Will Rush Limbaugh save the solar industry?

Looks that way for Toni Lynch in Allentown, Pennsylvania. And Spiro Basho in Hicksville, New York.

Like lots of other solar installers, the financial tsunami of 2008 wiped out a lot of customers of both Lynch and Basho. And like a lot of other electrical contractors, through no fault of their own, they not only lost business, they lost their credit.

“When you see people on TV talking about green jobs or any kind of jobs, here’s what they usually do not know: That small contractors need a bond,” said Lynch. “And a bond is really a line of credit. And a lot of contractors just don’t have the cash or the credit score to do that any more because of the crash of 2008.”

So they lose work, especially government work where bonds are required. And most people do not know that, Lynch said.

“I was bidding on a solar installation job, part of the stimulus program, and I knew I needed a bond,” Lynch said. “Seven companies turned me down. I had just about given up when I was driving around listening to Rush Limbaugh. The commercial talked about how contractors could not get bonds anymore, but this company could do it.”

“I told my wife wouldn’t that be good if they were telling the truth. They were.”

Sprio Basho had a similar experience in New York. This electrical contractor lost a lot of work in 2008, but he did what he had to to hold on.

“I might have been listening to the same commercial because I had the same problem,” Basho said. “I had been in business a long time. Did good work. But all of a sudden the bonding disappeared. I thought my business was going to disappear too because we were counting on installing solar to stay alive.”

And they did. Both of them. As a result, Basho’s company won a contract installing solar panels in a school district; and Lynch’s company was awarded a $1.8 million contract for several solar installations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

All because of Rush. And because of what happened at Robert Berman’s kitchen table when he was a teenager.

“I listened to an insurance broker tell my dad he could not accept a bigger job because he did not qualify for a bond,” said Robert Berman, co-founder of Ox Bonding. “My dad was a building contractor who did great work and had great references, but that was not enough for that insurance company.That’s why I started a bonding company for small contractors: There are a lot of good companies out there that do good work, with good records, and their customers love them. So we write their bonds and make sure they get working capital too.”

Berman is not running a non-profit agency. He knows his company takes a risk every time it provides working capital. Every time it writes a bond for a contractor.

(For the non-initiated, a bond guarantees the contractor will finish the job and pay the subcontractors. If not, the job owner gets relief from the bonding company, which in turn can try to get its money back from the contractor.)

“That’s why we look under the hood, check the books, call the customers, and really take a hard look if the company can do the job,” Berman said. “Our underwriters are experienced contractors, not just accountants. So they have a good idea of who is able to do what, and what the risk really is.”

To reduce its risk even further, Ox Bonding controls the distribution of funds for the job.

And if the contractor chooses, Ox Bonding can also issue working capital, pay the taxes, take care of payroll, negotiate with suppliers, and free up the contractors for what they really want to do: Build solar installations.

“They are more of a partner than a bonding company,” said Bashos. “But without them, I would not have been able to survive.”

Article by Dan Auld, an award winning San Diego writer who has published articles on alternative energy in news sites around the country.

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When a form of technology becomes outdated, jobs in that industry are inevitably lost. However, this is only one side of the coin, as jobs are often created in the exact same way and, the good news is, that these jobs require previously unconsidered skill sets. It almost goes without saying that with the shift toward clean energy usage, the onus is on the clean technology sector to create green jobs.

In the down-spinning economy, clean technology has been a rock. In fact, clean technology continues to be one of the fastest growing segments of the economy. Worldwide, investments in clean technology grew 12 percent in the Q3 of 2011, even as other sectors were tanking around the world. This growth started a few years back and continues to hold strong. In fact, in 2007, the clean technology industry in the United States grew three times as fast as the country’s economy.

Of course, there are stories of failure in the clean technology segment – such as the recent demise of solar panel manufacturer Solyndra – but there are also stories of success. Consider Noveda Technologies, whose real-time, online energy monitoring technology allows users get a better understanding of both their building’s impact on the environment and how they might improve it. Oh, and they can actually see their carbon footprint reduction and utility bill savings – right before their very eyes.

With all this being said, there is no question that clean technology would get even more of a push from the federal government if more consistent clean energy requirements were enacted. In this sense President Barack Obama’s Better Buildings Initiative, which rewards the use of non-traditional energy sources, is a step in the right direction. But more such guidelines need to be brought forth.

Part of the problem is that when legislation that limits the use of old energies comes into play, the loss of jobs that inevitably occurs gets foregrounded by pundits. For example, when President Obama unveiled his sorely needed energy policy in February 2011, CNN talking heads opined that biofuels have been a “colossal failure.” The news network also focused on the bankruptcy of Solyndra as a symbolic example of what happens when people invest in clean energy.

It’s time we focus on the companies that are putting people back to work in industries that benefit every person on this planet. There will always be naysayers to seek out and discuss the “wrongs” of the world.

What if we shifted our focus to the benefits new industries are having on the economy and the world at large? Up and comers with new ideas regarding clean technology are thriving under these conditions. New industries are created in this way. Let’s be a part of the solution, not the problem.

