Solar Solution - Marin companies take part in project
By Keri Brenner Marin Independent Journal 2002.4.12

Richard Lahey, like so many Marin business owners still reeling from last year's energy crisis, is fed up.

"So many external events cause spikes in prices," said Lahey, owner and founder of Larkspur's Mt. Tam Racquet Club. "I don't want to live at someone else's mercy - whether it be an Enron guy or someone who shuts off gas for political purposes.

"I don't need some guy (in the Middle East) telling us what we need to pay for electricity," said Lahey, a Kentfield resident. "I need an alternative source of energy."

Starting this month Lahey, with the help of two San Rafael solar energy companies and a loan from the Bank of Marin, will become owner of a $1.35 million solar energy system, the largest such system owned by a private business in the state.

Sun Power & Geothermal Energy Co., Inc. (SPG) and Geothermal Energy of San Rafael will install the 150 kilowatt system - approved Wed-nesday by Larkspur city officials - on the tennis and swim club's roof starting at the end of this month. It will take three months to install.

"It's the first major project in Marin," said Dan Thompson, SPG owner who last year shucked a 20-year career as an electrician and contractor to focus instead on solar energy projects. "It's the largest private-industry solar system in California."

Tor Allen, president of The Rahus Institute, a nonprofit educational and solar policy development center in Martinez, said he agreed with Thompson's description of the Mt. Tam system.

"That's probably true about it being the largest in the state," Allen said. His institute maintains a Web site, www.californiasolarcenter.org, that lists information and resources on solar energy.

Thompson said the timing for solar in California is right, thanks to a slew of state rebate programs and federal income tax incentives that have sprung up in the wake of the California energy crisis.

"It used to be that solar technology was imperfect," Thompson said. "But now, you have the typical 'green' groups and the business community coming together and agreeing on a subject that (is both) economical and ecological.

"It serves both parties 100 percent," he added. "There's not a single drawback: It serves the community, saves oil, solves the California
energy problem, takes stress off the distribution lines and has a positive impact on the environment."

Solar Depot of San Rafael is supplying the Mt. Tam project's parts, which are manufactured by BP Solar in Fairfield, Thompson said.

Lahey said the rooftop array of 1,208 direct current (DC) solar panels, each providing approximately 150 watts of DC power, will save money and create energy independence, as well as reduce noise and toxic emissions. He already has a 20-year-old natural-gas-powered co-generator that he will keep as a backup, but he will be able to use it much less.

SPG's James Watt said each solar panel is 31 by 58 inches, and about 1.5 inches thick. In order to run lights and other electrical devices, the DC current must be converted to alternating current (AC), the type tapped for common household and office use.

"I'm very excited about this for many reasons," said Lahey. "We like to be good neighbors to the community."

With more than half the cost of the $1.35 million solar system eventually refunded through state rebates, federal income tax incentives and depreciation credits, Lahey estimates the solar project will pay for itself in about 10 years. The system will cut the club's current annual electric bill from $60,000 to $5,000 or less using solar energy and by using more efficient lighting at the facility.

The lighting retrofit will convert to more efficient fluorescent fixtures - a $100,000 project that will pay for itself in about three years.

During sunny times, Lahey will be able to return any excess energy generated by the solar system to the California power grid by "banking," or accumulating credit toward his future electricity use - that future use presumably occurring at night or on foggy days when the solar system is not active.

Lloyd Coker, North Bay spokesman for Pacific Gas and Electric Co., said the utility a year ago established the program of net metering - called e-net for short - that Lahey will be using. Designed for solar systems, e-net issues customers a monthly credit statement when they generate excess power. If they don't have enough excess power credit to cover their usage in any given month, they receive an electric bill instead, Coker said.

Lahey anticipates that this net metering process could prove lucrative if he is able to generate the excess power at peak usage times, when electricity rates may be higher, and then draw on the credit at off-peak times, when rates are lower.

Watt said the system is designed with that rate differential in mind.

"Combining our system with PG&E's time of use rate schedule, we are able to size the system smaller than the overall electricity requirements (of the client), while still zeroing out the client's electricity bill," Watt said. "The true value of solar power is that we're able to produce electricity when electricity costs the most (peak time)."

Lahey, who donates his facilities to several area high schools for their graduation night parties and who contributes to local school fund-raising efforts, said the solar system will also add equity to his property - unlike paying electricity bills, which adds no equity. The system has a 20-year life expectancy but could last longer, he said.

"I feel very strongly that we need to do something for the environment," said Lahey, whose club has more than 1,000 members. "And, I don't think power costs are going to go down.

"Over time, I think they will go up," he said. "We need to protect ourselves."