Solar Council: More perks needed

Group finds technology adequate, proposes three-point action plan

By Shelley Shelton
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Arizona Daily Star

Solar technology is up to snuff, but the heat is on to increase financial incentives and community education about solar energy, according to a report issued by Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’ Community Solar Energy Initiative advisory council and work group.

Although Arizona has enough daily sunshine to power the United States, more than 90 percent of Southern Arizona’s electricity generation is fueled by coal, according to the report.

The report identifies three key areas that need attention to guarantee solar market success, along with an action plan for each area:

— Market growth: Extend the federal solar energy investment tax credits for homeowners and businesses through 2016; encourage full implementation of the Renewable Energy Standard Tariff (REST), an Arizona Corporation Commission edict that says electric utilities must produce 15 percent of the total electricity they sell from renewable resources, including solar, by 2025; bring about state incentives that attract new solar businesses to the state and support existing businesses; and extend federal investment tax credits for utilities.

— Research and development: Develop cost-effective and efficient solar energy generation; devise new technologies and improve existing ones for power storage; research new methods of energy transmission and establish a bricks-and-mortar research center dedicated to solar.

— Education and outreach: Organize and pull together educational resources on solar energy and disseminate information through existing networks – environmental groups, school districts, libraries, science teachers, neighborhood and homeowners associations and churches; encourage partnerships with businesses to fund training on solar education for teachers; promote federal funding to install solar in all public schools; work with the Arizona Department of Education to include solar in state standards.

Representatives of the 32-member solar advisory council expressed excitement about moving solar research, education and growth forward, but focused on different aspects of what should be done next.

Committee member Katha-rine Kent, president of The Solar Store, said community education is really the next step.

“Everybody needs to know as much as they can about solar,” she said.

In turn, economic development and job growth would hopefully follow, “so we can get better paying jobs and save the planet simultaneously. That’s the bigger, grand vision of all of this,” Kent said.

It will be cheaper to install solar systems locally if there’s no shipping involved, because the necessary items are made here, she said.

Davis-Monthan Air Force Base is working to convert its nearly-Olympic-size pool from gas to solar water heating.

“We are excited with the possibilities and potential that solar energy brings to Arizona and particularly here at Davis-Monthan,” said Col. Kent Laughbaum, 355th fighter wing commander of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and another member of Giffords’ solar advisory council.

The federal government in general – and especially large installations such as Davis-Monthan – are interested in lower-cost and renewable energy, Laughbaum said.

He sees more investment in research and development as the next logical step, he said.

“I look forward to advancements in the technology that bring energy to us from solar sources efficiently and affordably,” he said. “We are going to need those types of advances.”

Click here to read the article in the Arizona Daily Star