Category: "SEIA"

11/03/09

  08:35:58 am, by Jim Jenal - Founder & CEO   , 252 words  
Categories: SEIA, Solar News

Solar Bill of Rights - Right # 1

Yesterday I posted the eight Rights from the Solar Bill of Rights introduced by SEIA President Rhone Resch during his speech at last week’s Solar Power International conference.  Over the next several days I will be discussing these rights in greater detail.  Let’s start today with number one:

1. Americans have the right to put solar on their homes or businesses.

Well, of course they do - what is holding them back?  Aside from a weak economy, there are a number of things that make putting solar on a home or business more difficult than it should be.  For example, some utilities make the entire rebate process so confounding that the public becomes confused and intimidated.  Some communities charge excessively high fees for permitting and inspecting a solar power installation.  (Kudos to PWP here - they actually include the cost of the permit in their rebate payment.)  Some local jurisdictions impose “guidelines” as though they were binding regulations without ever bothering to hold a public hearing and pass an authorizing ordinance.

All of these things conspire to make adding solar more complicated, time-consuming and expensive than it should be.

What can be done?  The key, as President Resch made clear during his speech, is for solar advocates to speak up and start demanding their rights.  This involves writing letters to the editor, advocating solar with elected officials - and keeping solar in mind when going out to vote.

In the weeks and months ahead, we will be highlighting opportunities for action in these pages - stay tuned!

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11/02/09

  08:29:03 am, by Jim Jenal - Founder & CEO   , 185 words  
Categories: All About Solar Power, SEIA, Solar News

Solar Bill of Rights

The Solar Energy Industry Association has just published what they are calling the Solar Bill of Rights.  This declaration focuses on the importance of having a level playing field for the solar industry everywhere from the halls of Congress to local permitting agencies and homeowners’ associations.  Over the next few days we will be writing at some length about these rights and why they are so important.

Here they are, courtesy of the SEIA website:

1.      Americans have the right to put solar on their homes or businesses.

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.

4.      The solar industry has the right to a fair competitive environment.

5.      The solar industry has the right to equal access to public lands.

6.      The solar industry has the right to interconnect and build new transmission lines.

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

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

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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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