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Many are too young to remember the Arab oil embargo of October 1973 that resulted in lines for gasoline that snaked around the block. The embargo, which lasted through March 1974, was launched in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military during the Yom Kippur War. I was little affected because I was living in a state favored by a flawed gasoline allocation system that rewarded rural over urban areas. But the embargo severely affected most of the nation: the price of oil quadrupled, gas was rationed, speed limits were reduced and year-round daylight saving time was implemented. There was even a toilet paper panic as rumors spread about a shortage due to a lack of petroleum used in paper manufacturing. And that’s to say nothing of the general economic chaos: the American Automobile Association reported, for instance, that 20 percent of American gas stations had no fuel in the last week of February 1974.

The 1973 oil embargo was one factor influencing President Jimmy Carter to launch his MEOW initiative in 1977, in which he likened the need for energy security to the Moral Equivalent Of War, memorialized by the acronym MEOW. Carter proposed a 10-point plan to increase energy security in order to forestall the “national catastrophe” that he envisioned as a consequence of future interruptions to the oil supply.

Nearly 40 years later, very little has changed — in fact, we are now far more vulnerable than we were then. In 1973, we imported 35 percent of our oil, compared to more than 61 percent in 2010. In 1973 we spent $37 billion a year on foreign oil, compared to about that much per month today — money that is in large measure funding the arming of our enemies. And the Middle East is now more unstable than ever. The heightened tensions resulting from recent Iranian sabre-rattling in the Strait of Hormuz again raise the threat of a cut-off of oil supplies, the consequences of which would be far worse than in 1973. The strait is the only sea passage to the ocean for large areas of the Persian Gulf. About 14 tankers carrying 15.5 million barrels of oil pass through it on an average day. Unfortunately, memories are short, history is too quickly forgotten (the President was only a child at the time of the 1973 embargo, as is no doubt true of many members of Congress — if they were even born) and it is the seeming fate of initiative to be smothered by complacency.

The President has affirmed the administration’s commitment to increasing energy security in his “Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future,” which he unveiled in March 2011, as well as in various other addresses. While this commitment is to be commended, he needs to up the ante: we are more vulnerable than ever. The result, as Carter noted in his MEOW speech, could be catastrophic. Now that the troops are coming home from Iraq, it’s time to declare a war for energy security.

A serious, well-funded initiative to promote national energy security could have benefits far beyond those of releasing us from the grip of foreign oil: it could also stimulate the economy, create jobs and establish the United States as a world leader in alternative energy, just as an interruption of natural gas supplies from Russia prompted Germany to turn to solar.

The President is scheduled to deliver his State of the Union address later this month, in which he should highlight the importance of energy security. But this time, a MEOW won’t be enough — we need a roar.

Antenna Group is the nation’s largest clean technology public relations firm, representing companies in sectors including renewable energy, energy efficiency, alternative fuels, energy storage, finance, waste management and water. Here, drawn from input provided by our client-partners, is Antenna’s list of the top 10 clean tech trends to watch in 2012. Judging from the changes that are in the offing, 2012 is shaping up to be a critical year in the transition to a cleaner, more energy-efficient world.

