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SAN RAFAEL’S SPG SOLAR, INC. JOINS WITH MT. TAM RACQUET CLUB TO PIONEER LANDMARK SOLAR ENERGY INSTALLATION ON THE WEST COAST

SPG’s Turnkey Services Cut Energy Costs for Residential and Commercial Users by Transforming Sunlight Into Electricity

San Rafael, Calif. (April 20, 2002)–In a fitting tribute to Earth Day, SPG Solar, Inc. (SPG) of San Rafael, and its client, the Mt. Tam Racquet Club in Larkspur, announced plans today to kick off construction of one of the largest private solar power installations on the West Coast.

The solar installation will use photovoltaic (PV) arrays to transform sunlight into electricity and reduce the Racquet Club’s dependence on the electric power grid. SPG is an integrated energy solutions pioneer that looks at a whole facility for energy efficiencies, focusing on solar as a clean power source.

SPG’s $1.35 million building-integrated installation for the 51,000 sq. ft. Mt. Tam Racquet Club will provide a 150 kilowatt solar photovoltaic (PV) system, large enough to cover most of the club’s electrical needs. The system will cut the club’s current annual electric bill from $60,000 to $5,000 or less using solar energy.

SPG will mount the PV panels directly to the roof of the Mt. Tam Racquet Club, which faces south and has a 14-degree slope, perfect for orienting them. The large roof has expansion joints in it, and SPG engineered special floating connectivity systems to match the expansion joints.

SPG is in the vanguard of developing the way large solar installations are being built, and has designed cost-effective and functional technology to seamlessly integrate solar energy into large commercial buildings.

The 150 kilowatt system will convert sunlight directly into 290,000 kilowatt/hours per year of electricity for the Racquet Club. The system will produce enough electricity during a peak summer month to supply 50 average-sized homes.

Mt. Tam Racquet Club’s system will automatically send the extra electricity it generates during sunny months to the public utility grid, which can use it on those hot summer days when the energy demand for air conditioning is high.

Net Metering and Rebates Offered to Customers

The electricity sent to the grid will be credited back to the Racquet Club, which can draw upon the credit during darker days of the year, when it may need to supplement the energy created by the solar array. This arrangement with the utility is called "net energy metering."

SPG will also help Mt. Tam Racquet Club take advantage of California’s very aggressive paydown system and tax credits for solar energy producers. The California Energy Commission rebates roughly 50% of the cost of each solar installation back to the producer. As part of its financial services, SPG provides detailed information outlining paydowns and state and federal tax credits, and offers a detailed analysis of depreciation futures.

"SPG together with the Mt. Tam Racquet Club are pioneering the financially viable use of solar power for residences and typical commercial buildings," said Dan Thompson, founder and president of SPG. "The solar array also has the benefit of saving energy that would otherwise have to be provided by the grid. Mt. Tam will be a model for homes and businesses, using a combination of our planning methods and new technology to produce clean and sustainable power."

Mt. Tam Racquet Club Always a Leader in Energy Conservation

The Mt. Tam Racquet Club, a sports and fitness facility, features 13 tennis courts including six indoor courts; an indoor Olympic-size swimming pool and a 20-yard long outdoor pool; basketball court; weight training room; and studios for aerobics, cardio exercise machines, yoga and massage. The club also has a bar and restaurant and a day care center.

Mt. Tam has high electricity and lighting demands for heating the pools and heating and lighting the tennis courts and all other areas. The club currently uses its on-site gas- powered, co-generation plant to heat the swimming pools.

Photovoltaic Panels Create Energy from the Sun

PV panels are made of purified silicon, similar to that used for computer chips, which generate direct current (DC) when struck by sunlight. Solar is a clean and renewable form of electricity generation. PV systems generally have no moving parts (with the exception of solar tracking systems), is silent, runs all the time while the sun is shining, and produces zero emissions-air, ground or water. Photovoltaic panels have an expected useful lifetime of over 40 years. The manufacturer warranties them against degradation for 25 years.

Electricity generated by the solar array is sent to an inverter, which both converts the DC into the much safer alternating current (AC) for use in a home or commercial building, and also sends the excess electricity out to the utility grid.

