It’s a challenge, but the rewards are potentially significant.
By installing solar panels on your roof or in your backyard this
summer, you could gain up to $500 cash and facilitate a sizable
donation to a local nonprofit.
It’s a challenge, but the rewards are potentially significant.
By installing solar panels on your roof or in your backyard this summer, you could gain up to $500 cash and facilitate a sizable donation to a local nonprofit. It’s part of the “Morgan Hill solar challenge,” sponsored by San Jose-based solar power installer SunWize.
The challenge started April 22, and the goal is to add at least 60,000 watts of solar energy to Morgan Hill homes in 100 days. The cutoff date is July 31.
In return, aside from the less immediately observable benefits of renewable energy, homeowners who participate by signing up for a solar power system installed by SunWize will receive a check for $100, plus another $10 for every each home that participates, with a cap of $500 per household, according to SunWize president David Kaltsas.
Furthermore, if the community reaches the 60,000-watt goal, SunWize will donate $6,000 to the Morgan Hill Community Foundation, a nonprofit that awards grants to a wide variety of local causes. And for each 10,000 watts over the goal reached by July 31, SunWize will donate another $1,000 to the foundation, up to a total of $10,000.
Saturday, SunWize will host a “solar party” at the Morgan Hill home of Charles and Rosemarie Peoples – existing customers of SunWize. The purpose of the party is to promote the challenge, and to spread information about solar power.
Earlier this year, the Peoples’ installed a 6-kilowatt solar power system on their hillside property for two reasons – to offset their carbon footprint and to save money on energy costs.
The homeowners do not yet know how much they are saving on electricity bills because their system has only been online about three months, Rosemarie Peoples.
“At the end of the year we will pay what we owe in energy used. One month we might get a credit, and one month we might be paying,” Peoples said.
The solar challenge has a variety of goals beyond the addition of clean and renewable energy to the grid, and sales for SunWize. By making the challenge a community-oriented project, everybody wins, Kaltsas said.
“We want to bring people together to become educated on what a solar system is, how it benefits the community economically and environmentally,” Kaltsas said. “When we bring more than one into a group setting, we end up with better-educated consumers. The idea of community solar buying and community education is a process we have employed here at SunWize.”
And the potential donation to the MHCF will “support the local community and people of Morgan hill,” foundation board member Bob Lipscomb said.
A steady output of 60,000 watts can supply the electricity needs for about 60 average American households in one year. In 2009, Morgan Hill homeowners installed 18 solar power systems, generating a total of about 66,700 watts, Morgan Hill environmental programs coordinator Rebecca Fotu said.
Most of California’s electricity comes from non-renewable sources such as natural gas, coal and nuclear power. The state-sponsored California Solar Initiative, started in 1999, has a goal of adding 3,000 megawatts of solar power to the grid by 2017, through education and financial incentives.
Displacing 60,000 watts with solar photovoltaic panel systems is equivalent to planting four acres of trees or eliminating 55,000 pounds of carbon from the atmosphere in a year, according to the SunWize website.
SunWize has led similar challenges in Oregon, but Morgan Hill is their first attempt to do so in California. The company chose Morgan Hill because of its proximity to the company’s headquarters in San Jose; plus, the terrain and level of sun exposure in Morgan Hill make it a “perfect location” for solar power, Kaltsas said.
And several years ago, the city lowered its rates for solar power system installations, which often require major construction or land disturbing.
“What people found is because solar can be expensive (to install), the permits can be very high,” said Morgan Hill program administrator Anthony Eulo. The city permits solar panel installation on a different rate schedule than other home improvements.
“It could have been thousands of dollars for a permit, and now it’s hundreds,” Eulo said.
There are currently 147 solar power arrays in Morgan Hill, and Kaltsas said Santa Clara County is the nation’s “ground zero” for the growing solar power and renewable energy industry.
Customers are not only helping to keep the environment clean when they use solar power, Kaltsas said. They are also potentially reducing their monthly electricity bills.
Solar panels are a “long-term investment,” as they typically last 25 to 40 years before replacement is required, Kaltsas said. And state and federal tax credits, potential rebates available from PG&E, and the maximum $500 check for participating in the SunWize challenge can combine to pay for up to half the costs of solar power installation.
“Most people find that buying your power for the next 25 years today is something that’s pretty cool,” Kaltsas said.
All interested Morgan Hill homeowners are invited to Saturday’s “solar party,” and are encouraged to RSVP by calling (866)436-7353.
Morgan Hill Solar Challenge
-
60,000 watts: Goal of solar-powered electricity output to be installed by July 31
-
60: Houses that could be powered by that much energy
-
66,700 watts: Output of 18 solar power systems installed in Morgan Hill in 2009
-
4,522: Total residential solar power systems in Santa Clara County
-
$6,000: Minimum donation to MH Community Foundation if goal is reached
-
$500: Maximum cash award to homeowners who participate in the challenge