1. Energy efficiency goes retro – New construction has taken a massive hit over the last few years, resulting in fewer new green builds, but that hasn’t slowed retrofit demand for energy efficient devices. According to a report by McGraw-Hill Construction in 2011, 78 percent of building owners plan to retrofit existing properties with energy efficient improvements. Driven by the increased awareness in Property Assessed Clean Energy or PACE states (in which property owners can finance solar systems or energy efficiency retrofits through city loans that are paid back through property taxes over terms of 15 or 20 years), Obama’s Better Buildings Challenge and new financing models that make it simple for cities and property owners to do upgrades, expect to see energy efficiency finally claim its moment in the spotlight.
2. Cellulosic biomass comes online; drives U.S. manufacturing jobs – Imagine being able to turn a wide variety of biomass inputs including wood, agricultural waste and non-food crops into fuels, plastics, nutraceuticals (food products that reportedly provide health and medical benefits) and pharmaceuticals. That’s the promise of bio-based materials, which are expected to replace first-generation biofuels such as bioethanol and biodiesel, as well as a wide variety of synthetic chemicals. As strategics such as BASF Corp., DuPont and Dow Chemical Co. enter the cellulosic biomass game, watch for the number of U.S.-based biorefineries to dramatically increase.
3. Recycling finds its true potential – Many of us still remember the awareness campaigns that drove what are now highly successful changes in consumer behaviors with regard to recycling. As went paper, glass and plastics, so go consumer electronics and tires. A number of states already have legislation around recycling what consumers have deemed “waste” and are supporting efforts to renew those materials and give them second — and perhaps even third — lives. Watch for the big box, telecom, tire and asphalt sectors to pick up the sustainability baton for Recycling 2.0.
4. The EV market picks up speed, while Tesla, Fisker get some competition – While we’ve heard a lot about electric vehicles such as the all-electric Nissan Leaf and the gas-electric hybrid Chevy Volt, in fact there are precious few of these cars on the roads. But that’s expected to change in 2012 when a much wider selection of cars that require little or no gasoline will hit the market. Almost every major automaker — and some minor ones — plans to have at least one plug-in model on the market by the end of 2012. These include three models from the world’s leading seller of hybrids, Toyota — a plug-in hybrid version of the popular Prius, the all-electric Scion iQ EV and the 2012 RAV4 EV, an all-electric compact SUV. Also hitting the market in 2012 is the all-electric Ford Focus Electric, which will compete with the Nissan Leaf. Other EV models planned for 2012 include the four-passenger Mitsubishi i-MiEVc, and — for the luxury loving — the Rolls Royce 102EX, the Tesla Model S luxury sedan and the Fisker Karma luxury sports plug-in hybrid. Accompanying the EV rollout will be a dramatic expansion of the national car-charging infrastructure, with Pike Research, a clean tech market research firm, predicting more than 1.5 locations by 2017.
5. Smart meters reach critical mass – For decades, utilities have been forced to rely on customer reports to discover a power outage. This decidedly low-tech approach to reliability is now changing with the national deployment of smart meters that record the consumption of electric energy in intervals of an hour or less, communicate data back to the utility and allow consumers to better manage their electricity usage. And, the national deployment of smart meters is forging ahead: according to federal sources, the current penetration rate is 13 to 18 percent, with a penetration rate of more than 50 percent predicted by 2016.
6. Offshore wind takes root in the Northeast – While small wind continues to grow, the greatest potential for the significant generation of energy from wind lies with offshore wind. Much of the eastern seaboard is ideal for offshore wind as a result of the fact that the relatively shallow waters of the continental shelf make it easier to locate wind turbines far offshore where the winds are the strongest. A 25-megawatt wind farm off the coast of Atlantic City, N.J., which is expected to be the nation’s first, is now moving ahead, and the Garden State can look forward to the construction of larger offshore wind farms with the implementation of the nation’s first OREC, or Offshore Renewable Energy Certificate, a wind incentive similar to New Jersey’s innovative Solar Renewable Energy Certificate, or SREC, which propelled the state to second place nationally after California in solar capacity and inspired similar incentives in many other states.
7. Dropping balance-of-system costs nudge solar closer to grid parity – As a result of a dramatic decline in module prices (prices dropped approximately 40 percent in 2011 — a decline that is expected to continue through 2012), attention has shifted to solar balance-of-system (BOS) costs, a term that refers to costs other than those of the modules. While BOS costs include physical components such as inverters and racking, the largest share of BOS costs is for non-physical costs such as labor and permitting. These costs are also expected to decline in 2012 as a result of industry consolidation resulting from the expiration of the Section 1603 Treasury Grant Program. The solar boom stimulated by the grant attracted many small installers (the “two Chucks and a truck” phenomenon) who will be replaced in a maturing market by larger players who will bring improved operating efficiencies to the industry, nudging solar closer to grid parity.
8. Distributed solar continues to thrive – While debate continues on the role of utility-scale photovoltaic systems in the nation’s energy mix, the small- to mid-sized commercial solar segment has witnessed explosive growth, particularly on flat-roofed commercial buildings that are ideally suited to the deployment of solar. New Jersey, for instance, where strong solar incentives and high energy prices have contributed to a robust local solar industry, has now outpaced California as the nation’s top commercial solar market, thanks to a high concentration of such buildings. In addition to reducing electricity costs and providing a hedge against future rate increases, distributed — or “behind-the-meter” — solar also has the advantage of generating power at the site where it is used, thus increasing energy security and diminishing demand for utility infrastructure. The U.S. growth pattern in commercial solar is mimicking what has occurred in Europe, most notably in Germany, the world’s solar leader, where the German Solar Energy Industry Association estimated in 2009 that 80 percent of capacity was roof-based.
9. Grant-to-tax credit shift means more third-party ownership of solar systems – The introduction of the federal Section 1603 Treasury Grant Program as a substitute for a federal Investment Tax Credit in 2009 created a change in the form of ownership for most commercial solar systems. Prior to the implementation of the treasury grant, which covers 30 percent of the cost of solar, most commercial systems were owned, operated and maintained by third-party investors with the tax appetites to monetize the tax credit. These investors typically sold the power back to the host entities at reduced rates under a long-term contract called a Power Purchase Agreement, or PPA. In addition to requiring no capital outlay, the benefits for the host entities included a fixed rate, a smaller carbon footprint and a visible renewable asset. After the implementation of the Treasury Grant Program, the form of ownership shifted, with the majority of commercial building owners taking advantage of the immediate payback offered by the grant to install and operate the systems themselves. With the grant reverting to a tax credit in 2012, however, we can expect a shift back to third-party ownership.
10. Gas-to-liquids technologies go mainstream – Gas-to-liquids (GTL) technologies, which transform natural gas into liquid transportation fuels, went mainstream with the recent completion of Shell’s $19 billion Pearl GTL plant in Qatar, an Arab emirate. The world’s largest GTL plant will process about three billion barrels of diesel, jet fuel and synthetic oil over the course of its lifetime from the world’s largest gas field. The project, which will reach full production in 2012, will add almost 8 percent to Shell’s worldwide production, making it the company’s primary growth engine for 2012. The completion of the Pearl facility is a harbinger of things to come: GTL technology is expected to play an increasingly significant role in meeting energy demand in the United States, which has some of the world’s largest natural gas reserves. South Africa-based Sasol, which also has a GTL plant in Qatar, has announced plans to build a $10 billion GTL plant Louisiana. If it moves ahead, it would be the United States’ first GTL facility. Once viewed as not economically feasible, GTL technologies are gaining traction in the face of declining oil reserves, high oil prices and increased concern about energy security.

