To help facilitate the joint pilot project, the Lancaster local government waived standard development fees and clear approvals for construction with unprecedented speed. Construction of the new wave eco-home began in March.

It appears every corner of this home was built with Mother Earth in mind. It’s equipped with ultra-efficient LED lighting, solar panels (which are, like the batteries, made by BYD) and an electric vehicle (EV) charging station to power up cars.

But what makes this home so intriguing (at least to us) is the roof, which incorporates roofing tiles that actually reduce pollution. Here’s how it works, according to USA Today:

The tiles have an embedded catalyst that when exposed to sunlight, speeds up oxidation and reduces the nitrogen oxide pollution that creates smog.

Did you get that? The roof has the potential to actually reduce smog! Get a few thousand of these roofs installed and who knows, the notoriously smoggy skies of Los Angeles may begin to brighten. Of course, time will tell — we were unable to find any details on the rate at which the tiles absorb nitrogen oxide. But you have to admit, this new home offers the unique promise of generating clean power and cutting localized atmospheric pollution.

It is the first such roof in the United States. And the entire house itself was made following the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star guidelines. After a number of tours are given, the home of over 1,500-square-foot home will eventually be sold in the low $200,000 range.

Solar Home of the Future Built in Lancaster, California

Why? Faced with dwindling rebate funds, the Arizona utility has asked state regulators for permission to cut the rebate to $2.25 per watt from $3.00 per watt. The proposed cut would begin with rebate applications received after July 7. TEP says that its customers have already cashed in on $12.2 million of the $17.6 million available for this year. The Arizona utility notes that at this rate the rebate dollars will be gone by August, but scaling them back would allow more customers to benefit from the program.

This year, nearly 1,100 TEP customers have received the SunShare rebate for an Arizona solar home photovoltaic (PV) system — more than in the past nine years combined. As we’ve noted before, the Tucson Electric solar rebate has in 2010 been among the nation’s highest in per-watt terms. Couple this fact with falling solar PV costs, and you can begin to see why so many Arizona residents have been installing solar panels: it’s a great investment.

TEP says that since the cost of installing solar has dropped, it makes sense that the incentive be scaled down with it. The goal at the end of the day, according to Katharine Kent, president of The Solar Store, is for the solar industry to eventually stand on its own without government incentives.

Bottom line: even at $2.25 per watt, the TEP solar rebate will go a long way to offset the cost of installing solar in Arizona. If you’re a TEP customer who’s thinking about going solar, you best shake a leg: these rebates won’t last forever.

Tucson Electric Solar Rebates Could Soon Be Reduced

Played by actor Larry Hagman, the cut-throat Texas oilman played a central role in the series, appearing in all 357 episodes. Now, it seems this former petroleum pusher is ready to reveal a greener side.

Hagman is now the voice and face of SolarWorld, a German solar-panel maker with plants in the U.S. His new slogan, “shine, baby, shine,” says it all:

Hagman has long been an advocate of renewable energy. The former actor serves on the board of the Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF), a non-profit organization that sponsors solar projects in developing countries. As payment for the spot, SolarWorld will donate 100 kilowatts (kW) worth of solar panels to the non-profit, which will go toward a clean power installation at several medical clinics in Haiti.

Hagman, for hit part, seems to walk the walk: he has installed what he says is the largest residential solar energy system in the United States at his home just north of Los Angeles.

Fictional Oilman JR Turns to Solar

Case in point is Orange County — or, more familiarly, OC.

According to data provided by the California Solar Initiative (CSI), Laguna Beach ranks third among all cities in Southern California’s Orange County in total number of solar homes. This information was relayed by The OC Register, which got the numbers from SunRun, a provider of solar installation services and solar leases that operates in several states, including California.

Laguna Beach solar has reached the rooftops of roughly 80 homes. Relative to the 25,000 or so Laguna Beach residents, this means about 0.8 percent of the city’s homes are now solar-powered. Within the Orange County solar market, only the cities of Los Alamitos and Villa Park, where roughly 1.5 homes are solar-powered, outmatch Laguna Beach.

What’s ahead? The CSI has already helped to install about 350 megawatts (MW) of solar energy in California. In the years to come, the initiative is expected to install enough solar capacity to produce an additional 3,000 MW, likely meaning that the number of Orange County solar installations will continue to rise steadily.

