February 17, 2006

Shaded homes can still go solar

New program could increase availability

By Vickie Aldous
Ashland Daily Tidings

Ashlanders are becoming increasingly interested in solar power, but geography is stopping many from investing in home solar systems.

“We have a mountain to our south,” said Ashland Conservation Analyst Larry Giardina. “Often houses face a steep hillside with a lot of trees, which provide a lot of amenities, but that causes the production from solar to be dramatically reduced.”

Giardina estimated he has visited about 80 homes in the last two years to give advice to owners about solar projects. But approximately 60 of those homes had reduced solar access, he said.

“I've thought, ‘There's got to be a system that would work for these people,’” Giardina said.

Now the City of Ashland is investigating whether to launch a community solar project. Panels would be installed on city buildings, such as The Grove and storage buildings near the Ashland Police Department.

Residents could invest in those panels, with their electric bills credited proportionately for the amount of energy their share of the panels generated.

Interest in solar energy appears to have risen dramatically in 2005, when residents and businesses added enough panels to nearly double the amount of solar power being generated in Ashland, according to a Feb. 7 memo to the Ashland City Council from Electric Department Director Dick Wanderscheid.The city's decision to increase its solar rebate level, coupled with outside factors, pushed the amount of solar electricity on Ashland's grid to 66 kilowatt hours, the memo stated.

“The city's Solar Electric Rebate Program, coupled with state tax credits, increased energy costs, concerns about foreign oil impacts, energy policy and climate change all seem to be helping to increase solar activity in Ashland,” Wanderscheid said in the memo.

With a community solar project, hillside homeowners who have the financial ability to buy solar panels but lack good solar access could instead invest in the community panels. Additionally, residents who can't afford their own solar system could buy a share of the community system and thereby support renewable energy, Wanderscheid said.

Solar systems for the typical home range from about $13,000 to $32,000, according to figures provided by Giardina.

However, the city offers a rebate of up to $10,000, the state offers a tax credit of up to $6,000 and the federal government has a tax credit of up to $2,000, Giardina said.

Building on success

The City of Ashland already partnered with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Southern Oregon University and residents to install solar panels on the Ashland Civic Center, Ashland Police Department, SOU library and OSF administrative building in 2001. Those four systems created a 30 kilowatt hour system which generates about 48,000 kilowatts a year — or enough to power approximately eight energy efficient homes, according to figures provided by Wanderscheid.

At the time it was built, the solar system was the largest of its kind in the Bonneville Power Administration's service area, which covers Oregon, Washington, Idaho and part of Montana, he said. The new system could be 60 kilowatt hours. That one project could almost double the total amount of public and private solar generation in Ashland.

Earlier this month, the city council authorized Wanderscheid to submit an application to the federal government for $500,000 in bonds provided under the 2005 Energy Policy Act. The act allocates up to $500 million in Clean Renewable Energy Bonds for government bodies.

The smallest projects will receive funding priority, said Wanderscheid, noting that at 60 kilowatt hours, the Ashland project would be small in comparison to major proposals such as wind energy farms.

The bonds represent an interest-free way to finance the project because bond buyers receive a tax credit rather than interest payments, he said.

The city has yet to decide how it would pay off the bonds, but it would likely ask residents to invest voluntarily in the solar project, according to electric department staff and city council discussions.

“It will be an interesting experiment to see if people are willing to support locally produced solar power,” Wanderscheid said.

For more information on home solar systems and ways to make a home more energy efficient, contact Giardina at 552-2065.

Staff writer Vickie Aldous can be reached at 479-8199 or vlaldous@yahoo.com.