For more information on Antenna Group, please visit www.antennagroup.com.

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In addition to our stellar reputation for strategic cleantech communications, we at Antenna are known for throwing some amazing shindigs. And after a year full of challenges for the renewable energy industry, the phrase “work hard, play hard” never felt more appropriate.

So, along with sponsors Tioga Energy, Yingli Solar, PV Group and Vote Solar, we toasted to our perseverance as the solar industry converged in San Francisco for the Intersolar North America conference.

The Shrine at Prana was filled with 900 of our closest friends from across the industry, including C-level executives, engineering geniuses and distinguished members of the cleantech media.

Fantastic conversation, delicious food and a superb soundtrack made for a memorable evening.

Antenna Senior Vice President Caroline Venza, Senior Account Executive Christine Bennett and Account Executive Kimberly Setliff with Ellen White of 3M’s Renewable Energy Division

Yum!

Did we mention the World Cup mascot made an appearance?

Zakumi loves solar!

Many thanks to everyone who helped us make this event a tremendous success. We can’t wait to do it again next year!

by jenn.kho on April 14, 2010 on Sweat Investor

SweatInvestor Guest Post: Jennifer Kho is a San Francisco Bay Area-based freelancer with more than a decade of reporting experience. Her stories have appeared in The New York Times’ Green Inc. blog, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, MIT’s Technology Review, The Christian Science Monitor, Reuters.com, Earth2Tech and more. She has been covering green technology since 2004, when she initiated cleantech coverage for Red Herring magazine. She also helped launch Greentech Media’s news operations as its founding editor in 2007.

