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About Us
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The City of Santa Monica has an ambitious goal to become a net-zero, energy independent city by 2020.
Solar
Santa Monica helps residents, businesses and property owners reduce
energy consumption and generate clean, renewable energy onsite. Our Contractor Network is a tool to help you find a licensed, reliable contractor.
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Solar Santa Monica is brought to you by:
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Do It Yourselfers take advantage of Solar Santa Monica workshop
 The Solar Santa Monica's Second Energy Effiency Workshop, held at the Sustainabile Works building, brought out 18 people eager to learn more about tightening the building envelope. In the photo, Solar Santa Monica's Stuart Cooley, Certified Sustainable Building Advisor, speaks on cost savings that can be achieved with caulking and weatherstripping. | |
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Edison Rates Change (Again) for Business
 Analyzing the rate of return on a solar investment involves many variables. Among them: size of the system, cost of the panels and labor, tax implications, and amount of the rebate. Another important variable is the cost of electricity - the rate that you are paying now, the rate you will pay when you have a solar system, and how that rate may change in the future.
On Wednesday the 11th, Solar Santa Monica held a special Breakfast Briefing to discuss business rates. Michael Ware started with a review, then introduced the new "Option R" solar rate.
Businesses, like residents, pay each month for the amount of electricity they use. Unlike residents, they may pay a higher rate for the power that they use during peak periods of the day.
Businesses also pay a demand charge, based on their highest need during the month. Sometimes the demand charges are as much as the regular usage charges.
Now, there's a new rate available for businesses with solar that must also be considered. It increases the business's charge for usage, but reduces the demand charge. In most cases, switching to Option R improves the "solar deal" considerably. As always, there are some situations where a switch makes no sense.
Will "Option R" work for your business? The only way to know is to run a complete analysis. Solar Santa Monica can review your situation and run different scenarios to show all the rates available to you, and how they impact the rate of return on your proposed solar investment. For your analysis, contact Michael Ware by calling (310) 560-9273 or by email.
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Greening the Bottom Line Event
with Senator Fran Pavley
 Senator Fran Pavley took center stage on October 15th to discuss energy efficiency in homes and businesses at Santa Monica's "Greening the Bottom Line". The event was sponsored by the city, Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce, and First United Methodist Church. Joining Senator Pavley was Ted Flanigan of EcoMotion and Solar Santa Monica, who spoke on the challenge of becoming and going beyond a "Net Zero" community.
The event also hosted a Resource Fair which included various companies such as TreePeople, Municipal Water District, Sustainable Works, and of course, Solar Santa Monica! Community groups, businesses, and residents left not only with tips to reduce their electricity usage and cost, but also with a sense of what the city and state is doing to make it easier for them.
Pavley has supported environmental issues throughout her career. She is particularly well-known as author of legislation to combat climate change by capping greenhouse gas emissions in California. Those laws, AB 32 and AB 1493, have become models for other states and nations.
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CSI Update
(That's California Solar Initiative, not that other program.)
In October, the California Public Utilities Commission came out with a progress report on the CSI. Highlights of the report:
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Since 2007, 21,159 installations have been completed.
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Over the past year, the price of small systems declined 9 per cent; large system prices went down 13 per cent.
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California has reached a cumulative 509 Megawatts of installed solar at 52,714 sites.
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Calling all Solar Santa Monica champions! There is another cool online tool available for solar pros! If you have ever wanted to see a map of all the existing PV systems throughout the nation, now you can. NREL's Open PV Project website allows users to both see and upload their own system information to the map.
Open PV Project's goal is to collect, organize and distribute knowledge of the location, size, cost and date of every PV installation in United States. They are actively seeking contribution to expand this map, so sign up today to become an Open PV Project member and start contributing data from your own solar system! |
Knowledge is Power!
(First in a Series on Smart Energy Management)
Do you have one of the proverbial "energy hogs" in your garage - that is, an extra refrigerator? Ever wondered how much energy your flat-screen TV uses in comparison to the old one now in the bedroom? Even when it's turned off?
Stop by the Solar Santa Monica office and ask to borrow one of our Kill-A-Watt meters. Plug the meter into the wall, and the appliance into the meter, and then track usage - and what it's costing you - for a few days. You may decide to get rid of the refrigerator altogether, and to make sure your TV is turned off completely when you're not watching it. And when you get ready to buy a new TV, you may opt for the Energy Saver model.
Knowledge is truly power when it comes to saving electricity.
(Next month: The Smart Grid starts at home.)
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