Rooftop solar power systems are on the rise in California -- and Sierra Club has a partnership to help homeowners get on board.
The Club joins with solar company Sungevity to make an offer that benefits homeowners and the Club. Every person who signs up in October will receive a $1,000 rebate -- and the Sierra Club receives $1,000 too. Click here to get started-- and spread the word.
Why should you go solar?
>>If you care about the environment, rooftop-solar is as green as it gets.
Every kilowatt hour of solar you generate replaces electricity that might otherwise come from burning coal or other fossil fuels. Remember: No one ever had an asthma attack because of a solar panel.
>>Solar has never been more affordable.
The materials costs for solar rooftop installations have fallen dramatically, and for now, you can still benefit from significant federal and (depending on where you live) state incentives for installing solar that bring down the cost of both purchased and leased systems.
>>Solar-leasing programs, where you basically rent or purchase power from a system for 10 to 20 years, have made it possible for homeowners to put solar on their roofs for as little as $0 down and still save on their utility bills. You get all the environmental benefits as well as a locked-in electrical-utility rate that will protect you against soaring electricity rates in the years ahead.
Club partner Sungevity has been in the forefront of the rooftop revolution. Here's a profile of the company from the Financial Review:
"Sydney boy Danny Kennedy has spent most of his adult life as an environmental activist at Greenpeace Australia. Today, now 41, he is an entrepreneur basking in the potential riches of the Californian solar energy revolution that is spreading to all parts of the world.
Sungevity is the Oakland-based solar energy firm that Kennedy started with Andrew Birch, a Scottish-born Australian-educated banker who had grown frustrated with the slow embrace of clean energy at his former employer BP Solar.
Their business is leading the charge to take solar power to the masses with a disruptive model of finance and technology. Their ultimate quest is “socket parity” – where the cost of solar falls below the cost of electricity. The lease funding model, championed by Sungevity and its peers, Elon Musk’s SolarCity and SunRun, allows customers to avoid the hefty up-front cost of installing panels and instead save money instantly on their energy bills.
Sungevity’s software, designed by Adam Pryor from the inner Sydney suburb of Ultimo, taps the power of satellite images produced by Google Earth to give it an extra competitive edge: the images allow solar panels to be designed and built remotely. The company is doubling in size every year as more Americans turn to solar, and has the backing of venture capitalists and US corporate giants – Lowe’s and General Electric – that can’t afford to sit back and watch the rapid and disruptive rise of solar energy."