Sure, the Google Campfire last month announced its apps marketplace by the glow of kitschy fake campfires, under a canopy of fake tree silhouettes, in a room with a tent and campfire-logo fleece blankets as giveaways. But only the props were fake. The event was backed by a real product with 50 real customers. And, as fitting an enterprise product, it definitely qualified as a restrained launch for a company as big as Google.

Bloom Energy used some of the same tactics when it launched its fuel cells in February — although there was certainly nothing restrained about the event, which took place at eBay headquarters and included California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and former U.S. Secretary of State Collin Powell. As with Google Apps, Bloom kept (mostly) quiet until its launch and then made a splash by announcing key customers, including Wal-Mart, eBay, FedEx, Staples and, of course, Google.

The result, in the case of Bloom, was a huge bang of publicity. With its star lineup of Kleiner Perkins investors and directors such as Powell, the company scored a feature on 60 Minutes and many high-profile publications followed. All the hype has sparked envy from other startups that want the same attention.

Should other startups take a page from the launch book of Bloom, Google or Apple, which also has been known to keep quiet until a product is ready (although not in the case of the iPad), and get more attention by keeping quiet?

If You’re Not Google

Well, it doesn’t always work. One major difference, of course, is that Google and Apple launches are guaranteed to be big news. As a reporter, I knew I’d attend the Campfire regardless of what was being launched – and I was sure I’d get a story out of it. And Bloom had the advantage of big newsworthy backers and partners right out of the gate. Not so for most startups.

Using stealth as a marketing strategy comes with plenty of potential pitfalls, as well. Of course, the main reason to keep a company or technology quiet is to protect intellectual property. Once patents are secured, the decision becomes one of strategy.

Melody Haller, CEO of public-relations firm Antenna Group, explains that if you’re a big company, you have two choices: One is freezing out the competition by pre-announcing products that aren’t ready yet, which is a tactic Microsoft is famous for. (Once Microsoft has announced it is entering a space, competing startups are less likely to score backing from investors or partners as they wait to see what Microsoft has in store.) The other is waiting until a product is ready before launching it, like Google does.

The Cost of Quiet

The choices aren’t the same for most startups, as speaking out is less likely to deter competitors. Keeping quiet might help artificially bolster a launch, but could have the opposite effect if the company isn’t viewed as newsworthy enough to cover. In the meantime, the company may be missing out on potential partnerships and customers that could ultimately help it succeed. “It comes at a cost,” Haller says.

The extent to which a startup should talk largely depends on how much it needs others, she explains. For example, a company with a limited customer base and good access to those customers needs far less publicity than a company targeting consumers or hard-to-reach customers. Building a reputation can help companies meet those partners, or get them to pick up the phone.

In general, if a company’s in stealth mode after patents are filed, it’s a sign its product isn’t ready yet – or it’s still working out an issue that might not stand up to public scrutiny. Personally, I tend to be skeptical if a company makes big claims while keeping its product hidden from public view. Most entrepreneurs I’ve interviewed are proud of their products and want to discover any problems early.

Public Troubleshooting

The danger of avoiding public scrutiny is the same as the danger of skipping peer review in science experiments – you could be missing a significant challenge which could end up being an Achilles heel. Once a product is launched, a company will usually have to spend more time and money to correct the problem than if it discovered the issue earlier.

By isolating themselves, startups also can end up victims of their own company cultures, Haller points out. Because startups tend to be dominated by researchers and engineers, rather than employees focused on marketing and selling products, they might focus on the science and technology and miss usability problems that their customers might face. Companies tend to be optimistic, which can be a key to success, but could also blind them to potential failures.

Finally, if startups succeed in generating huge launch buzz, it could be setting itself up for a fall if it can’t meet the lofty expectations it has (perhaps inadvertently) created. In other words, the greater the publicity, the higher the expectations – and the easier it is to plunge in the public eye.

