Part 2

Action Plan

From a positive perspective, the original million-rooftop initiative helped stimulate general interest, provided an incentive for early adopters and helped build a national market. But, from a local perspective, a million solar rooftops is too diffuse.

Here a rooftop, there a rooftop does not lead to everywhere a rooftop. There is no critical mass to sustain local vendors, designers and installers.

While Solar Cities also incorporate scattered rooftop (or back yard) installations they tend also to be neighborhood or community based. They provide enough business during any given year to maintain full service companies, as well as those related businesses that do more infrequent installations (electricians, plumbers, roofers), and do-it-yourselfers.

There is also a cascading effect. As homeowners, or prospective homebuyers, see their neighbors install solar systems, and hear tales of sharply reduced electric bills; they become more disposed to ordering one themselves. As the local market grows, it attracts investment capital and, potentially, manufacturers or assemblers.

How to get the main players into the game

Following are some actions that are currently being taken by other cities and organizations that key stakeholders can consider:

State Government
  • Eliminate the sales tax on solar and renewable energy equipment for at least five years. The costs are trivial compared to the prospects for job creation.
  • Require that architects of all new publicly financed buildings, or extensive renovations, include the option of incorporating solar, geothermal or other renewable energy systems.
  • Establish a revolving rebate fund with revenues based on voluntary collection of a Green surcharge (as little as 96 cents a month) on electric utility bills.
  • Require true net metering by the utility companies
  • Provide tax incentives to encourage developers to include renewable energy options in new construction.

    Other states, and some utility companies, are doing much more. They are saving taxpayers money while building whole new industries. If {your state]the State of Georgia wants to captures its share of a dynamic market, now is the time to act.

    Regional governments/Public Buildings/Public Spaces
  • Enact legislation that would mandate new construction to be at least 30% more energy efficient than current standards.
  • Examples from other cities include solar installations on: roofs of sport stadiums, museums, libraries, public housing, government buildings, canopies over parking lots; building integrated photovoltaics.

    Metropolitan Planning Commission [your local planning body]
  • Establish zoning for solar fields.
  • Identify marginal lands and brown fields that can be converted to solar fields

    Public and Private Schools
  • Schools are great potential solar energy generators because they are occupied less than 250 days a year and will generate the most electricity when the general demand is highest.
  • Install a minimum of 1 kW on every building, with a monitor in the school so that students can track the amount of energy produced. Design the installation so that additional modules can be added later as prices drop.
  • Install solar roofing materials or panels on buildings that require new roofs
  • Include a unit on solar and sustainable energy in every grade
  • Use programmable thermostats, or other controls, to reduce demand after school hours.

    Local Colleges and Universities
  • [replace with missed opportunities in your area] Major opportunities were lost in the construction of dormitories at SSU and SCAD, new academic buildings at AASU and Savannah Tech.
  • New construction should incorporate the possibility of geothermal, and should be designed to take maximum advantage of solar energy.
  • Solar canopies over parking lots and outdoor dining areas.
  • Solar panels on roof areas over sports stadium.
  • Establish "Sunshine Alumni Club" to help raise funds to retrofit existing buildings with some solar.
  • Install solar roofing materials or panels on building that require new roofs.
  • Identify marginal lands (those that flood periodically, for example) for possible installation of solar fields.
  • Include courses in the use of solar power in sustainable development

    Home Builders and Residential Real Estate Developers
  • Use Building America, LEED or other guidelines to reduce energy consumption by at least 30%. The European experience reports that a 3% increase in costs can reduce the amount of energy used by 30%. In fact, one city, Freiburg, Germany, requires that all new homes be built to this standard. According to the Department of Energy's Building America, careful systems engineering of new buildings can accomplish the same objectives with little or no cost increase.

    Architects and builders need to ask these questions first:

    How will we incorporate solar energy in this building/development?

  • Will we use geothermal? Solar panels? Solar hot water? Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV)?
  • How can we situate the building so that it has some substantial unobstructed areas facing south?
  • If we just put in a small initial system have we provided the design for future solar electric expansion?
  • Can we include a minimum of 1.2kW of solar electric?

    In addition, developers should use solar electric for common areas; provide solar canopies for parking lots; use solar panels or BIPV on common buildings/community center, provide solar heating of swimming pools.

    Developments that include a golf course can use solar lighting, solar panels on the pro shop, solar electricity to charge golf carts, and solar canopies in parking lots.