SPG Developing the Way Solar is Deployed

As part of its turnkey service, SPG first created a complete profile of Mt. Tam Racquet Club’s total energy needs. SPG assessed the facility’s average and peak electricity usage, and made projections for future electricity use growth. This snapshot of the club’s energy use also included a detailed analysis of the solar PV installation’s depreciation futures.

In the analysis process, SPG identified areas where general efficiencies could be applied to the facility to save energy. They proposed a lighting retrofit, to replace all lights with high-efficiency, low consumption fluorescent lighting. Timers were added to water heating systems for pools and Jacuzzis to keep the water warm automatically during the hours of use, not during nighttime hours when the club is closed.

Then SPG proposed a solar system to cover the revised energy needs. SPG also has expertise in lighting and electric motor control. SPG’s in-house mechanical and chemical engineer, designed the installation. The system was completely architected by SPG.

SPG will assemble 1,190 individual PV panels into an array and mount it on the roof. All the physical infrastructure for the system will be installed by SPG. SPG’s in-house electricians will wire the system together, install the inverter and meter and connect them to the array and to the utility power grid. SPG also processes all construction permits.

"We invent a solution for each installation," said Dan Thompson, SPG’s founder, who has spent 20 years in the electrical contracting industry.

New Technology, Agreements Make Solar Power Viable for Home and Business

The critical component of the commercial feasibility of the solar array that SPG is installing at the Mt. Tam Racquet Club is the inverter and net energy metering system. This is a combination of new technology and agreements recently made between the State of California’s Public Utilities Commission and the local utilities.

Inverter technology changes the power generated by a solar PV array into useful electricity for the facility it’s mounted on, and also sends excess power out to the grid. The electric meter on the building literally runs backwards during peak sunlight hours.

The excess power is credited to the producer by the utility in an agreement called "net energy metering." This means that, instead of storing excess electricity on-site in costly, space-consuming and high-maintenance batteries, the grid absorbs the excess.

The utility keeps a record of the electricity it accepts from a solar array, and credits it to the producer. When the producer needs more electricity than it is generating with its solar panels, for instance during winter’s short, dark days, it can draw upon that credit without having to pay for the electricity it consumes from the grid.

SPG is the industry's most experienced developer, designer, and installer of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems for homes, businesses, and large-scale commercial and government facilities. SPG's commitment is to build the highest-performing solar PV systems with the highest return on investment. The result is clean, reliable electricity that reduces or eliminates customers' electric utility costs.SPG has installed over 500 solar systems in California, including the Potrero Hill Head Start in San Francisco, and Westmont High School in Campbell, California. Major projects include the Vallejo Police and Fire headquarters, Vallejo, Calif., and the 520 kW system for the Sewerage Commission-Oroville Region. SPG is a licensed and bonded California General B and Electrical C-10 Contractor, License #759086.

The equipment SPG uses is made by top international manufacturers. The photovoltaic panels are the highest PTC test-rated, and have a manufacturer’s 25-year energy-production warranty. Systems installations are modular, and are designed by and performed under the supervision of Dan Thompson, Founder, President, and CEO of SPG. Mr. Thompson has over 20 years of experience in the electrical industry, and holds a California General B, Solar C-46 and a Electrical C-10 Contractor license.

About Solar Depot

In business for over 20 years, Solar Depot is a wholesale distributor of solar thermal and solar electric power systems. Solar Depot has designed and supplied thousands of solar systems for various applications. Customers include the U.S. military, the federal government, NASA, municipal utilities, the states of California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington and private sector companies. Solar Depot is the largest distributor of BP Solar products in the U.S.

About BP Solar

A full service company, BP Solar designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of crystalline silicon and new generation thin film solar electric products and systems, that are well suited for residential, commercial, and industrial applications for remote and grid-connected systems. BP Solar is a BP Group Company.

How Solar Works
Solar energy systems consist of three components: PV panels, inverters and a performance monitor. PV panels convert sunlight into DC (direct current) electricity. The inverters change the DC into AC (alternating current), the same power supplied by electric utilities. The AC is distributed through a building's electric service panel and flows to outlets, lights and switches. The performance monitor shows the amount of power the system is generating at any time to verify production. Solar is the cleanest form of electricity generation, has no moving parts, is silent, runs all the time while the sun is shining, and produces no emissions-air, ground or water-ever.