National Public Radio, February, 2001, 8:00 AM

Solar Power

BROADCAST EXCERPT

BOB EDWARDS: California's energy crisis has many people in the state looking up. They're wondering whatever happened to solar energy, which can produce electricity and heat water. The solar industry went in to decline after its first big appearance in the late '70s.

NPR's Andy Bowers reports solar energy may be poised for a comeback.

ANDY BOWERS: At a store called Real Goods in West Los Angeles, you can find a huge array of the latest solar gadgets. Saleswoman Lisa Matsura Walker shows off everything from solar electric roof panels, known as photovoltaics, to solar flashlights and battery chargers, to fun little devices for your key chain.

LISA MATSURA WALKER: One of the devices that we're looking at is called the solar mosquito guard. It recharges with solar energy and can be used in both day and night. And so it's a great companion for mosquito-free camping, hunting, fishing, farming and sleeping.

BOWERS: But here in southern California, it seems a shame not to make more use of the omnipresent sun. Even with the state's electricity crisis, though, the vast majority of sunny suburban rooftops here have no solar devices. You start to realize why when Walker tells you the price tag for a complete home solar electric set-up.

WALKER: You know, you'd probably be looking at a capital outlay in the $10,00 range, maybe as high as $40,000, depending on what your heating and cooling needs are.

BOWERS: Needless to say, those kinds of numbers can produce sticker shock. Actually, the economics of solar are not quite so simple or so shocking. We'll get to that in a moment. But solar industry leaders say it's important to remember that the technology has come a long way since the 1970s.

[Clip of Swearing-in of Jimmy Carter as President.]

BOWERS: President Carter not only installed solar water heaters on the White House roof, which his successor Ronald Reagan then removed. But the federal government under Carter also provided incentives for average Americans to install their own solar systems. But they didn't catch on.

DAN REICHER [Former Assistant Secretary of Energy]: The technologies then, solar hot water systems and the primitive solar electric systems, were just not ready for primetime.

BOWERS: Dan Reicher was, until recently, the Assistant Secretary of Energy in charge of renewable energy under President Clinton. He says fly-by-night companies selling bad systems in the late '70s and early '80s really hurt the industry.

REICHER: There were no entities that certified the system like the Underwriters Laboratory certifies products today. We dumped a lot of money into very immature technologies, and it frankly gave the technology an unfortunate reputation.

BOWERS: And, of course, as the '70s energy crisis eased and fossil fuels got cheaper, many consumers lost interest in expensive solar systems. But that trend has turned around in recent years, according to Scott Sklar, former head of the Solar Energy Industries Association.

SCOTT SKLAR: Photovoltaics, which are solar electric side of the industry, is booming. Sales have been increasing 20% a year over the last five years, reached 30% increase last year. And most of the product goes to the developing world.

BOWERS: Sklar says that's because a staggering two billion people in the world do not have electricity, and many have little prospect of getting it since they live far away from power grids.

SKLAR: So being able to get a solar panel and a couple of light bulbs and a way to plug in a mini-refrigerator and a television has been a fundamental way that we improve quality of life in the developing world.

BOWERS: Not only that, but it has also greatly increased the number and efficiency of U.S. factories that make solar panels, bringing down the cost. Which brings us back to the economics of solar for U.S. homes. Granted, a solar electric system is expensive. But there are ways to offset at least some of the cost. First, most states still offer financial incentives that reduce the up-front price by as much as 50%. Then, of course, you're paying less for electricity because what comes from the sun is free.

Former Assistant Energy Secretary Dan Reicher himself lives in a partially solar home in Maryland.

REICHER: My bill for electricity is a dollar a day across the year, and that includes air-conditioning in the hot Maryland summer.

BOWERS: He says that's about two-thirds cheaper than it used to be for his 3,000 square foot home. Reicher also put more energy-efficient appliances in his house. But he says the best part is what happens when his solar panels make more electricity than his family's using.

REICHER: In many states now, you actually can take your excess electricity and sell it back to the power company. In my case, in Maryland, my electric meter literally runs backwards on a day where I'm making more electricity than I'm using it. And so, in a sense, I'm getting paid at a retail rate for the electricity I'm producing.

BOWERS: That's known as net metering, and about 30 states currently allow some form of it, while more are considering it. It means Reicher often sells power to his utility during the day and buys power from the utility at night. Solar systems can also store a limited amount of power in batteries for nighttime use.

Yet even after all of the incentives and cost savings, it can still run thousands or ten of thousands of dollars to buy solar equipment in the first place. But a company in San Diego has found a way to make a little easier as well.

On a hilltop with a panoramic view of the coastline, Shea Homes, San Diego's largest new home seller, is building what looks like just another suburban housing tract. But as Shea's Ryan Green explains, there's something different about this one.

RYAN GREEN [Shea Homes, San Diego]: All the homes will come with approximately 35 to 38% more efficient features, coupled with they will all have solar water heating. And of those same homes—we'll have 100 of them with standard photovoltaics or energy-generating panels.

BOWERS: Shea Homes had been planning to try a solar community for several years, but stepped up construction when California's energy crisis hit San Diego hard last year. Working with a solar company called Astro Power, Shea has reduced the cost of the solar system by buying them in bulk, and by spreading those costs over a 30 year mortgage, Green says the monthly economics start looking pretty good.

GREEN: So you're looking at anywhere from between 45 and 50 dollars, just for the solar photovoltaics, additional cost. But then you have a significant amount of that that you'll be able to write off if you are doing it as a mortgage.

BOWERS: And you also save money on your bill.

GREEN: That's correct. You'll also save upwards of 30 to 40, 50 percent on your bill. And at today' rates, that's in the tune of about, you know, anywhere from 50 to 100 dollars a month.

BOWERS: This is an experiment for a mainstream developer like Shea Homes to see how much of a market there is for solar houses. And it's going well. Green says the first group of houses offered was snapped up, and he expects the rest to be as well, probably on the day they're offered.

Energy economist Lynne Kiesling of the libertarian Reason Public Policy Institute is also eager to see how the San Diego experiment works out. But for the moment, she says most existing homeowners who want to go solar cant yet justify it on cost grounds alone.

LYNNE KIESLING [Reason Public Policy Institute]: At this point, I think it's definitely you're doing this because you want to feel better about how you're generating the energy that you're using.

BOWERS: But solar proponents say that's changing fast. They point to new products, like solar roof shingles that can replace existing materials, and even solar window glass. They also point to anew skyscraper in the heart of New York's Time Squares. The top floors are wrapped in solar electric panels.

Yet even with all the advances, solar remains a very expensive way to produce electricity on a mass scale. But the advocates say they're working on it.

Andy Bowers, NPR News, San Diego.
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