    Buyers of New Homes
  • Current tax credit of 30% for residential solar water heating up to $2,000
  • Current tax credit of 30% for residential solar electric up to $2,000.
  • Tax credits can be carried forward.
  • Systems must be installed by Dec. 31, 2008
  • Buyers should insist on energy efficient features, Energy Star appliances
  • Buyers planning to install solar at a later date can have the home made solar ready with installation of copper tubing and electric conduit while house is under construction.

    Real Estate Agents
  • Become familiar with the tax credits available, and know where to obtain energy mortgages
  • Recognize that within a few years houses with solar will have a competitive advantage over those without solar
  • Know how to identify those existing properties that could be retrofitted with solar

    Commercial

  • Current tax credit of 30% for solar and fuel cell installations, with no cap.
  • Accelerated depreciation
  • Systems must be installed by Dec. 31, 2008
    Even though office buildings have a lower ratio of roof surface to building volume, they can still make a contribution to total solar energy usage because they are typically occupied only 5- 5.5 days a week, with a potential for 100 days of surplus energy production. They would also help reduce peak energy demand during the hottest summer days.
  • Retail buildings and shopping malls have extensive roof areas for solar panels or solar roofing material.
  • All could install solar canopies over parking lots and over the top floor of parking garages.

    Industrial and "big box" solar
  • Most industrial buildings, warehouses and distribution centers have tens of thousands of square feet of roof area that are ideally suited for solar roofing materials or large arrays of solar panels. Major installations already exist in other states.

    Trade Unions, especially Building Trades
  • Many union locals own their own buildings and can incorporate solar panels on the roof and on parking lot canopies. These buildings also have many surplus energy days because most are not used extensively on the weekends.
  • They can use their own installation as a training program for other members of the union.
  • They can also provide educational materials to their members to help them conserve energy at home, and spread that knowledge to their neighbors.
  • Many union members have strong do-it-yourself skills, and once they participate in a solar project they would be able to add solar panels to their own homes and save substantial installation costs.

    Chambers of Commerce
  • Provide educational programs for their members on methods of incorporating solar in their businesses and in their homes.
  • Sponsor community-wide educational programs and fund pilot projects.

    [Local Economic Development Authority]
  • Actively recruit solar oriented manufacturers, integrators, designers and architects.

    Utility Companies
  • Embrace solar-- a major change of mindset.
  • Accept true net metering
  • Provide financial incentives for solar installations that, cumulatively, reduce the necessity for capital investment in new power plants.
    Utility concerns
    While there are exceptions, most utility companies want to stay with the model they now have --large centralized facilities -- that may provide economies of scale, and reasonably predictable costs.

    The solar model is more decentralized. From the utilities' point of view each individual solar site will vary in size and amount of electricity produced at any given moment. This can lead to a monumental headache, as the load on the power grid must be kept balanced at all times. Utilities will have to invest in new control systems to maintain the integrity of the supply of electricity. Besides, utility executives don't like monumental headaches.

    Right now, solar electricity is much more expensive for a utility than the installed generating base. (There is an exception - on hot days when peak demand for air conditioning requires the utility to kick in backup systems, which cost more to operate.)

    Local utilities typically pay about 3 - 4 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh). However, the residential consumer pays over 9 cents per kWh. So, a system that is more costly for a utility may be a bargain for a homeowner-- particularly because the cost of electricity from a solar system will remain constant for years, while that charged by a utility will most assuredly increase.

    Banks & Other Financial Institutions
  • Educate prospective homebuyers as part of the mortgage process
  • Put solar installations on their own buildings (which could generate surplus as the buildings are only used for 5-5.5 days a week and are closed on holidays) and canopies in parking lots.
  • Provide solar financing and energy mortgages
  • Provide discounted loans for their own employees who want to install solar on their own homes.

    Architects and Facility Engineers
  • Think solar energy; think green. Think outside the box.
  • Show your clients how incorporating solar can earn LEED points and improve both resale and rental prospects.
  • Gain competitive advantage when compared to other firms that do not have solar credentials

    Federal Government Buildings and Military Installations
    Major missed opportunity in the construction of barracks at [any missed opportunities in your area]Hunter Army Air Base, which have neither solar hot water nor solar electric panels.
  • Accelerate the current program to install solar on federal buildings and mandate that all new construction contain a solar component.

    Houses of Worship and Related Buildings
  • Participate in [your state] Georgia Interfaith Light & Power.
  • Install solar panels on roofs and solar canopies in parking lots. As many houses of worship are unoccupied for long periods of time they can become net generators of solar electricity.