In Orange County, Laguna Beach Ranks Third for Solar Homes

The secret behind this new community is Echo, a new solar energy solution system that its maker, PVT Solar, claims is more efficient than any other stand-alone solar electric or solar photovoltaic (PV) system out there. According to PVT, the technology produces double the energy of conventional systems, providing enough energy for residents to wash their clothes, bathe and home heating and cooling systems.

The way Echo operates is relatively simple. Whereas most standard PV panels generate electricity from only a small fraction of the sun’s energy and leave the heat unused, Echo sucks up the sun’s thermal energy too, using a computerized fan to move the hot air from underneath the solar panels and applying it toward useful ends, like heating domestic water.

Meritage Homes has built its reputation on building energy-efficient homes. Since 2001, each of the company’s homes has exceeded ENERGY STAR guidelines. Notably, each of the company’s new Arizona solar homes in Gilbert will be tested and certified by ResNET-certified energy auditors.

Gordon Handelsman, President of PVT Solar, had the following to say about the new homes in Lyon’s Gate, the private community in Gilbert, where the new homes are located:

Meritage Homes is truly a leader in deploying echo solar power systems in their new Lyon’s Gate community.  They’re delivering what  consumers want in a new home – beautiful styling, quality construction, economic savings and ecological  stewardship.

The best part? Buyers won’t necessarily have to shell out a fortune to move in: some models are priced at starting under $180,000. Chairman and CEO of Meritage Homes, Steven Hilton, attributes the homes’ attractive pricing to local collaborative efforts:

“This community is the result of cooperation between Meritage and dozens of our partners like GE, PVT Solar, DEMILEC, SRP (Salt River Project) and the Town of Gilbert.” Hilton said. “Only through our coordinated efforts were we able to develop homes at these prices with all of these features included. We intend to expand the use of these features in our other communities and work toward their greater adoption across the industry.”

New Arizona Community Boasts Nation’s Most Energy Efficient Homes

A group of students and faculty members from Virginia Tech yesterday won grand prize in the ten-day Solar Decathlon Europe in Madrid, Spain, besting 16 other universities from seven different countries.

VT’s team — an interdisciplinary bunch from the school’s College of Architecture and Urban Studies, College of Engineering, Pamplin College of Business and College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences — entered the competition with “LUMENHAUS,” a zero-energy home that is entirely powered by the sun. Ironically, Virginia Tech used its Germanic-sounding entry to narrowly defeat the University of Applied Sciences in Germany, whose students created a solar marvel named IKAROS.

Equipped with north- and south-facing glass walls, LUMENHAUS is built to gain as much exposure to daylight as possible. Perhaps the most unique aspect of Virginia Tech’s solar home, however, is its likeness to a Transformer: its walls are screens that can be removed in good weather, in effect doubling the home’s floor space. Moreover, a large portion of the home is made of recyclable material and is lit within by LED lights.

Had the entrants been judged solely on the basis of how much solar energy their homes produced, Virginia Tech would have come in second, as IKAROS received higher marks in the category. But there were nine other categories on which the homes were graded, including architecture and style.

Almost every one of LUMENHAUS’ different rooms was designed to have multiple uses, including the kitchen, where the counter can be transformed into a bar. And if you’re trying to enjoy a summer dinner outdoors, LUMENHAUS has you covered. The students cleverly rested the dining room table on coasters, giving it stability and making it easily movable.

The first place finish for Virginia Tech has been years in the making. At the United States Solar Decathlon in 2009, LUMENHAUS finished a disappointing 13th out of 2o universities. The Virginia Tech team has been tweaking the home every since, and now have a grand prize to show for their perseverance.

Virginia Tech Takes Home Solar Decathlon Grand Prize

With a 97.5 percent efficiency rate, SolarEdge’s DC-AC inverters are among the most efficient on the market

The Escondido solar home plays host to 26 multi-crystalline PV modules, which were installed by Photon Solar Power, a solar installation company that serves customers in Colorado, San Diego and other parts of southern California.

