Sunny Side of Power Shortage
As California scrambles for every spare kilowatt it can find to stave off massive blackouts, the farsighted few who seek power from the sun are feeling a bit smug.
Some can contain it better than others, but they all share a sense of relief at being less dependent on a faltering power grid that is causing chaos up and down the state.
“It feels really good when there is a blackout to be the only house on the block with lights,” said Michael Cordell of Camarillo, whose home has run on solar power for a year. “I have the Lakers game on and everyone else’s power is down. People come over and ask if they can watch the game or put stuff in our refrigerator.”
In Thousand Oaks, Greg Johanson grins as he surveys the flat solar panels bolted to his roof.
“I’m secure,” he said. “I hear about the power stuff and it goes right past me. I don’t have to read the paper or watch the news about this because I am immune to it.”
At the 40-acre Ojai Foundation off Highway 150, happiness has meant being off the grid for the last 20 years.
Solar panels sprout on poles throughout the mountain retreat and education center, generating power for 12 cabins, offices, residences, tents and bathrooms.
“We just giggle when we hear about the energy problems,” said Leon Berg, who sits on the foundation’s board of directors. “What happens down there doesn’t affect us. We feel independent.”
Solar power isn’t new or especially cheap to install, but people like Johanson, who sell the systems, are being besieged by calls from those yearning to break free of utility companies.
“People in Northern California are giving me $7,000 or $8,000 deposit checks without blinking,” said Johanson, who runs Solar Electrical Systems. “I am contemplating an increase of 15% to 20% in business and 100% or 200% in inquiries.”
Demand is so great that Johanson can’t even get more solar modules for at least four months, he said.
The story is the same statewide.
Sanford Miller is account manager for the California Energy Commission’s Buy Down program, which gives rebates to those who purchase renewable energy systems. Miller said applications for rebates have jumped from 30 a month late last year to 250 a month as of January 2001.
“This is one way for people to take advantage of the system rather than being taken advantage of by it,” Miller said.
The commission pays $3 for every watt an alternative energy system produces. That means a person putting in a standard two-kilowatt system in their home will get a $6,000 state rebate.
Depending on the home, solar energy systems can cost between $13,000 and $25,000. Some are tied into the grid, producing solar energy during the day and using regular utilities at night. Some have batteries that store solar energy for use at night or during extended cloudy days. Often there is so much energy produced that the electrical meter goes backward as it stores up free electricity to be used at night.
Miller said there are about 500 residential solar energy systems installed statewide.
In Ventura County, Johanson said he knows of more than 20 solar-powered homes.
Cordell installed his 1.8-kilowatt system after considering all the disasters that could befall him.
“I did it to be independent or less dependent on utilities and to have a backup in case of earthquake disasters or if the system goes down entirely,” Cordell said. “We are not concerned at all about rolling blackouts. We’ve thought the whole thing through.”
Joseph Campisi, also of Camarillo, put in a solar energy system last month and is hoping to cut his utility bills in half. He did not buy the battery packs, so he depends on utilities for his energy at night.
The system cost him $20,000, and he received a $5,000 rebate from the California Energy Commission.
Public safety agencies are also getting involved. Oxnard’s Fire Station No. 6 is touted by its firefighters as the only sun-powered station in the country.
“We are in our first year as a solar-powered station,” said Capt. Richard Hodge. “We feel very independent.”
The station is an experimental site chosen by Southern California Edison because its roof gets sunlight all day, Hodge said. The company donated the panels.
For Berg, of the Ojai Foundation, the issue is beyond economics.
“It’s part of our philosophy and teaching,” he said. “What we are trying to develop here is a sustainable form of living. I don’t know any facility as off the grid as we are.”
Jesse Jessup, development coordinator at the foundation, peered down on a cluster of solar cells lining a ridge and said he hopes the energy crisis is a wake-up call for everyone.
“It’s not so much about self-sufficiency,” he said. “The intention is to create what we need rather than depending on coal or oil or nonrenewable resources.”
