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"If you want to party, you've got to pay for it," said Leno, who has so far spent $450,000 to party -- and that's just for the solar power. It will be at least eight years before the panels have paid for themselves, he estimates, and even then they won't cover his entire electric bill. Currently, the panels cover 41% of the power consumed at his garage; 59% continues to come from Burbank Water and Power.
"Two-thirds of the day, there's not enough sunlight to generate electricity," said John Joyce, solar support program manager for the utility.
That's why Leno has partied away an additional $19,000 and installed a 10-kilowatt wind turbine, which spins into action at night, when the sun goes down and the breezes pick up.
"I'm just trying a lot of different systems to see which will gain me the most amount of power," said Leno, who anticipates adding additional turbines and solar panels in the coming years.
He acknowledges his green conversion has been expensive.
"I guess I'm a rich guy," said Leno, who makes an estimated $25 million annually as host of "The Tonight Show." "I can afford to do it, so why don't I be the one that experiments with it and tries it out? And if it works, if enough people like me try it, then it passes down and becomes more affordable."
So far, Leno has installed solar panels and a wind turbine only at his garage because he uses a lot more electricity there than at his house. But his Beverly Hills home is the "next step," said the comedian, who's been frustrated by frequent power outages.
"Our power was out for 18 hours about a month ago, for no reason," he said. "It was a beautiful day. Bink. What happened? It's like you're in a Third World country now in California."
That's part of why Leno believes "if you want to keep living the way you're living, then, hey, you better make your own electricity."
It's a personal thing
LENO is a populist who has often said that he puts his jokes before his politics in order to reach the broadest possible audience. While many politicians have chosen to announce their candidacies on his show, Leno has always steered clear of endorsing specific people. His embrace of green is similarly apolitical. It's a personal choice that's grown out of his own experiences and interests.
"What happens in America is everything becomes a religion," Leno said. "There are two ways. You can either preach being green or you can preach self-sufficiency. It's the same thing. I think what happens is you need some sort of revolution every now and then to wake people up. . . . With the situation in the Middle East and everything else, any other alternative fuel source you can come up with is good. Pick the reason you want. I want to be self-sufficient. OK. I want to be green and save the Earth. OK. The outcome is the same, so it doesn't make any difference."
Leno likes the challenge of being green. He enjoys the technology, and he looks back in history to see how it has evolved over time.
"We're in the exact same position in 2007 that we were in in 1907. In 1907, it was mostly gas cars. There were an awful lot of steam cars. There were an awful lot of electric cars, and they all fought it out like Beta and VHS and ultimately, the gas car won," said Leno, who counts several Stanley Steamers and a 1909 Baker electric in his collection. "Today, we have electricity, we have hydrogen and we have fuel cells. One of those will win out."
susan.carpenter@latimes.com
"Two-thirds of the day, there's not enough sunlight to generate electricity," said John Joyce, solar support program manager for the utility.
That's why Leno has partied away an additional $19,000 and installed a 10-kilowatt wind turbine, which spins into action at night, when the sun goes down and the breezes pick up.
"I'm just trying a lot of different systems to see which will gain me the most amount of power," said Leno, who anticipates adding additional turbines and solar panels in the coming years.
He acknowledges his green conversion has been expensive.
"I guess I'm a rich guy," said Leno, who makes an estimated $25 million annually as host of "The Tonight Show." "I can afford to do it, so why don't I be the one that experiments with it and tries it out? And if it works, if enough people like me try it, then it passes down and becomes more affordable."
So far, Leno has installed solar panels and a wind turbine only at his garage because he uses a lot more electricity there than at his house. But his Beverly Hills home is the "next step," said the comedian, who's been frustrated by frequent power outages.
"Our power was out for 18 hours about a month ago, for no reason," he said. "It was a beautiful day. Bink. What happened? It's like you're in a Third World country now in California."
That's part of why Leno believes "if you want to keep living the way you're living, then, hey, you better make your own electricity."
It's a personal thing
LENO is a populist who has often said that he puts his jokes before his politics in order to reach the broadest possible audience. While many politicians have chosen to announce their candidacies on his show, Leno has always steered clear of endorsing specific people. His embrace of green is similarly apolitical. It's a personal choice that's grown out of his own experiences and interests.
"What happens in America is everything becomes a religion," Leno said. "There are two ways. You can either preach being green or you can preach self-sufficiency. It's the same thing. I think what happens is you need some sort of revolution every now and then to wake people up. . . . With the situation in the Middle East and everything else, any other alternative fuel source you can come up with is good. Pick the reason you want. I want to be self-sufficient. OK. I want to be green and save the Earth. OK. The outcome is the same, so it doesn't make any difference."
Leno likes the challenge of being green. He enjoys the technology, and he looks back in history to see how it has evolved over time.
"We're in the exact same position in 2007 that we were in in 1907. In 1907, it was mostly gas cars. There were an awful lot of steam cars. There were an awful lot of electric cars, and they all fought it out like Beta and VHS and ultimately, the gas car won," said Leno, who counts several Stanley Steamers and a 1909 Baker electric in his collection. "Today, we have electricity, we have hydrogen and we have fuel cells. One of those will win out."
susan.carpenter@latimes.com
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