According to the press release, solar energy professionals in the area may pay particular attention to this residential solar installation because it is the first grid-tied system in the U.S. to incorporate SolarEdge’s inverters. If successful, the installation could pave the way for many more solar homes to incorporate the company’s high-efficiency inverter technology.

California Solar Home Features Latest Solar Technology

10800 Edes Avenue in Oakland is home to a Habitat for Humanity East Bay, low-income housing structure. The colorful, multi-stage development that began in 2006 is a ongoing project and, visiting it, you’d never know that the land it stands on was previously a brownfield.

Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) has played a supporting role in this transformation. Working with Habitat for Humanity, the California utility sponsors the donation of a solar electric system for each new home Habitat builds in PG&E territory. The installation of these systems is handled by GRID Alternatives and Solar Power Partners, a large-scale solar power installation company. When all is said and done, each of Edes Avenue’s 54 homes will be equipped with a small rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) system of about 1.8 kilowatts (kW). In total, the project will come to roughly 90 kW.

While relatively small, the systems deliver meaningful savings. Families who have already moved in are benefiting from electricity bills that are $30 to $40 lower per month than they would be in the absence of solar panels. Some of the other homes, still in various stages of construction, have yet to have solar panels installed.

On the day of our visit, a warm and windy afternoon in June, roughly 20 GRID Alternatives volunteers and Solar Power Partners workers were positioning panels and working on wiring a single system into place atop a duplex that had already been erected. The third level of a scaffold provided a good vantage point from which to watch progress unfold. To the west, clear over a wall that separates already-occupied homes from the work site, there were cars parked in driveways and people bustled in and out of their homes. Some occasionally stopped to look up and observe the work in progress. Starting at ground-level, volunteers passed solar panels along a chain of hands up the scaffold. The panels were then placed side by side, mid-roof. It went on like this throughout the day, the workers making smooth and steady progress.

PANEL PASSING: GRID Alternatives volunteers and SPP workers pass panels to the rooftop of an Edes Avenue home.

From GRID Alternatives’ perspective, the decision to take on the Edes Avenue project was an easy one — it was already completely funded, a fact that can make all the difference in the world. But beyond funding, a number of other site-specific factors dictate whether a given project is a good fit for solar — and for the organization. These variables hold true for just about any residential rooftop solar installation:

• The roof in question must be in good condition. If necessary, GRID can sometimes help the homeowner replace or repair the roof. Other times, however, an old roof is a project killer.
• The roof must also be in a non-shaded area — trees and tall buildings, in other words, are another type of project killer.
• Ideally, the roof faces due south, as this ensures the solar panels receive optimal sun. Panels may be placed on roofs that have southeast or southwest exposure without substantially reducing system performance.

“You don’t really want to tell people to cut down trees so that they can have a solar energy system,” said GRID Alternatives volunteer Maura Fallon-Mcknight. “Sometimes it’s just not a good idea for them if there is too much in the way.”

Beyond the site-specific variables, which relate to the solar energy system, GRID Alternatives also, of course, weighs community-specific variables that relate to the organization’s mission of helping low-income California families. Homeowners interested in having GRID assess their particular situation and eligibility can sign up on the group’s website. But GRID’s Development Director Zach Franklin said that is not the way they connect with the majority of their beneficiaries.

“In terms of clients, the challenge is that the funding we have often times can be so specific that if we were just to say ‘hey, low-income folks, go to our website and maybe you can qualify,’ in most cases we can’t serve them unless they meet the criteria of all of the dollars we have,” Franklin noted.

The Edes Avenue site in Oakland met all the main criteria for GRID, Habitat for Humanity and PG&E.

As GRID Alternatives continues to expand, it seems the organization will maintain its focus on California. “Our focus is here [California],” said Franklin. “We have so much that we are working on and so much that we want to do.” Given that California is home to more than two million low-income homeowners, Franklin may have hit the nail on the head.

In case you missed it, check out the first two Installments of Getsolar’s three-part series on GRID Alternatives:

• California Org Brings Solar Savings to Low-Income Families
• The ‘Habitat for Humanity’ of the Solar Industry

GRID Alternatives Builds East Bay Solar Community

All volunteers have the opportunity to help install entire solar energy systems. GRID Alternatives gradually works volunteers up to that stage, allowing them to first help with small stages of the installation, like panel passing or just observing the wiring of the system. There is no timetable for when a volunteer can get fully involved in the installation. Whenever you feel ready, you’re on.

