The nation’s largest, privately-owned roofing and solar energy company, has announced an exclusive partnership with SunRun, the nation’s leading provider of residential solar financing, on a ground-breaking leasing program that enables Californians to purchase a new solar home at the price of a standard home, locking in low, fixed electricity bills for 20 years.

“At PetersenDean, we provide SmarterRoof technology and consumer-driven options so that the roof on your house works for you, saving you money and the environment. This program will not only transform how people consume electricity, but will make clean, renewable energy accessible to Californians.”

As utility fees continue to increase in California, this innovative solution allows homeowners to lock in a low rate for electricity over the course of the lease. This program would allow households to pay as little as $50 a month on average, saving families more than $800 per year in the first year and tens of thousands of dollars over the course of the lease. Most solutions provided through the program require no money down, and the lower operating costs of these homes give the homes a higher resale value.

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I have been a customer of Central City Air for the past 8 years. Two years ago, I had my garage apartment finished out as a family/media room and Central City Air designed and installed the air conditioning, a Fujitsu mini-split ductless system.

The system failed while still under warranty. They made a repair but it failed again several months later. Central City Air concluded the evaporator coil and air handler should be replaced under warranty.

It took Central City Air more than four months (through the summer heat) to install the replacement parts. After the installation, they left an 8″ by 10″ hole in my wall for me to repair and sent me a $660 bill for the labor on installing the replacement parts which were under warranty.

On October 3, 2008, President Bush signed into law the “Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.” This bill extended tax credits for energy efficient home improvements (windows, doors, roofs, insulation, HVAC, and non-solar water heaters). Tax credits for these residential products, which had expired at the end of 2007, will now be available for improvements made during 2009. However, improvements made during 2008 are not eligible for a tax credit.

The bill also extended tax credits for solar energy systems and fuel cells to 2016. New tax credits were established for small wind energy systems and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Tax credits for builders of new energy efficient homes and tax deductions for owners and designers of energy efficient commercial buildings were also extended.

http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=products.pr_tax_credits

Electric cars output one fifth the carbon dioxide and cost about one twentieth in energy compared to their gas counterparts. I was interested in discovering whether or not electric cars offered any cut in CO2 output in our current-day infrastructure. According to their site, the Tesla Roadster uses 110 watt hours of electricity per mile. For the purpose of a theoretical comparison, let us assume that the gas powered counterpart of the Tesla would get 20 miles per gallon. Now lets zoom out.

One kilogram of coal has 24 mega joules of energy and outputs 1.83 kilograms of CO2 when burned. America is 54% coal-powered, the average plant is 31% efficient, and transmission losses of electricity are about 10%. Moving over to gas, one gallon of gas becomes about twenty pounds of CO2 when burned. A gallon of gas costs around $4.00, and a kilowatt hour of electricity is around 9.86 cents. After all of the calculations, this results in 1¢ per mile electric versus 20¢ per mile gas, 3.2 ounces of CO2 per mile versus one pound per mile.

Considering that the legacy left behind by American car companies has little to do with being clean, there seems to be an increased sense of urgency by some U.S. states to replace the older fleet of vehicles with newer, and therefore cleaner, vehicles. The states with the two largest vehicle fleets, Texas and California, have both implemented new programs which offer cash-based incentives to owners of older vehicles which fail current emissions testing. In Texas, up to $3,500 is offered towards a vehicle three-years old or newer, though income restrictions do apply. In California, there is no maximum income number, though the far-left state is a bit less generous, offering $1,500 towards the purchase of a replacement vehicle.

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/06/30/states-pay-drivers-to-replace-their-older-cars/