Article by Bari Faye Siegel, a technology writer and marketing consultant at Noveda Technologies, an innovative leader in real-time, web-based energy management, solar PV monitoring and water management. Noveda also offers real-time collaboration tools that leverage social media to educate and empower stakeholder communities and make the smart grid a reality today. For more information, visit www.noveda.com.

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With a multitude of paths to career satisfaction, evidence indicates that “finding meaning in the workplace” may be the single most important factor to long term satisfaction in the workplace. In fact, research shows that growing work frustrations are directly related to immediate supervision and a lack of recognition. So how can today’s leaders increase the engagement of their employees? What new skills will define tomorrow’s business sustainability innovators?

Reviewing the Harvard Business Review post, The Must-Have Leadership Skill, we explore the growing emphasis on ‘social intelligence’ as a required business skill. As the article describes:

“Technical skills and self-mastery alone allow you to be an outstanding individual contributor. But to lead, you need an additional interpersonal skill set…leadership is the art of accomplishing goals through other people.”

While creating ‘meaningful work’ is both the responsibility of the employer as well as the employee, business leaders can greatly accelerate the process by recognizing and rewarding the pursuit of these business sustainability efforts. Reflecting back on the 2009 article, Jumping into the green jobs market, the recovering market has created a new generation of workers, with a new set of expectations.

• Employees Want to Make a Difference: 80% of “young professionals” are interested in a career that makes a positive impact on the environment.
• Employees Seek Energy-Conscious Employers: 94% of Americans prefer to work in a building that is designed to be energy efficient and ecologically sound.
• Employees Prefer Employers that offer Telecommuting: the necessity to physically change locations in order to accomplish a task has recently been challenged by employee value for energy conservation, environment impacts, family values, and other issues.
• Employees Want Employers to Walk the Talk: In Portland, Oregon, your company isn’t really green unless you’ve got a bike cage in the parking structure, a compost bin in the lunchroom, fume-free paint on the walls, and have recycled glass on the lobby front desk.
• Employees Gravitate towards a Common Sustainable Goals: Organizations that are creating business sustainability through an elevated sense of teamwork and establishing an emotional tie between the employee and the organization direction are attracting top talent.

Having the right people in place has always critical to business success; however, it has become increasingly important to have a new set of skills to respond to evolving market conditions and business sustainability needs. The ability to plan and take action to address resource demands falls heavily on both executive and frontline leadership. Our sustainability consulting works with businesses to understand the value in having an evolved ‘social intelligence’ at every level of an organization.

Article by Julie Urlaub, Founder and Managing Partner at Taiga Company; appearing courtesy 3BL Media.

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While I was visiting my family in the Region of Lorraine – North Eastern France – I came across two distinct news illustrating the possible future of the region, and in a way, of the whole country.

The first one is about dirty polluting fossil energy as to Elixir Petroleum, an Australian company, there would be massive quantities of shale oil and gas in Lorraine’s soil. To the volumetric estimates, there would be no less than 164.7 billion barrels of shale oil and 649.7 trillion cubic feet of shale gas. Large amounts of more traditional oil and gas has been found as well.

This announcement took place as France has been the first country to ban fracking. As the local newspapers note, this announcement is little credible and is merely done to keep the exploration permits as the law is changing.

The enormous quantities found reminded me that US geologist recently estimated there is FIVE times less shale oil and gas in the American soil as it was previously stated by companies. I have no doubt that the situation in Lorraine will be the same if not worse.

I agree that local populations could benefit from jobs as the worst economic crises of our time is striking. But the countryside and its various cultures and fruits is a wonder we have to keep. Whoever ate mirabelles knows what I am referring to.

Now let’s have a look at something that is already taking place, and which holds a better future: cleantech!

A former military air base near Toul (in the Département of Moselle) will be cleaned up and 400 hectares of solar panels will be installed. The total capacity will be of 143 MW, enough for 62,000 people.

This project is a direct consequence of the new legal background enacted by the French government earlier this summer. See my post for more : France Issues New Regulations for Large Solar PV Installations

A few green jobs will also be created: 150 for the construction and an additional 15 to maintain the plant.

The plant will bring 1.3 million euros per year in revenue to the Région, the Département and the three cities where the air force base is located.

EDF Energies Nouvelles (EDF EN), a subsidiary of the national utilities Electricité De France may work with First Solar, which could provide the solar panels for the plant.

The company plans to invest no less than 434 million euros in the next ten years for this plant alone.

Trees will be planted in the remaining parts of the old air base and a little museum dedicated to renewable energies will be created as local authorities are willing to transform this as  a touristic attraction.

France is moving forward on cleantech. Of course, there has been setbacks, but we can globally be satisfied. Let us hope it will continue doing so whoever will be elected as President in the Presidential elections next year.

Photo: Julien Hillairet, Flickr

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Sacred Power Corporation (SPC) was established in 2001 as Native American owned and operated small business that provides renewable energy solutions to government, commercial and residential customers. "Using the strengths of the Father to Protect the Gifts of the Mother" is our guiding principle, and it has guided us to success.