Volunteers install solar panels atop a Habitat for Humanity housing project in Oakland, CA on June 8, 2010. A typical GRID installation takes 10-15 volunteers to complete.

The experience of Marc Fontana, who began volunteering with GRID in April of 2006, illustrates well how volunteers help the organization, and vice versa.

Within months of losing his job, the San Francisco Bay Area native went through a GRID Alternatives training course and was soon working on his first volunteer assignment in northern California’s East Bay. Since then, he has dedicated himself to learning about the solar industry and helping GRID Alternatives install solar energy systems.

“A co-worker and I both lost our jobs, and we were both interested in solar and renewable energy,” he said. At the outset, Fontana had minimal experience with solar energy, but was interested in GRID Alternatives because he felt the organization gave him the best chance to learn how to install.

“I heard volunteers get to do installations from start to finish. There is no substitute for hands on,” he said. To date, Fontana has volunteered at GRID Alternative sites in Antioch, Greenfield, Castroville, Oakland and San Francisco and is one of GRID’s longest standing volunteers.

Beyond volunteering an average of four days a week, Fontana has earned certification from the North American Board of Solar Energy Practitioners (NABCEP), a leading industry certification-granting entity. His interest in solar even extends to his personal life: He now has a solar energy system on his house. Above all else, Fontana has gained an appreciation for the hands-on approach taken by GRID Alternatives.

“I recommend GRID to anyone interested in working in the field because it’s one of the few opportunities to work hands-on,” he said.

If volunteer interest is an indication, GRID’s approach seems to be working. Mike Faulk, who has worked with GRID since 2008, remembers a time when volunteers could get on-site just days after signing up on GRID Alternatives’ website. Now, however, there’s a months-long waiting list.

“It’s harder to volunteer now, but I continue to work with them because it’s for a good cause,” said Faulk, who has been a part of over 20 GRID Alternatives installations over the years and has earned the role of team leader. “It’s the Habitat for Humanity of the solar industry.”

Anyone can sign up for GRID’s email list, which provides information about upcoming volunteer opportunities. Applicants must complete a form and be able to commit themselves to one or two, six-hour work days a week.

THE END RESULT in Oakland, California, on June 8, 2010. On average, the system will save these residents $20 to $40 on their monthly utility bill.

After signing up, volunteers are required to attend a brief orientation about safety and what to expect on the job site. Once on the job site, individuals have the opportunity to learn from from supervisors — who are professionally trained and certified solar installers — as well as from volunteer team leaders, like Marc Fontana.

Considerations about self-improvement job skills aside, it’s evident that all GRID volunteers believe deeply in the GRID mission — and are excited to be helping a worth cause.

“When you’re out there, you know you’re helping communities in need and fighting environmental injustice,” said Fontana. “Neighbors always come out to see what’s going on. If it wasn’t for programs like this, some people would never get or even know about solar power.”

In case you missed it, check out the first installment of our Grid Alternatives series.

The ‘Habitat for Humanity’ of the Solar Industry

The increase in installations is expected to run from mid July to mid August of this year, spurred by a special financing offer for solar energy systems to be installed on homes. Homeowners in San Diego, Oceanside and a number of other California counties and cities will soon be able to finance the installation of solar panels via an innovated new financing option. Many governments are allowing residents to pay back loans through an annual property tax assessment. Such Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs are becoming an increasingly popular way to bankroll projects in renewable energy and energy efficiency for the residential, commercial and industrial sectors.

MiraCosta College has two major green training programs, both taught by the solar PV training program Ameriskills. One is a 40-hour solar installation-training course. The other is an 8-week program to train hybrid car mechanics.

From now through June, the school will be offering its solar PV training course at $1,095 per student, which includes all materials, the accompanying lab workshops and preparation for two principal certification programs: one offered by the North American Board of Certified Electrical Practitioners (NABCEP), and the other from the Electronics Technicians Association (ETA).

The next solar PV training course offered at MiraCosta begins June 19, so don’t miss the fast-approaching deadline to sign up.

CA College Cuts Fees, Expects Bump in San Diego Solar Installations