Bright idea (community purchase plan) cuts cost of solar power

Bright idea cuts cost of solar power

Charles Burress, Chronicle Staff Writer

Thursday, November 22, 2007

A Bay Area grandmother's grassroots campaign to lower the cost of solar power through a community bulk-purchase plan has reaped a bigger bonanza than she dreamed: an offer by a Marin solar company to provide discounted installations for every resident and business in the county.

The offer from SPG Solar, about 15 percent below the average price of solar installations in Marin, has elicited a "tremendous" response from county residents in the week since the deal was announced, said Margi Levin, SPG marketing manager. The offer of $7.94 per watt ends Feb. 29.

The price for a 3-kilowatt system for an average home would be $23,820, which could be reduced to $15,220 under the state's $2.20-per-watt rebate program and the federal tax credit of $2,000.

The purchase plan, GoSolarMarin, began with San Rafael resident Lisa Max, who wanted to not only help the environment but also cut her monthly electricity bill of $35o.

"It was done from my kitchen table," the 64-year-old Max said of the all-volunteer campaign. She estimates that the savings on her Pacific Gas & Electric Co. bill will enable her to recoup the cost of a 5-kilowatt system in seven years, instead of what would have been 10 years under normal retail prices.

"I'm from New York - I never buy retail," Max said. So she thought of doing what a group of 66 households in Portola Valley did last year - buy discounted solar installations through a community purchase plan.

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