Fed by abundant sunshine and a seemingly bottomless
marketing budget, you may have noticed the Unleash Solar billboard garden that
recently sprouted up across LA.
A cursory search led me an Aussi message board ripping
into Unleash Solar, as well as this priceless video. From the disappointment in the
customer’s voice, you might think he was talking about Pluto’s removal as a
planet rather than a shoddy inverter installation.
“You get what you pay for,” states one disgruntled message
board poster.
Despite the highly publicized undoing of Solyndra and the
like, the solar market is hot.
Venture capitalists eager to jump on board have yielded a number of
companies like Unleash Solar, with more marketing expertise than understanding
of solar technology and installation.
The model is simple: market big, install cheap by cutting
corners, and cash in on the booming market.
At Solar Forward,
we’ve proudly installed quality products with a skilled crew since 2005. Because, after all, we’re a solar company.
From Obama,
to Brown, to Villaraigosa, everyone has a plan to wean us off fossil
fuels. Elections are near, but are
we any closer to the renewable energy goals mandated by our political leaders?
We’re
talking the green talk, but are we walking the green walk?
Unfortunately,
not yet. Well, maybe a
little.
First,
let’s take a look at the goals.
In Los
Angeles, we’ve been tasked with generating 30% of energy from renewables by
2020. According to LADWP,
39% of the utility’s power comes from coal, while less than 1% comes from
solar.
On a macro
level, CA is expected to be 33% renewable by 2020. As of 2010, only 14.6% of
generated electricity in the state was renewable. Governor Brown will earn himself a name upgrade to
Governor Green should he succeed in meeting this goal, but it’s looking
unlikely.
Just 10
years away from our deadline, it’s obscene that a tiny fraction of our roofs
are carpeted in solar in the “Golden State”. There is enormous untapped potential in CA. To unleash solar, drastic policy
changes must occur, including inside the utilities where officials are slow to
adapt.
The highly
anticipated Feed-in Tariff program is a great start. However, for a state using more than 59,000
MW at peak demand, the program’s pilot 10 MW is a drop in the bucket.
What good
are mandates when policymakers are dragging in compliance? We’ve elected these leaders expecting
results. It’s time to move. The clock is ticking.
