This morning, Good Morning America’s Sam Champion and SunRun’s Lynn Jurich discussed how easy and affordable it is to get solar for your home with SunRun.  SunRun buys the panels and pays for installation so you can switch to clean home solar power for little or no cost. SunRun also takes complete care of your home solar system, which includes professional monitoring, maintenance and repair, insurance, and a money-back performance guarantee.  All you have to do is simply pay for your home solar electricity, just like you pay your utility today. But, unlike utilities that can raise your rates at anytime, SunRun lets you lock in today’s rates for the next 18 or 20 years. See if your home is right for solar with a free home solar quote!

Watch the ABC Good Morning America clip on SunRun home solar below!

State of the Climate: The hottest story this week has undeniably been a report released on Wednesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that found this past decade to be the hottest decade on record. The annual “State of the Climate” report incorporated findings from over 300 scientists in 48 countries, using data from sources including “satellites, weather balloons, weather stations, ships, buoys, and field surveys.” The report doesn’t include data from 2010, which is predicted to exceed the hottest average global temperature ever recorded.

Solar Cells: On Tuesday, Vodafone Essar released a new kind of “solar cell” – a solar cellular phone! The phones are targeted towards Indians living in rural areas that lack access to electricity, but receive a lot of sun. The phone, which requires 8 hours of direct sunlight to fully charge provides 240 minutes of talktime and 200 standby hours. It’s currently priced at $32 and is expected to go on sale in stores in August.

The Sunshine Track: The NASCAR racetrack at Pocono Raceway has gone solar!   Pocono’s 3 megawatt, 250 acre ground-mounted solar system is finally up and running with 40,000 photovoltaic solar panels. Like SunRun home solar systems, the NASCAR system is tied to the grid, and provides enough energy for the whole racetrack and 1,000 neighboring homes. NASCAR estimates that the system will produce 72 million kWh of energy over the next 20 years, offsetting over 3,100 metric tons of CO2 every year.

Solar in Hawaii: Eric Wesoff also took some time this week to examine the state of solar in Hawaii – a state in which solar would be a “no-brainer” (lots of sun, high electricity rates). What he discovered was that despite the appeal of solar in the state, upfront costs continue to be the greatest barrier to going solar in Hawaii. Despite this, the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative has a goal of having 70% of the island’s energy come from clean sources by 2030.

And of course, we mustn’t forget to mention Good Morning America’s solar spotlight on Thursday! SunRun president Lynn Jurich spoke with GMA’s Sam Champion on affordable ways for homeowners to go solar. Judging from the great response we’ve received since yesterday, the future looks bright for clean solar power!

Please let us know if you’d like a particular story included in roundup. Happy weekend!

Leonardo DiCaprio’s film “Inception” was made with the help of solar energy. The actor had talked to an executive at Warner Brothers studio about the idea of using solar power to run the generators used on the set.

The generators used were from Pure Power Distribution, a company that provides mobile solar power systems for use by residences to large scale productions like the Inception film set. Their S48T model used on the set of Inception includes 36 200 watt solar panels that use 600 amps to produce 72,000 watts of mobile solar power.

Pure Power Distribution has also provided solar powered generators for the Teen Choice Awards and ESPY Awards.

For more details on the DiCaprio film Inception using solar powered generators on it’s set check out the article at:

Forbes.com.

To learn more about mobile solar power systems visit Pure Power Distribution.

The Greatest Barrier to Going Solar? Upfront Cost.

I had wanted to go solar for a long time. I never thought it would be possible due to costs, but over the past year, I noticed a few of our neighbors in Colorado going solar. I wondered if things were changing in the residential solar industry.

One day, I read an article about President Obama visiting a local solar installer in Colorado, Namaste, to discuss solar jobs and government incentives. I contacted Namaste to learn more about home solar and its costs. Through those conversations, we decided that maybe the time was right for us to switch to solar, to save money and reduce our effect on the environment.

We were getting ready to sign our purchase order when word came out that our utility company, Xcel Energy, was reducing their solar rebates. This rebate change was going to increase our out-of-pocket investment for purchasing our home solar system by $3,000! We were forced to reconsider our decision to go solar because of the higher costs and longer timeline for our return on investment.  Once again, we felt that solar was out of our reach and we would have to stick with our utility company.

