Free Energy

I was just paying my bills and thought I'd share one with you.



San Diego Gas & Electric was getting around $100 per month from us before we went solar. It was a real eye opener.

Clean Power Finance - Making Solar as Easy as Buying a Car

Question: WHY AREN'T MORE PEOPLE GOING SOLAR?

Well, other than the many hoops you have to jump through (from finding the right installer, rebate applications, net metering ....) I can attest to one big hurdle: MONEY! Even getting a large rebate to cut the cost, trying to finance $20-30 thousand dollars is not very easy or appealing.

Clean Power Finance is a new company started in Silicon Valley that wants to make buying solar as easy as buying a car. When you show up at the dealership, do you expect to refinance your home before you can get the keys? Well, with Solar Dollars, CPF wants to make realizing clean power for you own home a simple and attainable reality. More often than not, you can just divert that monthly check to your power company over to a loan payment.

Know your electric bill (Part 1)

A discussion about saving electricity and money can not begin until we understand how we are charged for electricity. This week’s blog will provide an explanation of your kWh’s (kilowatt hours) and current electric costs.

Your bill is in direct relationship with the amount of electricity you use each month. When you look at your monthly bill you’ll notice not only the cost of the bill but the # of kWh’s that you’ve used.

Where do those kWh come from? A standard 100 Watt bulb uses 100 Watts of electricity an hour. 10 of these bulbs would use 1000 Watt hour or 1 kiloWatt in one hour.

I know you’re thinking, “Aaron, that was simple”. If your electric bill is handy I reference it in this next section.

The utility company, providers of your electricity since power lines were built, decided to bill you more for the more electricity you use. That’s right, the more electricity you use the higher the rate that you pay, per Watt.

Rates are confusing, explaining your electric bill would take page after page of explanation. As mentioned above the more you use the more you pay, and utility companies bill on tiers, 1 being the first tier and the least expensive and 5 is the most expensive. As an example:

Bill tier: Price per kWh $:
1 0.13
2 0.15
3 0.23
4 0.24
5 0.26

As you can see tier’s 1 & 2 are $0.02 apart and tier’s 2 & 3 are $0.08 apart, an incredible increase in cost.

If you’re looking at an electric bill you will notice on page 2 of your SDG&E bill there are different charges at different costs. These prices per tier do not accurately reflect your entire bill due to the additional charges which are also directly related to your electric bill.

Now the tricky part is finding out how many Watts fit into each tier. Depending on where you live you’re given a different amount of kilowatts for tier 1. This is because a home on the coast without A/C will use less electricity than the same sized home in the desert.

At the beginning of your billing cycles you’re usage is 0 and as your kilowatts add up your bill increases. If you’ve been paying attention, you’d of realized it would be best to use electricity within the first 2 tiers. Of course that sounds good but when we look at the amount of kW given per tier we realize this is difficult to accomplish.

Next week we will discuss the percentages per tier and how conservation, energy efficiency and solar electricity can provide you with an attractive return-on-investment and the power to help save your environment.

Powered By The Sun (part 2)

Our PV system is finished! Now we're waiting on our power company to inspect it so we can throw the switch. It's beautiful...and kind of sad. Here we are, a day away from the longest day of the year, PV panels perfectly situated to soak up the sun's energy...and we wait.

Here's the second most important part of the system, the inverter. The PV panels take the sun's energy and converts 22% of it (SunPower panels have great efficiency) into DC (direct current). It runs through this inverter and out comes AC (alternating current)...the stuff that powers our house. Now we sit and wait for inspection....

Powered by the Sun

The day has finally arrived...we're having our solar installed! This was the first project that we started in November of last year. After trying to do a little research here and there on solar, I decided it would be best to find a turn-key service provider. Turn-key means that everything is prepared for you, all you have to do is sign your name (on applications and of course, the check!). We decided to try out Clean Power Systems after talking with a couple of solar providers in the area. I was very impressed after talking with Kirk Mulligan, CEO of Clean Power Systems. We have referred three clients so far!

Clean Power Systems is a company with a bright future (pardon the pun). Not a typical solar company, CPS is a clean energy company...currently that energy is solar photovoltaics. From the start, we have had friendly and open access to the company and have met some very smart people.

Stay tuned for updates on our solar system...we are very excited.

Arnold Corrects Flawed CSI Making Residential Solar More Appealing

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a bill into law that will fix a problem in the new California Solar Incentive (CSI). This bill will eliminate a Time of Use (TOU) requirement in the CSI.

From Renewable Energy Access

AB 1714, which is designed to fix an unintended flaw in legislation passed last year hindering the California Solar Initiative (CSI). The program, administered by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), has been touted as the best in the country. But issues with Time of Use (TOU) rates have slowed applications for residential solar systems significantly.

"This legislation will result in lower rates for solar customers and will help us work to maximize Californians' participation in the program."-- California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

If you would like more information on solar, contact Clean Power Systems.