In conjunction with KBCS, we’re posting a transcript of Martha Baskin’s latest story. Listen to her radio story here.

Solar energy may not seem like the best energy alternative in a place where the sun rarely shines. Yet Germany, which only gets 70 percent of the sun we get, leads the world in solar energy. Washington has a long way to go. But more homeowners are taking advantage of tax incentives and “net metering,” which allows them to be paid for every kilowatt of solar energy they produce. Green Acre Radio takes us to the rooftops of homeowners committed to harnessing the sun.

Narration: With all the hot weather, Dan Supan, who lives in Arlington, wishes his new solar roof panels had been up sooner.

“I said, ‘God I wish the panels were up,’ because that’s what really got my interest going. How much is this going to produce? How much money am I going to get back from the state?” Supan says.

He doesn’t know just yet.

But he does know that instead of paying 8 cents a kilowatt-hour on his utility bill, the utility will pay him 15 cents for every kilowatt hour he generates. If he’d chosen solar panels “Made in Washington,” he would have earned 36 cents. And if both the panels and the inverter, the important component which converts the solar current into standard alternating current, he would have earned 54 cents a kilowatt hour.

Supan says it was the promotion efforts of the Snohomish Public Utility District that sold him on the idea of tapping the sun’s energy. The PUD’s “Solar Express” program, not available in King County, offers a $2,500 cash incentive or a loan of up to $25,000.

“It’s a 10-year loan — 2.9%. That’s cheaper than any bank is gonna give you,” he says. 

Ten percent of the county’s power supply, says Snohomish PUD spokesperson Neil Neroutso, comes from alternative sources. As the county grows, he says, “one of the things we’re increasingly looking at is meeting more of our load growth through conservation and renewable energy. So we’re looking at ways to make it even easier for customers to tap these resources.”

A small business called Puget Sound Solar is installing Supan’s solar panels. Co-owner Pamela Burton says state and new federal incentives have been good for business. In addition to earning between 15 and 54 cents a kilowatt hour, customers receive a federal tax credit.

“As soon as I tell people they will get a 30 percent federal tax credit, then the business goes up,” she says. “Every horrible environmental crisis we have, the business goes up because people’s minds realize we have to do something. We can’t rely on the big oil companies any more. They’re killing us.”

Back on the Supans’ roof, Puget Sound Solar’s Dave Lazerwitz and his team are installing the racking system which will attach the solar panels to the roof. It’s all part of an electrical system but one with an important difference.

“One thing to keep in mind is there’s no on/off switch. If the sun’s out, there’s potential current in the solar panel,” he says.

If the day is overcast? 

“Solar works under ambient light conditions,” he says. “The difference is the output of the module changes depending on how much sun is available.”

Cooler conditions are actually more favorable, he says. Germany gets 20 percent less sun than the Puget Sound, but produces 70 percent of its energy from solar.

Felix Darvas grew up in Germany and now lives with his young family on Seattle’s Phinney Ridge. Darvas was the first Puget Sound-area resident to qualify for every solar credit available. In March, Puget Sound Solar installed panels ‘Made in Washington’ by Marysville-based Silicon Energy. I ask Darvas how his new energy system has been going.

“Our account has been kind of going backwards,” Darvas says. 

When a home uses less electricity than the system produces, the electric meter spins backwards, earning credits.

“So we should get credit from Seattle City Light next time around. We made about 1,700 kilowatt hours,” he says, “which is I guess a bit more than a third of what we hope to make over the year.”

With the dryer running daily because of the baby, Darvas thinks he’ll need 6,000 kilowatts a year. He expects the solar panels to produce 4,000 kilowatts.

“The amount of energy produced is about equivalent to driving a car 10,000 miles,” Darvas says, “so basically that’s what we’re taking off the environment by putting them on here.”

Darvas admits upfront costs are high. Including a federal tax credit, he paid $26,000 upfront. But he expects the system to pay for itself within seven to 10 years. “And then I will have energy independence and also, you know, done a little bit of good for the environment.”

Since 2006, Washington state has doubled the amount of solar power generated each year. Statewide, solar systems remain few in number. Those in the business say a number of factors are responsible: cheap hydropower, inadequate investment and the recession. Bell Labs unveiled the first modern solar cell in the 1950s using a silicon semiconductor to convert light into electricity. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter proposed a new solar strategy to move the nation toward energy independence. He installed solar panels on the White House. When Reagan came into office, says Puget Sound Solar’s Pamela Burton, things changed. “The joke is that he took the panels off the White House. But more importantly, he cut the lab’s budget so we lost so much.”

Solar panels continued to be developed for space programs but were largely ignored domestically. Under Obama, solar is again showing signs of life. Early this month the administration awarded $2 billion to new solar plants in Arizona, Colorado and Indiana.

Since last year, Renewable Energy Corporation (or REC) has been manufacturing silicon in Moses Lake. Again Pamela Burton, “run by Norwegians. They dedicate it to the making of solar silicon.” Silicon Energy, the Marysville company, had the foresight to get a contract from the company for silicon. They’re sold five years in advance.

 

Green Acre Radio is brought to you with support from the Human Links Foundation. Engineering by CJ Lazenby. From the studios of Jack Straw Productions and KBCS.  Photo of solar panels (at upper left) depict panels on the University of Washington’s Center for Urban Horticulture roof. (Photo courtesy Seattle City Light.)  

 

With 18 solar panels, Felix Darvas’ Phinney Ridge home has cut power bills to zero, says KOMO news…

 

 

Here’s one couples’ customer testimonial for Snohomish County’s solar program…