Homeowner gets cash incentive under new state energy program

By Craig D. Rose 
STAFF WRITER

October 18, 2007

Rick Tenbroek of El Cajon is a pioneer. Again.

Tenbroek is the first recipient of a cash incentive from a state program that reduces the cost of a solar hot water system he had installed on the roof of his home.

HOWARD LIPIN / Union-Tribune John Mountain of Son Energy insulated pipes on a solar hot water system in Vista. The system is being installed under a countywide pilot program.

The $2.6 million pilot program that Tenbroek tapped is restricted to San Diego County but will serve as the model for the $250 million statewide program signed into law last week by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The program began last summer and is administered by the California Center for Sustainable Energy, formerly known as the San Diego Regional Energy Office. The Kearny Mesa center's experience in running the local program will be used to create the statewide program, which the center also hopes to administer.

Bernadette Del Chiaro of Environment California, which promoted the statewide legislation, said California's hot water program is the largest in the nation and is an extension of the state's historic $3 billion solar-electric program launched this year. That program aims to promote installation of 1 million rooftop photoelectric systems.

“We are trying to jump-start a mainstream market for solar hot water,” she said.

If successful, the $250 million hot water program could result in the installation of about 200,000 systems and reduce natural gas use in the state by up to 5 percent, she said.

That would translate to a reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions equivalent to taking 1 million automobiles off the state's roads.

HOWARD LIPIN / Union-Tribune Mountain of Son Energy checked the installation of the rooftop system yesterday as he completed work on a solar hot water system in Vista.

The system installed on his home replaced one that was installed 25 years ago in a previous state effort to spur the solar hot water industry.

“That system has been putting out hot water all this time, but we did a major remodel on the house and thought it was time for an upgrade,” Tenbroek said.

He received an incentive of about $1,000 that brought the cost of his system down to about $4,700, a cost that will be further reduced by a 30 percent federal tax credit he is eligible to claim.

He figures installing the system to heat his home's water will pay for itself in energy savings within a decade.

Despite Tenbroek's good experience with the program two decades ago, the program fizzled when the subsidies ran out, installation companies began failing and the hot water systems went without qualified service.

This time, those errors are being addressed, advocates of the new state program say.

For one thing, the state legislation mandates a 10-year program.

Annie Henderson, the solar water heating program manager for the California Center for Sustainable Energy, added that a top priority of the local program is ensuring quality installations, reliable equipment and service.

Subsidies are available only for certified equipment, and the program requires 10-year warranties on solar collectors, as well as one-to five-year warranties on other system components and one-year guarantees on installations.

Henderson added that the program certifies contractors, requiring them to attend a training workshop and have appropriate licenses and insurance coverage.

The other big change from the 1980s is that the systems themselves have improved, she said.

The center is holding monthly workshops for prospective solar hot water customers, providing orientation to help them navigate among choices they're confronted with when planning an installation.

The amount of the incentive depends on the level of energy savings provided by the solar hot water systems, which carry an industry rating that estimates annual savings. Typical residential systems cost about $6,000, Henderson estimated, and she noted that the incentive for the two dozen or so applications received thus far is averaging about $1,200, with a maximum of $1,500.

The incentive is paid directly to the contractor, upon inspection by the center of the completed installation.

Henderson said that while homeowners who heat their water by burning natural gas could expect solar systems to pay for themselves within a decade, those who use electricity could expect faster paybacks.

While word is just getting out about the pilot program, interest is growing rapidly, said John Mountain, a manager with Son Energy, a local installation company.

Among the choices faced by customers, he said, is whether to purchase active systems, which include pumps, or passive systems, which don't have moving parts. But he said that in most cases the choice is driven by the structure of a roof and other particulars of a given home.

Systems work in conjunction with conventional hot water systems, pre-heating the water so the conventional system works less or isn't needed at all.

“To do it right,” Mountain said, “you need a fair amount of customization.”

Craig Rose: (619) 293-1814; craig.rose@uniontrib.com
© Copyright 2007 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. • A Copley Newspaper Site



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