Solar Is Making Cents

in San Antonio, Texas

By Emily Simone
SolidarityEconomy.net via ApolloAlliance.org

July 20, 2011 - Solar San Antonio, a local nonprofit solar energy advocacy organization, began its Bring Solar Home campaign in the fall of 2010, after the Department of Energy (DOE) designated San Antonio as a Solar America city. Although the DOE identified San Antonio as a good candidate for solar energy investment, “the two major barriers were the high up-front cost of solar and lack of information,” explains Lanny Sinkin, Solar San Antonio’s executive director; “the Bring Solar Home campaign is designed to overcome both of these barriers.”

“Bring Solar Home” is an initiative to introduce homeowners to solar installation businesses and provide consumers with information and advice to help them make decisions about installing home solar units. Solar San Antonio’s Bring Solar Home campaign connects a homeowner’s application for home installation to a number of installers, and narrows down the bid to three companies.

There are three requirements of the installation companies contracted for residential installations. First, the company must be pre-approved by the city’s municipal utility, CPS Energy. Second, the installer must be a member of Solar San Antonio. Third, it must sign an agreement outlining the company’s involvement with the larger Bring Solar Home campaign. Once an installation is complete, it is inspected by the city and the utility. “We also monitor each project and how it’s doing to make sure it’s a good experience for the customer,” Mr. Sinkin explains.

Home solar installation presents a high up-front cost, and this barrier is one of the main challenges to Bring Solar Home’s goals for San Antonio’s homes. The average installation costs $25,000-$27,000. “Solar PV pays for itself in 8-10 years and last for about 25-30 years,” explains Sinkin. Solar photovoltaic panels are just one method of capturing solar energy. Mr. Sinkin notes, “solar hot water costs much less than an electric water heater, and it pays for itself in fewer than three years.”

Additionally, homeowners who install solar panels will receive a rebate from CPS Energy, and then a federal tax credit. Solar San Antonio worked with the San Antonio Credit Union, as well as two local banks and national lending institutions, which now offer lending products that help finance home solar installations. Mr. Sinkin elaborates, “they are willing to have the customer borrow the total amount, give them the rebate, tax credit, and then to lower the loan. Part of what attracted them is that we pointed out that there are 600,000 rooftops in Baer County. If only half got involved in solar, there’s a $3 billion industry waiting to happen.”

When Solar San Antonio launched Bring Solar Home, they weren’t sure how many applications would be submitted. Over 550 applications were turned in during the trial run alone. About 75 homes have had solar panels installed thus far, bringing a total of 0.5 megawatts to San Antonio homes through solar energy, San Antonio installation companies have earned a total of $2-$3 million in revenue from Bring Solar Home projects, compared to the $60,000 Solar San Antonio spent in advertising the campaign. Mr. Sinkin sees this high return on Solar San Antonio’s investment as a signal that there is a market for residential clean energy generation which was previously restricted by challenges to financing such projects, accessing information about home solar units, and a partnership between the installers and municipal utility.

Happy owners of solar energy units can testify to the ease of Solar San Antonio’s program. Mr. Sinkin tells me about one enthusiastic customer: “We have a local weatherman who installed solar on his house and fell in love with it. He frequently will interrupt his forecast to tell people to go solar. He recently put his CPS Energy bill on the screen and showed five months where his bill was zero, and put Solar San Antonio’s number of the screen. In the next few days, we had 150 calls for solar installation.”

Solar San Antonio is funded, in part, by the city. San Antonio’s “Mission Verde Sustainability Plan” aims to phase out fossil fuels, improve energy efficiency, and construct a robust, green economy in San Antonio. In June 2011, the city’s municipal utility, CPS Energy, announced that San Antonio’s coal-fired power plant would go offline in 2018. The plant will be retired earlier than any other coal-fired utility in Texas, as CPS Energy aims to meet its goal of a 20% renewable energy portfolio. Because of city emissions restrictions, CPS Energy’s alternative to retiring the coal plant would have been to finance a $550 million retrofitting. Solar San Antonio believes that solar energy is a cost-effective and secure energy source, for private homes, as well as on the municipal? utility-level. For this city, incorporating solar energy is the best option.