Slow and Steady…

In the case of hardware, for example, it’s important to match publicity with the company’s ability to deliver products, Haller says. If a big launch creates more demand than a company can fulfill, customers will be disappointed when they can’t buy the product and the company could suffer a backlash, she says.

The best strategy depends on the specific product and its target audience. When the product is a free social networking tool, for example, which depends mainly on popularity for success and doesn’t face product availability obstacles, the challenges are different. In that case, it’s more important than ever to get the word out early and test the product with a beta group of early adopters while the user base grows, Haller says.

All in all, the biggest point startups can take away from Google and Apple product launches is the importance of building a company, she says. Google and Apple didn’t take shortcuts, but first built strong companies and products – then used savvy marketing strategies to get the most out of their launches. They need publicity because the success of their products depends on having users, but they deserve the buzz they get because they have – for the most part – lived up to the claims and expectations they have set, Haller says.

Fresh from the Cleantech forum held in San Francisco from Feb 24-26, Antennans Caroline Venza and Wei-En Tan trooped down early one Saturday morning to the Wetlands Preserve in Palo Alto to learn about estuaries, methods of preservation, flood control, and more importantly, to plant some seedlings with the non-profit organization, Save the Bay.

Hundreds of wildlife species and billions of small organisms depend on the Wetlands to survive, and the purpose of this particular project was to remove invasive plants, as well as to reintroduce native plants to the Bay. These plants serve a multi-function of trapping harmful chemicals (methane/mercury) in their roots, filtration (ensuring cleaner water) as well as flood control through strengthening of soil and prevention of erosion.

After a group introduction and short history of the bay, all the volunteers were split up into two groups to begin our planting endeavors.

Initially, we faced an uphill task hacking through hard earth and rocks, but eventually hit our stride and successfully planted at least 40 seedlings.

Caroline was excited about the opportunity to use a pick-axe, whereas Wei-En was similarly obsessed by creating perfect circular seedling beds and covering them with mulch.

Proud of our handiwork

After all that hard work, being so close to the local municipal airport, we decided to fly ourselves to Half Moon Bay.

“Can the American Jewish deli be sustainable? How does sustainability impact the future of deli cuisine and traditional culture?”  These were the topics addressed by the “Referendum on the Jewish Deli” held at the North Berkeley Jewish Community Center. Organized by Berkeley dining institution Saul’s Restaurant and Delicatessen, the lively conversation explored tradition, change, and sustainability as it pertains to the way we eat.

The co-owners of Saul’s, Karen Adelman and Peter Levitt, are committed to offering a more sustainable menu – which means sourcing foods locally, respecting the seasonality of produce and meats, and limiting the use of industrially processed ingredients. However, their incremental menu changes have been met with a wide range of customer responses including intrigue, frustration and horror.

While Saul’s has no intention of becoming anything other than a Jewish deli – they just want to create the Jewish deli of the 21st century – it was clearly going to take more than a simple menu makeover to realize their goal. These proposed changes clearly touched a chord that reached deep into people’s perceptions of cuisine, far beyond the basics of taste and nourishment.

It was clearly time to open the conversation to the community. Saul’s invited a few luminaries to join the discussion: Michael Pollan, journalist and author of best-selling books such as The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food, (one of my personal idols); Gil Friend, CEO of Natural Logic, sustainable business expert and author of The Truth About Green Business; and Willow Rosenthal, founder of City Slicker Farms in West Oakland. Evan Kleiman, host of KCRW’s Good Food and owner of Angeli Caffe, moderated.

The panel’s consensus was that the issue of sustainability in Jewish cuisine (perhaps most cuisines?) reaches way past the fork. Tradition, memory and perception are equally as important as the health and quality of the food we consume. To get through to people and really change the paradigm of food consumption, we must tell a salient story, one that is routed in the tradition of where we have been and enlivened by the vision of where we ultimately want to go.

