With its employee solar discount program, which helped put sustainable energy within reach for over 80,000 Bay Area homeowners, the City of San Francisco has created a successful model that can be replicated with a minimum of fuss or muss by other municipalities.
Petaluma-based REC Solar was the chosen vendor for San Francisco’s SunShares program. Photo courtesy of REC Solar
By Bill Picture
Published: August, 2013
With its employee solar discount program, which helped put sustainable energy within reach for over 80,000 Bay Area homeowners, the City of San Francisco has created a successful model that can be replicated with a minimum of fuss or muss by other municipalities.
San Francisco SunShares used the collective buying power of the participating organizations’ combined employee pools to secure significant discounts for individuals, including lowering the out-of-pocket costs that prove prohibitive for many. The program, which also afforded participants a range of affordable financing options, was open for five months to a wide range of people: current and retired employees of the City living within the nine Bay Area counties and Sacramento; employees of two of the City’s largest employers, the University of California and Pacific Gas & Electric; and employees of member companies of the Bay Area Council on Climate Change, including Blue Shield of California and Gap, Inc.
"San Francisco’s SunShares program demonstrates how aggregated solar purchasing partnerships can be a win-win for everyone—participating homeowners, the solar industry, employers, local governments and the environment," said Jessie Denver, director of GroupEnergy, which administered the program.
GroupEnergy is a non-profit project of the Vote Solar Initiative, a grassroots organization dedicated to bringing solar energy to the mainstream as a means of fighting climate change and creating economic opportunities. Based in Oakland, the group has pioneered the "employee solar group-buy" model and helps groups develop their own group-buy programs from scratch. Their services include helping groups shop for the vendors, offering technical advice and providing educational workshops to help enlist the participation of as many potential solar buyers as possible—because discounts are secured based on the number of potential customers.
Power in numbers
What SunShares offered to its chosen vendor, Petaluma-based REC Solar, was an audience of more than 80,000 homeowners. "Basically, we went to them and said, ‘We’ve got 80,000 people; give us your best price,’" said Danielle Murray, renewable energy program manager at the San Francisco Department of the Environment.
"And not only that, we asked, ‘How are you going to make the buying process easier for our members? What kind of financing options will you offer?’" Murray continued. "That’s the purpose of this kind of program—to get a good price and make it really easy for folks to participate."
As of press time, 47 solar systems had been installed since the program’s March launch, but more than 650 other members of the group had expressed strong interest, signing up to receive free site assessments.
"One percent is my goal, in terms of outreach," Murray said. "If we can get one percent of the group to at least explore the option of solar energy, then I feel like the program is a success. Even though we know only a small percentage of them will purchase solar systems right now, it’s a way to really begin that discussion. And two years or five years from now, we can expect more of them to move forward."
For those members in a position to take the solar plunge, a program like SunShares is just what they need to finally commit. "While we had been considering installing solar energy for a while, the cost incentives and convenience of the program encouraged us to jump on this opportunity," said William Lee, the first SunShares participant to install a solar system.
Convenience is a major factor, according to Murray, who said that homeowners with the money and desire to go solar can be intimidated by the process of shopping for a solar provider. "And programs like SunShares do the work for them," Murray said. "We’ve already done all the due diligence, so members can be confident that they’re getting the best deal possible at that moment."
As of March, the best deal possible was an upfront investment of $8,000 for a 3 kW system and the possibility to save as much as $45,000 over the course of the system’s 30-year life, offsetting as much as 90 percent of the homeowner’s annual energy use. A 3 kW system can generate enough electricity to cover the energy demands of the average single-family home in the Bay Area.
Upping solar’s profile
The boost that the solar industry gets from programs like SunShare in terms of visibility is invaluable, according to Murray. "It helps the entire industry by increasing interest and knowledge," she said. "We’re helping them to reach people who they wouldn’t have access to otherwise, not so easily, at least. A good number never would have even considered installing a solar system on their own. Others who’d already considered it wouldn’t have moved forward on their own, not for a while."
And it’s not only potential customers within its member pool whose interest SunShares has piqued. Other cities have gotten wind of the program’s success and are exploring developing programs of their own. "Chicago is interested," Murray said. "Some large companies are too." San Jose had a similar initiative before San Francisco, but San Jose’s program was limited to city employees only.
And what about the friends and neighbors of those who purchase solar systems? Murray says that word-of-mouth eventually translates to more installations. "When a solar system gets installed on the block, the neighbors all know about it," she said. "It’s on their minds; and that benefits us all in the end."
Though SunShares officially ended on July 31 (members who signed up have until August 30 to sign a contract), Murray said it’s possible the program could be offered again in the future. "We just have to see what kind of interest there is moving forward."
For more information about San Francisco SunShares, visit www.mygroupenergy.com/group/sfsunshares.
