SD Renewable Energy Society

January 14, 2009 Program-Financing

You are invited to attend SD Renewable Energy Society’s first 2009 program meeting, Wednesday, January 14, at 7-9 PM, at the California Center for Sustainable Energy, 8690 Balboa Avenue, Suite 100 (two blocks east of Hwy 163.)

In this world of financial chaos, there are some bright rays of hope for solar and energy efficiency. We will have three presentations on different aspects of financing Energy Efficiency and Solar for homes and businesses.

Speaker Number One. Andrew McAllister- link to presentation. Andrew is Director of Programs at CCSE. He is involved in the development of a new approach to financing of clean energy installations that leverages the property taxing authority of local jurisdictions. Following the lead of small cities such as Berkeley and Palm Desert, the City of San Diego and other local governments in this region are developing programs to put this idea into practice. Andrew will describe the concept and present some ideas for the development of impactful and effective programs that have the potential to bring resources for clean energy investments to virtually any property.

Andrew has literally a world of experience in solar, having worked for years in developing countries, designing and installing a wide variety of solar and other remote power systems. He worked for over a decade with NRECA International Ltd. as Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Specialist in countries in Central and South America, Southeast Asia and Africa. He was a project manager at Energy Solutions, an Oakland-based consulting firm, and an energy efficiency analyst at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. A returned Peace Corps Volunteer in Costa Rica, he has native-level fluency in Spanish. Andrew holds an M.S. from the Energy & Resources Group at UC-Berkeley, and has published on a wide variety of energy topics in academic, trade, and popular journals. He is a board member of the California Solar Energy Industries Association (CALSEIA) and sits on the Advisory Committee for the California Energy Commission’s New Solar Homes Partnership (NSHP) program.

Speaker Number Two. Guido Hamacher- link to presentation

Energy efficiency homes cost less to operate, have improved comfort, and create less pollution compared to standard homes. As a rule of thumb, energy consumption can be reduced by about 50% by incorporating energy efficiency measures, or up to 70% with a solar hot water system. Therefore, efficiency should always be considered before adding solar or other renewable energy equipment.

However, since both EE and renewables are costly, home owners typically use some form of financing to pay for the upgrades. Various financing mechanisms for EE and solar, and their pros and cons, will be discussed.

Guido Hamacher is a Real Estate Broker, LEED AP, and inventor of Energy Smart Loans(R). His company, City Center Real Estate Services, works with residential and commercial clients and specializes in federal tax credits. The company is an ENERGY STAR partner and Flex Your Power associate.

Speaker Number Three. Dan Perkins- link to presentation

Dan has been working the past two years on a plan to finance solar and EE improvements upon resale of homes. This should improve the attractiveness of energy efficient or solar resale homes. He currently is dealing with FHA. He’ll describe this possible new program.

Dan has an extensive background in solar consulting, inventing, real estate, and environmental work. He participated with SANDAG’s Energy Working Group, was chair of Sierra Clubs Energy Committee, and a member of the SD Sustainable Advisory Board.