BACC Editor on Wednesday, 13 July 2011 20:38
Bay Area Climate Collaborative Collaborates with the City of San Francisco to Advance Solar Power
Sunshares and Solar@WorkSolar Group-Buy Models will Enable Discounted Solar Power for Bay Area Residential and Commercial Properties
SAN FRANCISCO, C.A., July 13, 2011 - The Bay Area Climate Collaborative (BACC) today announced it is collaborating with the City of San Francisco (the City) to accelerate the adoption solar technology in the Bay Area. The BACC and the City are combining their efforts to drive outreach, education and recruitment for both residential and commercial solar power systems through their SunShares and Solar@Work solar group-buy initiatives.
Developed by the City of San José as part of the Department of Energy’s Solar America Cities initiative and in partnership with the BACC, SunShares is a first-of-its-kind solar group-buy model that employers and communities can replicate with partner financial institutions, enabling employees to secure highly attractive terms to install solar power on their homes. Initially piloted by the City of San José, city employees obtained solar at over 40 percent off average market rates using the model. With support from SunShares outreach sponsors Technology Credit Union, SunPower Corp., SolarCity, KeyPoint Credit Union, and in partnership with NorCal Solar, the BACC is leading recruitment efforts to drive replication of the SunShares model and delivering education to support implementation, including the recent launch of a complementary set of resources available on the SunShares webpage at www.sunshares.org.
“In uniting the leadership of the City of San Francisco and the World Resources Institute with the complementary partnerships of the Bay Area Climate Collaborative and the City of San Jose, this collaboration will extend our combined reach and help bring to scale this important clean energy technology,” said Rafael Reyes, Executive Director of the Bay Area Climate Collaborative. “Our coordinated efforts on SunShares and Solar@Work will ensure that both residential and commercial demand for affordable solar and available financing is met.”
Solar@Work, launching officially at InterSolar today, is a commercial solar group-purchasing program developed by the San Francisco Department of the Environment in partnership with the World Resources Institute in response to the two main impediments to going solar identified by San Francisco businesses – up-front cost and access to financing. The program is a solution for small- to mid-size commercial properties that are unable to achieve economies of scale from larger systems. Solar@Work aims to achieve cost reductions by leveraging group purchasing power, provide an affordable and streamlined financing option to decrease transaction costs and stimulate local economic development.
“The City set an aggressive goal to address the needs of our local and regional building owners who want to reduce their carbon footprint and energy costs with minimal up-front investments,” said Melanie Nutter, Director of the City and County of San Francisco’s Department of Environment. “This program represents a major evolution in the available options for these stakeholders and will result in a cleaner environment while creating more green jobs.”
For more information on SunShares, please visit www.sunshares.org.
For more information on Solar@Work, please contact www.wri.org/solar-at-work.
About the Bay Area Climate Collaborative
The Bay Area Climate Collaborative (BACC) is a public-private initiative accelerating the clean energy economy. Major partners include Bank of America, Pacific Gas & Electric, and local governments representing over 70 percent of the Bay Area population. The BACC is driving electric vehicle, energy efficiency and solar innovation. For more information on the BACC, please visit: www.baclimate.org.
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