As a professional communicator, I experienced the core issues as being about dialogue, expression and making connections. In order to encourage customers to embrace the vision of a deli that respects tradition–pastrami will NEVER leave the menu–and adopt a more sustainable, holistic approach to cuisine (like including a Winter Green Salad on the menu), it is essential express that vision as a story, a philosophy, and a passion-driven mission. It’s not about getting rid of the icons of Jewish deli cuisine, but about reshaping them in a way that ensures future generations will be able to enjoy the traditional food of our grandparents, all without sacrificing the environment or their health.

With this panel, Karen and Peter made important steps to ensure they won’t have customers pitching fits over the absence of cold borscht soup in December and, instead, have folks eager to try new additions like their stellar house-made sodas and sustainably produced corned beef. All present all agreed: that means good things, and good food, for everyone!

By now we’ve all heard about how Bhutan tracks not only its GNP, or gross national product but also its GNH, gross national happiness. Antenna recently decided to increase our GCH, gross corporate happiness, by inviting renowned improvisation-performance artist and Buddhist teacher, Nina Wise, to spend an afternoon with us.

Wearing loose comfortable clothing on a Friday afternoon, we gathered in a large, carpeted, unfurnished room. Naturally, one employee tried to hide in his office but we found him and dragged him to the dreaded Happiness Playshop.

Nina explained that modern society directs people into rather narrow ways of being, leaving out a lot of our human birthright that gives rise to joy: simple delights such as moving in unfamiliar and spontaneous ways, making silly sounds, singing, dancing, breathing, meditating and playing games with other humans. Her aim was to broaden our happiness toolset by familiarizing us with a wider set of behaviors.

Sitting in a circle, we introduced ourselves to her and outlined our relevant past experiences. While about half the group had never knowingly meditated for a minute, most had substantial experience with singing, dancing or other endorphin-producing exercise—we have a lot of runners, cyclists and swimmers. Already, we were talking about things we hadn’t shared with most others in the group and were revealing more facets of ourselves, becoming more complete with our peers.

For this first session, Nina started us very gently doing Architecture, an exercise where a small group creates a series of visual tableaux of interrelated poses, each person in turn creating a new pose while the others held their positions. Each pose is individual, yet related to the others. Without touching, the group’s personal space becomes interwoven. Our teams leapt right into this and became downright artistic. As we got warmed up, Nina had some of the teams demonstrate for the rest of us as an audience. It was actually quite beautiful to see.

As writers, we are “word people” so Nina directed us in word-association games—an ideal reminder to avoid boring monosyllables. The creativity displayed by one of our diligent unpaid interns was noticed by several of us. Is it a coincidence that we offered him a job about a week later?

Two hours later as we shared final comments the result was clearly positive. Everyone had thoroughly enjoyed being together in this way.  Faces were glowing, bodies relaxed. Some had enjoyed Architecture the most, some the word games. To my surprise, one of our sports jocks noted that he most enjoyed the five-minute meditation exercise.

Back upstairs at the office, at 5:30 on Friday afternoon, instead of rushing home most folks were spontaneously gathering to go out to drinks, to be together, just being.

The Greenbuild celebration at Phoenix’s Chase Field last night was the best conference presentation I’ve seen, bar none—this from someone who’s been attending about 15 tech industry conferences a year for the past 20 years.

Why? Yes, there was the star power of Al Gore, looking trim and fit and delivering his usual inspiring talk (“We must make it easier for our elected officials to do the right thing and harder for them to do wrong.”). The concert by Sheryl Crow concluded the evening on a great note. The huge projection of the speakers was attractively winged by a split screen image of video footage of nature at work, exceptional green building projects, and people in communities. All good stuff, but what really impressed me was the presentation by the organizers—the last thing you’d usually expect to be exciting.

Rick Fedrizzi, president and CEO of the US Green Building Council declared, “We need not only change we can believe in but change we can build on. We need not only a tipping point but a leverage point.” The audience agreed: It’s time for a green building revolution. “It’s time to move from aspirational green building to informational green building.”

The zero-carbon buildings movement could solve the energy, economic and quality-of-life challenges for the world. If anything can. The 27,000 attendees, including the friendly, funny and hospitable CB Ellis brokers who shared their table and great view with me, all seemed to agree.

