonsun.com” (no spaces) with your name, city and preferred email address, we will add you to our subscription list and auto-forward our postings to you.

Hope that helps and once again, thanks for your support!  Go Solar!

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01/04/10

  07:25:32 am, by Jim Jenal - Founder & CEO   , 680 words  
Categories: All About Solar Power, Solar News

Scam Warning - Why Solar is NOT a DIY Project

If you spend anytime at all reading information about solar energy on the Internet you will have come across one of those ads:

“Do it Yourself Solar!”
“Build Solar Panels at Home!" 
“Go Green and Save Green!”

and on and on. Sounds enticing - after all, who wouldn’t like to green up their life while saving money? But the scammers have you squarely in their sights and their do-it-yourself kits are a ripoff of your hard earned money.

At a minimum, there are at least three good reasons why solar is not a DIY project: 1) DC isn’t AC, 2) Safety, and 3) Utilities.

Let’s look at each one of these in turn.

DC isn’t AC - Solar panels produce direct current (DC), just like your car battery.  But the energy in your home is alternating current (AC) which reverses polarity 60 times a second.  Now a very few of the loads in your home won’t care - an incandescent light bulb will burn just fine with either AC or DC.  But your air conditioning system won’t.  Nor will your TV, your computer, your refrigerator, or nearly anything else that you own.  All of them are designed to operate on AC and running them on DC will either damage them, or do nothing at all.  Yet those are the things that drive your utility bill.  A $200, DIY solar panel (assuming for the sake of argument that such a thing can even be built) will do nothing to lower those bills.  So right off the bat, the huge $$$ savings promised are just that - a “pie-crust” promise - easily made, easily broken.

Safety - Quality solar panels sold in the United States are approved by Underwriters Laboratory (i.e., “UL Approved") for safety.  Since even a single solar panel can generate dangerous amounts of electricity, that approval provides peace of mind that the solar panels sitting on your roof will operate safely for the 25 years that you will own them.  Can the same be said for a DIY solar panel?  What if the unthinkable happens and your DIY solar panel malfunctions and starts a fire.  Will your homeowner’s insurance cover the loss after they learn that you placed solar panels on your roof that weren’t UL approved?  Is that a risk you want to take?

Utilities - If you are looking to lower your utility costs, you will need to connect your DIY system to the utility grid.  Before you can legally do that, your system has to have an inverter that meets not only UL approval but also the IEEE standard to prevent “islanding”.  The “anti-islanding” feature of a modern inverter is extremely important - here’s why.  A residential grid-tied solar power system is a small power plant connected remotely from the utility’s other power plants.  If a power line goes down, the utility will dispatch a crew to repair the break.  Before doing so, they will isolate that portion of the grid so that the lines are de-energized, allowing the workers to handle them safely.  But wait - they cannot isolate your mini power plant down the street which is acting as a power-generating island all unto itself.  That means the downed power line is still hot - and deadly.  To prevent such situations, “anti-islanding” technology is built into every grid-tied inverter sold in the U.S.  Building such an inverter is definitely not a DIY project, unless you are an electrical engineer.

Funny, but those ads never seem to talk about any of this.

Sure, we have a vested interest - we are in the business of installing high-quality, safe and reliable solar power systems.  But we aren’t worried here about losing a few sales.  Rather, we are worried about solar getting a bad reputation from hucksters and scammers souring people who were excited about the possibility of going solar, but got mislead and wasted their money and their time.

We believe - and have blogged about - the absolute right of consumers to be treated ethically by the solar industry.  We will continue to write about risks to that ethical standard, whether from conventional installers doing shoddy work (see here) or from rip-off artists and scammers like these.

11/22/09

  04:28:41 pm, by Jim Jenal - Founder & CEO   , 364 words  
Categories: SEIA, Solar News

Solar Bill of Rights - # 8 - The Most Important Right of All

Keeping the best and most important Right for last, SEIA’s Solar Bill of Rights concludes with Right # 8:

8.      Americans have the right, and should expect, the highest ethical treatment from the solar industry.

Beyond a shadow of a doubt, this is the most important Solar Right of all if we are to build an industry that is respected and trusted by consumers throughout this country.  This should almost go without saying - and yet, saying it, and living it, is extremely important.

