Learn How to Reduce the Cost of Going Solar!

Open Neighborhoods returns to the Green Booth on Sunday September 11th to demonstrate how property owners can reduce the cost of going solar by 75%!
Mar Vista neighbors James Brennan and John Ayers will be on hand on Sunday, September 11th to present information about the Los Angeles County Solar Challenge – offering up to $40,000 to school booster clubs, religious institutions and other non-profit organizations in LA County who help their communities switch to clean energy from the Sun.
As part of the Solar Challenge, Open Neighborhoods has pre-negotiated a thirty-three percent group discount from leading Los Angeles-based solar installer PermaCity on the purchase of solar panel installations – bringing the cost of going solar down to $4.40 per Watt of power provided, compared to the recent city-wide average of $8.50 per Watt.  Alternatively, as part of the program participants can opt for a 25% discount on a zero-down lease option with monthly payment less than your electric bill.
Brennan and Ayers will be joined at the Green Booth by a representative from PermaCity to demonstrate a new innovation in solar technology that helps reduce installation costs. The new system, called AC Unison, includes built-in “microinverters” that make it economical to get started with a single panel.  Developed by Austin, Texas-based SolarBridge Technologies, the microinverters are an energy conversion device that is mounted on the back of each solar panel.  The technology avoids the additional expense of installing a separate inverter to convert solar energy into AC power.  This makes the panels more efficient by reducing the energy waste that typically occurs when power is transferred from a solar panel to a separate inverter.  The AC Unison system is manufactured by AU Optronics, the world’s third largest producer of flat-screen TV’s.
Also available though the Open Neighborhoods program are a solar carport as well as other popular solar panel models such as the translucent SANYO HIT  installed on Brennan’s roof deck in Mar Vista (pictured), which allows filtered light to pass through and increases efficiency by also generating power from reflected light on the underside.
This month the Los Angeles DWP solar incentive program has just restarted -- offering rebates to property owners who install solar.  The rebates can reduce installation costs by roughly 50% for average homes after group discounts are applied.
For more information or to request a free solar assessment visitwww.openneighborhoods.net/gosolar.