Homebuilders warm up to SMUD solar roof program

Source: Celia Lamb in Sacramento Business Journal 2002.1.25

Tina and Eugene Fong didn't set out to buy a solar-powered house. It just happened that they took a liking to a
house in a Natomas subdivision that offered solar power as an option. They paid $11,000 to have their roof tiled
with photovoltaic panels.

"I just thought it was the right thing to do for the environment," Tina Fong said. "It wasn't about the money. It
was about having a clean source of energy for our home."

Nine homebuilders are now offering solar-powered homes in at least 15 Sacramento County subdivisions through
a program managed by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District.

At least 20 solar houses have been built already, said Mike Keese, who manages the SMUD Solar Advantage
Home program, and builders have committed to building a total of 113, nearing the utility's goal of seeing 150 built
this year.

SMUD buys solar roof tiles on a 50 percent volume discount and passes the savings along to homebuilders. The
Fongs probably would have paid at least double to have the solar power system installed without the SMUD
Solar Advantage Home program.

For the builders, the program offers the benefit of SMUD's expertise.

"They have the ability to tell us how much electricity that house will use in a year," said Roger Stanton, vice
president of purchasing for Beazer Homes in Sacramento. "That allows us to better design our systems."

[e-Clips Editor Note: To view an online video of Beazer's 'Powerhouse' offering go to www.beazer.com then chose 'Northern California' from location options. When the Nor Cal map appears, click on the 'Powerhouse' logo, for the video clip options]

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. also offers solar power incentives, but builders have to apply for rebates.

"SMUD gives you the benefit up front," Stanton said.

Buyers haven't been beating down the doors demanding solar homes, but interest has been growing, especially in
higher-priced subdivisions. Homebuilders have chosen solar roof tiles because they're more attractive than the
more typical bolt-on rooftop systems. But it's still a relatively new technology.

"I think by this summer we're going to have a lot better data on the benefits," said Bob Walter, division president
of Morrison Homes, which has already built about a dozen solar-powered homes and offers them in all its
Sacramento area subdivisions.

Morrison Homes and Beazer Homes were the first builders in the queue for SMUD's Solar Advantage Home
program, so they've built more than other developers.

Beazer Homes has built about five solar-powered homes and has another 25 under construction. It started
offering the solar option at its Roseview subdivision in Antelope, but it has been more popular in the company's
more upscale Piazza del Sol subdivision in Natomas.

Other builders in the program include Tim Lewis Communities, which is building Empire Ranch in Folsom; R.W.
Hertel & Sons, Prodigy Homes and Forecast Homes, which have subdivisions in Elk Grove; and U.S. Homes
Corp., which recently joined the program and has subdivisions in Elk Grove, Antelope and North Highlands.

The Fongs, who moved into the Morrison Homes subdivision called Bel Lago at Westlake about a month ago,
expect their 2.2 kilowatt system to generate about 4,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity in a year. That's about 60
percent of the electricity used by a typical California household. But they'll have to wait until summer to see how
the system really performs at its peak.

"Whenever the sun comes out we look outside to see if the meter's turning backwards, and once in awhile we'll
see it turning really slowly," Fong said.

Beazer Homes installs 3.3 kilowatt systems on its homes.

"For our size house that approaches what an average household would use in a year," Stanton said. "Obviously
there's no guarantee, because some people would use very little energy and some would be energy hogs."

SMUD already leads the nation in solar power, with the capacity to generate a maximum of 10 megawatts from
1,000 systems, enough to meet the annual electricity needs of more than 3,300 homes. SMUD's biggest system is
a 3.9 megawatt solar power plant near the shuttered nuclear facility at Rancho Seco.

The energy crisis caused a surge of interest in the utility's PV Pioneer program, which installs solar power
systems for customers. More than 220 homes and businesses got rooftop solar electric systems in 2001, and
another 2,000 SMUD customers are on a waiting list. SMUD has tripled its staff and contractors to meet the
demand.

The goal of the Solar Advantage Home program is to add another 300 kilowatts of solar power to SMUD's
energy mix, Keese said.