Workers repairing power lines

With more energy breakdowns in our future, now is the time to consider a battery backup system or a new SMA inverter with an emergency backup circuit.  Solar Forward is the most experienced installer of reliable grid interactive power systems in Southern California.

Andrew and Mark at Antelope Valley

Deserts may look barren to the untrained eye, yet as California’s Antelope Valley proves, they’re a fertile breeding ground for solar.

Last Friday, Mark and Andrew took a trip out to what will be the world’s largest solar power plant. Known as the Antelope Valley Solar Projects, the development consists of two solar installations side by side in Kern and Los Angeles counties.

The Antelope Valley Solar Projects are creating 650 jobs and injecting more than $500 million into the regional economy

Through a partnership with Sunpower and MidAmerican Solar, construction on the 579 megawatt project is anticipated to be done by 2015. Not only will this project provide enough clean, renewable energy to power 400,000 homes, but jobs are already being created for the construction, operation, and maintenance of the project.

The panels used for the project exhibit the quality and cutting edge technology you’ve come to expect from SunPower. SunPower panels, which already provide the most energy in the least amount of space, will be mounted on Sunpower T0 Trackers, allowing the panels to track the sun throughout the day, resulting in a 25% increase in energy capture.

Check out more photos below from the kickoff celebration that took place Friday April 26th.

Going solar together

When it comes to our energy future, we need to change the debate. Clean power is readily accessible but is there the political will to make it a priority? Or will old school oil barons continue to secure fossil fuels now in order to have them in the future?

A recent New York Times article  showed countries finding success while transitioning almost entirely to renewables. In 2011, the U.S. got 12.3% of its electricity from renewable sources, while our Canadian neighbors met 63.4% of their energy needs through renewables.

Countries in Europe have invested heavily in transitioning to renewables.

The U.S. has a great advantage: plenty of land to set up wind and solar projects.  The costs of wind and solar are decreasing as is the price of natural gas.  But the real cost of natural gas is not currently realized since fracking is ruing groundwater and the resulting CO2 produced is burned.

California has immense solar energy potential yet to be tapped. Let’s tap into this potential together. If you refer a friend, family member or co-worker to go solar with Solar Forward, both you and your friend can earn $200 each when you refer through our SunPower referral page.

LA residents are eager to go solar but are handcuffed by the rebate programs roller coaster ride.

Some greedy solar leasing companies want to take LADWP’s rebate money and move it to their bank account as fast as possible, as easily as possible. They are able get double dip on the tax breaks compared to the average consumer and the federal government ends up picking up the tab. Why do they want LADWP to pay for a cheaper solar system owned by an out of state banker?

The bottom line is the solar business will continue to be successful here in Los Angeles based on the solar program that LADWP has presented to the the people of Los Angeles.

We even recommended making the rebates 10% lower to stretch the funding even further and help avoid another shutdown.

Of course, everyone would like more money in the solar program but we know that the funding is limited at this time.

The real story is we can sell a leased solar system (with the new lower rebate levels) and still make it work! Sunpower has a great product! So the old school solar lease companies need to stop crying.

Please do not delay in restarting this solar program. It may not be perfect, but we feel that LADWP has made an honest attempt to improve and streamline the program and we can and will make it work.

Any hesitation today will delay the program by at least a month causing more local jobs and income to be lost – and the burning of more coal.

Solar Forward supports working with the proposed LADWP solar program – we have customers that are ready to go solar!

We need to start installing more solar systems in Los Angeles as soon as possible. The greedy bankers can work on a better financial product while we put people to work installing solar systems and stop burning coal.