Still, what impressed me was the superbly coordinated presentation, first by Fedrizzi, then interweaving many more Green Building Council leaders from around the world: Australia, UK, New Zealand, India, South Africa, Mexico, Canada, Germany, Taiwan, Brazil and Italy. Each presenter was perfectly on message and smoothly handed off to the next, like the old friends and long-time collaborators they actually are.

At the heart of most conferences lies someone trying to make money. At the heart of Greenbuild is a huge and growing global network of designers, builders, policy-makers and humanists trying to make a better world. I loved every minute of it.

On the roof, I had the very intellectual job of ratcheting and wiring and carrying panels. I found out what a weeb is (email me at wei at antenngroup dot com if you want to know too) and I also found out that being OCD is a very good thing when arranging panels. No one wants crooked panels on their roof, and we made sure that everything was laid out just nice. We measured and placed the panels on the racks that had been drilled into the rafter, and proceeded to connect the cables together.

Being OCD

Ratcheting is fun!

Finally, after only 4 hours, it was done! Joe, our construction lead on the roof, stayed back to make sure everything was perfect, and then we all leaped down to take the requisite photos on the scaffolding, and to turn on the connection. It was extremely satisfying, especially when saw that we had beat the Google team, who was still up on their roof.

Here’s Joe on the roof, making sure our wiring isn’t going to lead to an explosion

Why do I care about roof rafters? How do I bend conduit? Why am I lying in an attic pulling cables down from the roof? And what the heck is a weeb?

All these questions were answered two weeks ago on Sept. 12, when I participated in Grid Alternative’s Annual Solarthon in Oakland. In this massive undertaking, 300 people gathered on a drizzling, overcast Saturday to install solar panels on 16 houses in one low-income community, in one day. GRID Alternatives is a non-profit organization making solar electric systems a reality for low-income homeowners who otherwise could not afford the systems. GRID does this through an innovative business model where they train volunteers to do everything from designing a system on a sheet of paper to mounting the final panel on a roof. With drastically reduced labor costs, a team of 10-15 volunteers can work slowly and steadily under the guidance of a GRID employee to deliver a complete system at almost half the cost of a typical solar system.

Volunteers

At this event, besides corporate sponsors like Google, there were cleantech advocate teams like the one I had joined, Cleantechies. As part of the Cleantechies team, we had undergone our “installer” training a few weeks prior. We also all had to pledge to raise at least $250 before we got up on the roof. The houses had all been built by Habitat for Humanity, and some of the proud owners were working side by side with us.

When I got to Oakland, I was cranky, tired, and uninspired by the weather. But it was hard to keep that way as a buzz of adrenaline ran through the crowd. The coffee and breakfast provided helped to cheer me up, and I was feeling excited before you could say: “Put on your hardhat!”

Now, I’m no stranger to rooftops and solar installations. Through my work at Antenna, I’ve found myself on rooftops in San Jose to military solar installations in Nellis Air Force base. Some rooftops have been precarious–”just try to hang on” and others have been relatively welcoming and flat. And I’ve also seen tons of different panels. But did I ever know how much a panel weighs, or how to carry one? (37 pounds and facing inwards, FYI). And had I ever installed one before? No. This was going to be a first for me, and I couldn’t wait to get started.

Taking instructions

I was told we would have the opportunity to use power tools. Being non-mechanical in nature, I was excited that someone was trusting enough to empower me with a drill. I was also relishing the thought of mounting the inverter and doing all sorts of construction-y things.

(Un)fortunately, most of the power drilling in the afternoon ended up being done by someone else on the ground team, mainly because mid-day when they asked for roof volunteers, I had already knocked old ladies to the ground in my eagerness to get to the front of the line. I left the others to mount inverter boxes and wire circuitry behind me without a second thought.

Before I clambered onto the roof though, we had to raise the panels up onto the roof, which involved a human chain system of people on different levels of scaffolding passing the panels from the ground-up.

The human supply chain

Check back next week for Part 2 where the real fun begins with the installation: wiring, ratcheting and the admiration of a job well done.