Events
2013 Annual Fundraiser and Bill Sinkin’s 100th Birthday Celebration
When: Friday, May 17th, 2013, 6:30 pm
Where: Incarnate Word Skyroom
What: Please join us for a night to celebrate the recent accomplishments of Solar San Antonio and to celebrate the Chairman’s 100th Birthday. In addition to the dinner and dancing with the Lucky Strikes, there will be a silent auction as well as a raffle. This year, the prize for the raffle is a 4.8 kW solar system (worth $16,500)! The raffle tickets are $75 each, but there are only 250 tickets available. In order to buy a raffle ticket, you can call our office at 210.354.0236 or purchase a ticket the night of the dinner. For more information about the event, please click here.
Climate Change
Past Midnight on the Climate Change Clock
Bill McKibben began educating people about climate change decades ago. We encourage you to spend 22 minutes and 25 seconds hearing what he has to say now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geIni_BwjGw
Antarctic Ice Melt
A bizarre phenomenon is happening in Antarctica- sea ice is expanding. It has been well documented that the Arctic ice has been melting for some decades, yet Antarctic ice has been increasing by 1.9% every decade since 1985. Researchers say that this is due to melting of ice underneath the Antarctic ice shelves. These plumes of freshwater rise to the surface and then refreeze during the colder months. This is an example of a negative feedback loop. While the ice may be expanding, this does not demonstrate that climate change has slowed or stopped- it simply shows a yet another effect of global climate change. Click here for the full story.
National News
Solar Jobs
It has been found that solar companies now employ 119,000 people in all 50 states in the US. In California, there are more solar employees than actors and in Texas, there are more solar jobs than ranchers. Additionally, the solar industry has doubled in the past three years. This is great news not only for the solar energy but for the renewable energy sector as a whole. It is showing a shift in our culture towards one that seriously considers renewable energy as the energy of tomorrow. Here’s the story which has a map that highlights the solar industry in each state.
Commercial Renewable Energy Users
A couple of months ago, we had a short story in our newsletter that had a slideshow of some of the biggest users of renewable energy in the US. The EPA has released an updated list of the top 50 users of renewable energy in the US. Of the top 50, a total of 16 companies get 100% of their energy from renewables. Additionally, many companies have committed more money and resources in order to increase their renewable energy consumption and/or production. The article says that this is because it makes financial sense. For the whole story and to check out the whole list, click here.
Local News
SunCredit
On April 8, the introduction of CPS Energy’s SunCredit Program as a replacement for net metering set off an intense month of activity. Existing solar customers rejected the idea that CPS Energy could alter the terms under which they made their decision to purchase solar. Solar installers calculated that the low proposed solar credit would put them out of business.
Solar San Antonio produced numerous papers criticizing the SunCredit Program and worked with solar supporters to bring the criticisms to public attention. On May 1, fifty people signed up at the City Council’s Citizens to be Heard to object to implementation of SunCredit. On May 3, even more people showed up to voice their objections at the CPS Energy public gathering.
On May 8, CPS Energy agreed to withdraw the SunCredit Program for one year, grandfather all applications coming in during that year into the net metering program, and establish a dialogue between the solar industry and CPS Energy to explore solutions to the many issues raised by the SunCredit controversy.
Community Solar
Clean Energy Collective (CEC), a company based in Colorado, delivered a presentation this month at CPS Energy. They proposed installing a community solar system in San Antonio that would allow more people the opportunity to go solar. This type of system could be a centrally located solar system that services multiple customers. This would give people who live in apartment complexes, townhomes, condos, etc. the chance to use solar energy. Customers could buy individual panels or pay for a certain percentage of the total cost of the system. Additionally, customers can buy more panels or a higher percentage of power over time if their income allows. Solar San Antonio welcomes this project which would increase the use of solar energy and San Antonio can continue receiving recognition as a leader in solar energy. The next step is waiting for CPS to solidify plans with Clean Power Collective, the company that pitched the idea to CPS.
Use Goodsearch Search Engine and Help Us Raise Money
GoodSearch is a search engine that supports non-profit organizations. Go to http://www.goodsearch.com and indicate that you want to support Solar San Antonio. Every time you want to look something up online, use GoodSearch!
Tips
Our consumption habits and our propensity to throw things away instead of recycling them have major implications for the US as well as the world in general. Countries have begun to run out of space for landfills, and there are concerns about where we are going to put our trash. One way in which we can each reduce our own personal trash amount is to compost. Whole Foods has a very easy-to-follow composting guide. Composting is not difficult or complicated and takes only a few more minutes compared to just throwing everything away in the garbage.