Welcome to Solar e-Clips. A weekly summary of news and information about solar energy issues in California. Brought to you by The Rahus Institute and Californiasolarcenter.org

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Solar News from around the State...

Power-crunched Californians see the solar light- CUYAMACA WOODS, California - Many Californians are enduring pricey electric bills and rolling power outages during the current energy crunch. But some residents have avoided such headaches by getting themselves off the electrical grid and on alternative energy.[includes online video clip] Rick Lockridge at CNN 6/1/01

Exxon shareholders defeat green, gay proposals - Exxon Mobil Corp. shareholders Wednesday defeated a raft of activist proposals, including ones to bolster renewable energy development and gay rights, in the latest in a series of contentious annual meetings at the world's largest non-state-owned oil company. Even though company chairman Lee Raymond complained the debates were a repeat of previous meetings, activists from religious, environmental and gay rights groups vowed to return after getting enough votes to keep key shareholder proposals on the table at next year's annual meeting. Rueters on ENN -5/31/01

Home Fuel Cells to be Sold in California, Tested in Chicago - H Power Corp. announced on May 10th that it plans to sell residential fuel cell systems in California in the near future. The company claims that it will start manufacturing and shipping the fuel cell systems on a limited basis "within the next several months." H Power will work with Energy Co-Opportunity, Inc. to market the fuel cells to homeowners, and Altair Energy LLC will sell, install, and service the systems. See the H Power press release 5/10/01

Southland's Enova Systems Provides Solutions to Energy Crisis With Variety of Electric, Fuel-Cell, Hybrid and Solar Products--Rep. Jane Harman (D-Redondo Beach) was joined by House Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Missouri) and other California members of Congress at a news conference today to showcase advanced energy technology developments by Los Angeles-area companies, hosted by Enova Systems, a global leader in mobile and stationary power. Business Wire 5/30/01

Danville residence puts Sun to work - While others fan themselves with newspapers or sit under the sprinkler to save electricity, John Chapman sits cool, calm and collected in his solar-powered house. Chapman's a pioneer. Back in 1997, he was the first Contra Costa homeowner to install a solar system that feeds power to Pacific Gas & Electric. It's never given him a lick of trouble since his $25,000 initial investment. Linda Davis in Contra Costa Times 5/29/01

Cool house to debut in Pleasanton - One builder is betting that a house that could maintain an indoor temperature of 78 degrees using little or no air conditioning in the summer will be a hot seller in energy-depleted California. Centex Homes, with financial support from Davis Energy Group and the California Energy Commission, is proposing to build one of two energy-efficient houses in Pleasanton; Palo Alto-based Clarum has plans for a Watsonville home. "The performance goal is either to eliminate or dramatically reduce use of air conditioners," said Trece Herder, a Centex project manager based in Concord. Melissa Moy in Contra Costa Times 5/26/01

Vallejo to dump grid with solar power - Vallejo is teaming with the world's largest solar energy company and using a new technology to take city offices off the power grid. If what's envisioned as North America's largest solar micro-utility is successful, Vallejo could have surplus electricity to sell to local businesses by this time next year and be generating $500,000 to $1.5 million in revenue. Even if the city doesn't sell solar surplus, its use of the alternative energy source should free 1 megawatt on the power grid. With electricity prices expected to continue rising and shortages expected to continue for several years, that could be crucial to Vallejo-area businesses seeking to avoid the rolling blackouts that will accompany grid power. Alan Doyle in East Bay Business Times - 5/25/01

Heard from the Buy Side: Here comes the sun - Proving once again that problems create opportunities, the California power crisis has catapulted solar power in the United States from what many described as a hippie dream just a year ago to a promising way to bridge the gap between energy demand and supply. Oil exploration in the Arctic may be a long-term option, but solar energy is an immediate, at-hand fix. For investors, buying into the short list of pure-play solar power leaders is an immediate opportunity. David Whittall in Red Herring 5/3/01

Innovative Solar Electric Systems Use Holographs and Dyes - Innovation in the field of solar photovoltaic electric systems continues to create new possibilities for producing electricity from sunlight. In mid-May, TerraSun LLC announced that it has developed a unique method of using holographic films to concentrate sunlight onto a solar cell. Concentrating solar cells typically use Fresnel lenses or mirrors to concentrate sunlight. TerraSun claims that the use of holographic optics allows more selective use of the sunlight, allowing light not needed for power production to pass through the transparent modules. This capability allows the modules to be integrated into buildings as skylights. See the TerraSun Web site .

The 20 Percent Solution <http://savepower.lbl.gov>This site, developed by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, can help Californians reduce energy use by 20 percent or more. The site identifies energy efficiency measures for Californians according to the region they live in, the size of their house or apartment, and whether or not they have air conditioning. The suggestions are in three parts: no-cost measures, low-cost measures and more expensive measures. In addition, visitors can find out about California's 20/20 Rebate Program. The program offers a 20 percent rebate on electricity bills from June through September 2001 for customers of Pacific Gas and Electric, San Diego Gas and Electric, and Southern California Edison who use at least 20 percent less electricity than they consumed in each of the four comparable months during 2000. The site includes measures such as clothesline drying instead of an electric dryer. PV is not included but certainly will achieve the 20% target if installed.

Note regarding dead links: Most publications move stories into their archive after one or two weeks. Use the date provided here with individual stories to help find them after they have been moved.

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ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER
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ABOUT THE EDITOR
Tor Allen is the President of The Rahus Institute, a non-profit organization. Tor has 10 years experience in the renewable energy field including: design, research, marketing, program and policy development, and installation work. He is currently the coordinator of the California PV Alliance, a collaborative group working to accelerate the market for photovoltaics in California.

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Email at solareclips@californiasolarcenter.org or phone 925.370.7262 Your news items are welcome, please send with a link to the online article. thx.

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