We declare these rights not on behalf of our companies, but on behalf of our customers and our country.  We seek no more than the freedom to compete on equal terms and no more than the liberty for consumers to choose the energy source they think best.

1. Americans have the right to put solar on their homes or businesses Restrictive covenants, onerous connection rules, and excessive permitting and inspections fees prevent many American homes and businesses from going solar.

2. Americans have the right to connect their solar energy system to the grid with uniform national standards. This should be as simple as connecting a telephone or appliance. No matter where they live, consumers should expect a single standard for connecting their system to the electric grid.

3. Americans have the right to Net Meter and be compensated at the very least with full retail electricity rates. When customers generate excess solar power utilities should pay them consumer at least the retail value of that power.

4. The solar industry has the right to a fair competitive environment. The highly profitable fossil fuel industries have received tens of billions of dollars for decades. The solar energy expects a fair playing field, especially since the American public overwhelmingly supports the development and use of solar.

5. The solar industry has the right to equal access to public lands. America has the best solar resources in the world, yet solar companies have zero access to public lands compared to the 45 million acres used by oil and natural gas companies.

6. The solar industry has the right to interconnect and build new transmission lines. When America updates its electric grid, it must connect the vast solar resources in the Southwest to population centers across the nation.

7. Americans have the right to buy solar electricity from their utility. Consumers have no choice to buy clean, reliable solar energy from their utilities instead of the dirty fossil fuels of the past.

8. Americans have the right, and should expect, the highest ethical treatment from the solar industry. Consumers should expect the solar energy industry to minimize its environmental impact, provide systems that work better than advertised, and communicate incentives clearly and accurately.

Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA)

Fred Hansen’s 20 rooftop solar panels help provide electricity to his Sand Springs home, which will be featured on the 2009 National Solar Tour.

ROBERT EVATT Tulsa World Staff Writer
Published: 10/2/2009

Fred and Rita Hansen get plenty of power from the sun — their Sand Springs home is wired for solar electricity and sports two solar water heaters.

Though it’s a hefty amount of solar equipment, it’s still not enough for the family.

“Wish I had room to put more,” Fred Hansen said.

Their home will be part of Saturday’s 2009 National Solar Tour, which invites people to see first-hand how local homes and businesses incorporate solar energy.

The tour, organized nationally by the American Solar Energy Society and locally by Sun City Solar Energy, is geared toward educating people about the options that are available and how they work, said Pamela Speraw, co-owner of Sun City.

“We want to get all of the United States, particularly the children, to get educated about solar,” she said.

Speraw said a lot of people still have misconceptions about solar power, especially its potential uses.

Fred Hansen said rising energy costs encouraged his family to investigate alternative energy sources three years ago.

“It was the direction the cost of electricity was heading, and the efficiency of solar cells has been improving,” he said.

Hansen said he was also motivated by tax credits for incorporating solar energy, which are still available.

While the efficiency of the solar equipment can vary depending on the weather, Hansen estimates that solar power cuts his energy bill in half when he’s not running the air conditioner or furnace, and by a third when he does.

His solar water heaters, which heat the water by running liquid through solar panels on his roof, gets the water up to scalding temperatures and provides more hot water than his old system.

“I can turn on the washing machine, turn on the dishwasher, fill up the tub and still take a shower without running out now,” Hansen said.

Speraw said the Tulsa event will begin with a 30-minute seminar on various forms of solar power, followed by two separate tours focusing on either commercial or residential solar power.

2009 National Solar Tour

When: 10 a.m. Saturday

Where: Sun City Solar energy Showroom, 6709 e. 81st St., Suite G

What: Brief seminar followed by tours

Using the sun for energy has been around for centuries. The ancient Romans and Greeks used passive solar energy when they built their homes.  The first solar powered steam engine was built by Auguste Mouchout in 1861.  Albert Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1921 for his research on the photoelectric effect. Various advances made the use of solar widespread in the past few decades in many industrialized nations. But it took the Arab oil embargo in October, 1971 for the US to realize the ramifications of depending entirely on oil for energy consumption.

Solar has come in and out of “fashion” over the past four decades, but 2009 will mark the year that solar became an accepted component of the United States mainstream energy use.  This is due to several issues:

• Tiered rate pricing including high electric taxes and fees
• High electric rate inflation
• Overall high solar gain in the US
• Federal (and some state and local) tax incentives
• Technological advances for increased efficiency
• The widespread use of fossil fuels resulting in global warming

On-going investments in solar energy and the support by local, state and federal government, as well as incentives of some utility providers, will continue to lower the cost and make solar a viable investment for many Americans.

Now is the time to take advantage of solar energy systems.  To find out more, visit our website at SunCitySolar.com, or call one of our solar consultants at 918-494-0886.