The Solution We’d Been Waiting For: Solar Leasing!

A few months later, we heard about a new solar leasing program that was coming to Colorado – the SunRun Power Plan. I started researching the program, but put off making a decision.

That all changed when Xcel raised their rates again and initiated a tiered-rate summer program, which charged more money per kilowatt used above the first 500 kilowatts.  I knew that with our air conditioner running in the summer, our family consumed up to 800 kilowatts. I contacted Namaste again and requested two solar quotes – one qoute for an outright purchase and another through SunRun’s solar leasing program. The quote for a solar system purchase was now $2,000 higher than the quote that I had received previously. This was, once again, due to additional rebate drops from Xcel.

On the other hand, the SunRun solar quote was so appealing and we realized that home solar was now within our reach! SunRun would allow us to upgrade our home to solar for what we were currently paying per month for electricity, with no additional money down. We would be able to go solar without a large upfront payment. In addition, we would lock in our electrical rates for the term of the lease – 20 years. It didn’t take us long to realize that SunRun was exactly what we had been waiting for. We didn’t have to take money out of our savings and started saving from day one. Plus, SunRun maintains the system for us so there are no worries about additional costs down the road.

Our system is now online and we can’t be happier. We are saving money, reducing our impact on the environment and making a statement that we want to be part of the new energy solution rather then part of the current carbon based energy problem.

Solar energy system sales: Hands-on, detail oriented person with PV knowledge or construction/trade background preferred; interest in providing service to/educating of clients rather than “selling”.

• Quickly contact pre-qualified leads of residential and commercial customers; develop own leads working with sales managers.
• Educate customers about the benefits of solar energy!
• Evaluate customers’ electrical usage, perform on-site evaluations and conduct surveys of site conditions to estimate solar-electric, solar thermal and/or solar pool heating system size/details to prepare proposals; close sales via signed contracts.
• Make Power Point presentations; participate in exhibit booths at tradeshows and in a possible retail setting, as needed, including some evenings & weekends.

Tremendous potential; ground-floor opportunity. Send resume.

Location: Long Island NY

Compensation: Commission

• Principals only. Recruiters, please don’t contact this job poster.
• Please, no phone calls about this job!
• Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.

More from Mike Lieberman at Urban Organic Gardener.

More from Mike Lieberman at Urban Organic Gardener.

 Renewable Energy World has a nice list of things you should be sure to check before seriously considering purchasing a solar panel system. Really important to make sure these items are covered:

Renewable Energy World

Homeowners in Massachusetts are increasingly turning to residential solar for environmental reasons, according to the Boston Globe. In the midst of environmental disasters, rising energy costs, and increased talks of climate change, residents are turning to solar energy. And going solar is easier than ever with state and federal tax incentives and companies like SunRun, that make it affordable and easy to switch to solar.

In Washington, the atmosphere was more somber, as Democrats called off efforts to advance a major climate change bill through Senate. According to Senator Harry Reid, proponents of the bill knew they simply did not have enough votes and officials favored moving on, rather than stall the Senate over the bill.  Instead, the Senate has pursued a more limited bill responding to the BP oil spill and tightening standards for energy efficiency.

On a lighter note, the Zephyr, an unmanned solar airplane, has set some outstanding records for longest flight…powered entirely by the sun! For over two weeks, the Zephyr has been flying over Arizona, day and night, thanks to the paper thin solar panels on its wings. The solar plane presents great potential for persistent surveillance and communications.

And over here in California, a team of scientists at the California Institute of Technology and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory was awarded $122 million by the U.S. Department of Energy to establish the Sunlight Energy Innovation Hub. This Hub would focus on “artificially simulating photosynthetic processes…to produce innovative sources of energy”, or converting sunlight into fuel.

It’s been a busy week for solar! Let us know if you think we left out a crucial solar news story and we’ll be happy to include it in our solar news roundup.

High volume solar company is looking to expand. We are looking for 4 District Marketing Managers who are highly motivated and have strong sales/customer service skills. This is a true opportunity to make a six-figure income, which is currently being obtained. Please email resumes to w.baietto@gmail.com

• Location: Phoenix, AZ
• Compensation: Commission-based
• Principals only. Recruiters, please don’t contact this job poster.
• Please, no phone calls about this job!
• Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.