Solar Empowered

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled a program last August to establish a self-sufficient solar industry in 10 years by encouraging installation of solar panel systems in 1 million homes.

The program -- currently at the top of the docket for California legislators -- could reduce carbon emissions equivalent to 850,000 cars each year, according to the Department of Energy.

Some San Luis Obispo County homeowners, who are already using solar panels for power, are prototypes of what may lie ahead.

Roger Mohme, a grape grower in Creston, and his wife, Jane Bower, plugged into a solar power system last October. They have 20 solar modules, each producing 150 watts, to power their home and water pumps to irrigate 14 acres of grapes.

Mohme is still hooked to Pacific Gas and Electric Co.'s power grid, but he uses it to work both ways in a system called net energy metering or the E-net. In the E-net system, homeowners not only collect solar power for their own needs, but also can sell the power they create back to a public electric power company.

"It makes us feel more independent, and less dependent on PG&E," Mohme said. "We also feel good from a community perspective. When other people need power, we are able to grab stuff from the sun and get it to them."

PG&E has 8,500 customers who have signed on to the E-network in Northern and Central California. San Luis Obispo County has 330 of those customers.

The net metering program has been around since 1995, but it had only a few customers until the program expanded in 2001, allowing people to generate more power. Still, upfront costs, along with diminishing rebates and tax incentives, have deterred the majority of people from signing up.

As PG&E spokeswoman Sharon Gavin said, "A lot of people can't afford it, even after the rebates. Renters won't do it. Condos won't do it."

Mohme's solar panels required an outlay of $28,000; he got $8,000 back in state rebates. Adding in state tax credits and the energy that PG&E buys back from him through the E-net, he expects to have the system paid back in about eight years.

In its current form, the Million Solar Roofs Initiative does not lower these current costs. It only extends the credits and the rebates that otherwise may have ended by year end, said Jordan Korinke, salesman for Pacific Energy Co. in San Luis Obispo. Pacific Energy, owned by San Luis Obispo City Councilman John Ewan, is the solar panel company that sold Mohme his solar system.

For Mohme, a homeowner who plans on living in his home for a long time, the switch still made financial sense.

"It might not be right for others, but we did it to save money," he said.

Mohme expects his energy costs at his home to drop from $1,200 to $140 this year. His vineyard bill should be cut in half, from $2,400 to $1,200.

Mohme says the addition of a time-of-use electricity meter, a component of Schwarzenegger's initiative, has also helped. Customers who install the system pay according to the time of day they use the electricity. Peak hours are from noon to six on the weekdays and the cost is at the highest 32 cents. Off-peak hours, you pay only 9 cents.

"We try not to use PG&E's power from noon to 6 p.m.," he said, "because that's the time when the power company's rates are the highest -- and when we are collecting the most solar."

With the time-of-use meter, he said, "We pretty much sell everything we have at the highest rate and buy it at its lowest."

Although Mohme believes the system is saving him money, it still has its disadvantages -- like the weather.

"When you have cloudy days, it messes you up," he said.

Those are the days he needs PG&E power the most. Sometimes he has to tap in at peak power, which can be three times as expensive.

"Also, oddly enough, the hotter it is, the less efficient the solar panels become." On a hot day in Creston, temperatures frequently top 100 degrees.

Korinke, the Pacific Energy salesman, said this problem is a drawback in photovoltaic technology. "The silicon as an element in the cells is affected by the heat," he said. "As the temperatures rise, its efficiency goes down."

At this time, however, silicon photovoltaic cells are the standard in solar panels -- and the most cost-effective technology available for a homeowner, Korinke added.

Perhaps for Mohme, the biggest disadvantage to the system is the imbalance of power when it comes to trading with PG&E.

"If you owe them money at the end of the year, you write them a check," he said. "But if they owe you money (because you have produced more than you bought), they just call it even," he said.

PG&E's Gavin says the power company does not consider this to be an inequity.

She said the Legislature created a law, AB 58, to set a cap on the amount that customers can be credited under the E-net program.

"They did this," she said, "because solar-powered customers are already not charged what other ratepayers have to pay."

Those charges include the cost of hooking into PG&E.

Korinke, however, suggested another reason.

"Power companies don't want net metering to happen on a large scale," he said. "If enough people installed solar panels, the power that consumers would need from PG&E would drop significantly. And the utilities would lose their investments in nuclear facilities and other power plants."

The Million Solar Roofs Initiative goes no further to amend the trade-in power contract other than raising the cap on how much power homeowners can supply to the utility company. The new cap would be up to 5 percent of the power utilities' needs.

"I wish it had more teeth in it," Korinke said.

The initiative's biggest change to the solar industry may be its incentives for home builders to build solar into new homes.

If that happens, Mohme believes the overall costs to homeowners will go down.

"Retrofitting, like we did, costs more," he said. It'll be cheaper if they put it in up front. And if more people do it, the cost will come down -- probably by half."

To find out more about net energy metering, visit PG&E's Web site at www.pge.com.

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Source: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News