As we have seen time and again, there are many solar installers out there who care way more about making a sale than they do about building a reliable system that will meet the customer’s needs for the next 25 years.  (As you can see here.)

But what does ethical treatment really mean?  We think there are some very important elements that together constitute this Right, including:

  • Systems should be sold to meet the consumer’s needs - not the installer’s revenue requirements.
  • Not all sites are appropriate for solar and installers must tell consumers when their site is just not right.
    • Sometimes that means turning down an available job because the installer knows it will never perform properly.
  • Solar power systems, while technical, are not rocket science and consumers are entitled to have all of their questions answered.
  • Solar power systems should be installed by qualified electricians - not plumbers, roofers or the handyman down-the- block.
    • Installations should make the site look better; solar should not be an eyesore.
    • Installations should work better than advertised.
    • Installations should be safe and reliable for their entire projected lifetime - none of what you see here.
  • Rebate processing is complicated and confusing; installers should bear that burden, not consumers.
  • In all of our dealings with consumers, utilities and inspectors, installers must be scrupulously honest.

These are reasonable requests for consumers (and America in general) to make of the solar industry.  As professionals in a rapidly expanding field, we need to hold ourselves to the highest standards, and hold others in our field accountable when they do not measure up.  Otherwise, all of us will be diminished by the acts of the fly-by-night artists and scammers – and the entire nation will suffer.

11/15/09

  09:51:46 am, by Jim Jenal - Founder & CEO   , 166 words  
Categories: All About Solar Power, SEIA, Solar News

Solar Bill of Rights - Right # 7

The last two of the eight Rights in the Solar Bill of Rights once again focus on the rights of consumers.  Here is number Seven:

7.      Americans have the right to buy solar electricity from their utility.

As utilities operate under Renewable Portfolio Standards they are required to purchase increasing amounts of renewable energy.  Utility customers should be allowed to purchase the renewable energy of their choosing, thereby voting with their dollars for the energy source that they prefer.

Some utilities, such as Pasadena Water & Power, have a “Green Energy” option that allows customers to purchase some or all of their electricity from renewables, but it does not allow them to choose solar specifically (and right now that appears to be all wind power).  By allowing consumers a choice, utilities would receive a premium for providing solar energy which can then be used to fund incentives for adding solar, thereby increasing the supply.  It would also let consumers proclaim their desire to avoid using coal-fired electricity.

11/06/09

  09:46:01 am, by Jim Jenal - Founder & CEO   , 259 words  
Categories: SEIA, Solar News

Solar Bill of Rights - Rights # 2 & 3

Continuing our series on the recently promulgated Solar Bill of Rights, here are some thoughts on Rights 2 & 3.  Here they are:

2.      Americans have the right to connect their solar energy system to the grid with uniform national standards.

3.      Americans have the right to Net Meter and be compensated at the very least with full retail electricity rates.

The good news is that at least here in California, #2 has already been secured.  All of the utilities in our service area (the greater Los Angeles region) allow grid-tied systems to be connected to the grid with a minimum amount of hassle and red-tape.

The news is not quite so good for Right #3.  Under existing California law, there is a cap on the number of net metering agreements that utilities are obligated to offer - presently at 2.5% of the utilities peak load.  Such a cap makes no sense, and could work to seriously limit the growth of solar in California.  Fortunately, there is legislation in the works, authored by Assembly Member Nancy Skinner (D-AD14) that would raise the cap to 5%.   Skinner’s bill, AB560, will be reintroduced next year.

Finally, we made real progress on the fair compensation portion of Right #3 with the signing into law of AB920.  For the first time, solar customers in California will no longer be “donating” their surplus energy to their utility.  Instead, utilities must pay solar customers who are net energy producers using the same rate structure by which that customer would normally be billed.

What do you think about these rights?  Please add your comments, below.

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Jim Jenal is the Founder & CEO of Run on Sun, Pasadena's premier installer and integrator of top-of-the-line solar power installations.
Run on Sun also offers solar consulting services, working with consumers, utilities, and municipalities to help them make solar power affordable and reliable.

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