SPC has always been at the forefront of renewable energy innovation, beginning with our installation of the first solar carport structure in the State of New Mexico. Nearly eleven years later, that same carport is generating clean energy for the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque, NM. With funding from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act and the support of the Obama Administration, we have now put large-scale renewable energy installations in New Mexico Schools for the first time. This allowed SPC to hire people at a time when jobs are scarce. With hundreds of installations across the U.S, SPC now employs 59 people from all disciplines, including engineers, electricians, installers, and office and administrative staff. We're also working with teachers to help them educate and inspire students about the great potential of green technology and green jobs in our communities. And we're working with Tribal Nations on the construction of energy efficient and solar powered Housing and Urban Development homes for lower-income Americans, who spend much of their earnings on their energy bills.

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How refreshing to hear a NZ political party talking about green jobs. The Conservatives in the UK have got a massive policy on green jobs, renewable energy and lowering carbon emissions, Obama has announced billions in this field, Angela Merkel in Germany has made dramatic moves in this are, the Chinese have a 5 Year plan that has bright green written all over it , and even in Australia where the politics of carbon are positively dangerous their carbon tax proposal has 10 billion dollar to lure green business there. Probably from New Zealand! And yesterday the Carbon War Room announced their own private ventures to so this.

And yet the issue of green jobs has seldom been debated here. The large renewables sector that we have has not been sold to the world even though Meridian has shown just how possible that is beyond our borders. And the fact that electric vehicles fit our profile and tens of thousands of them could come into the country and use cheap renewable energy at night with the existing electricity network has escaped any attention at a time when the alternatives to fossil fuel become more attractive. Wind and electric cars for example work very well together.

But apart from the insulation program (which is great) there has been nothing to help the green energy sector. In fact the one useful tool, the Research and Development tax credit has been abolished by the National Government.

In the rush to open up hazardous offshore drilling, and get some more of those mining companies who have so compromised the decisions of the Australian people into the country to dig up a bit more of high grade conservation land, and to develop the incredibly dirty lignite, the opportunities that have New Zealand’s name on them have been completely overlooked.

So how refreshing it was to hear the Greens announce such a program today. Nice to hear the Greens focus on business actually because its a linkage that’s been missing until recently.

So in celebration of the fact that they did so, we print their summary below:

“We need a pragmatic economic strategy to help New Zealand succeed in a competitive global economy — a global economy that is turning increasingly green.

The OECD has recognized that New Zealand’s long term competitive advantage lies in safeguarding our natural resources through mutually supportive economic and environmental policies. They recognize that our economy is our environment and that our 100% Pure brand is invaluable in a world worried about carbon emissions, water shortages, and contaminated food.

The current Government’s economic approach has been to risk our brand for the sake of a quick buck. The majority of our lowland rivers are now polluted due to the unregulated expansion of our dairy industry. Three lignite plants are under consideration and will escalate our contribution towards climate change. The Government is spending $20 billion on new state highways while our trains remain an international embarrassment. And plans for deep-sea oil drilling are being fast-tracked despite what just happened with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

What we’re going to do about it
The Green Party has a plan to create 100,000 new green jobs — a plan that will add resilience to our economy and protect our natural environment, without going further into debt.
We’ll create 100,000 new jobs through direct government investment, changing the way our state-owned energy companies work, and shifting the drivers for green jobs in the private sector.

How we’re going to do it
Our plan is detailed and fully-costed. It includes plans for direct government investment, building sustainable infrastructure, supporting the greening of our small and medium enterprises (SMEs), driving innovation, introducing smarter regulation, getting the prices of resources and pollution right, protecting our brand, reforming capital markets, making our workplaces fairer, and measuring progress differently.

Here are three of the highlights:

→ Direct investment
We will ramp-up the Heat Smart home insulation program ensuring it is rolled out to a further 200,000 homes over the next three years, costing $350 million and employing 4,000 people directly — 10,400 if you include indirect and upstream employment effects.

→ Keep it Kiwi
We will retain ownership of our state-owned enterprises while creating the right incentives for them to partner with clean tech entrepreneurs in the private sector and develop renewable energy solutions that we can patent and export abroad. With the right incentives in place, if we can capture just 1% of the global market for renewable energy solutions, we’ll create a $6 to $8 billion export industry employing 47,000–65,000 people in new green jobs.

→ Support for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
Through a mix of government procurement policies, tax incentives, start-up funding, and a $1 billion boost to R&D funding, we’ll support SMEs to step up and drive new job creation in the cleantech sector.

To view the full plan, visit greens.org.nz/greenjobs.

Article by Vicki B., appearing courtesy Celsias.

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While the debate over green jobs rages on (catch up on some of the back and forth here), we’d like to stand back and thank the 100,000+ U.S. solar workers for their considerable efforts to build a clean energy economy. And in case you’re not privy to what those contributions entail:

The U.S. is a serious player in the global solar market, as a net global exporter by $1.9Billion and was even a net exporter to China by more than $240 million.

Thanks to innovation and competition, solar power is becoming more affordable everyday: the price of solar panels have been steeply declining over the last several years, with a dramatic 30% drop last year.

More than 5,500 companies are operating in the U.S. solar supply chain, including material suppliers, component manufacturers, installers, and others support services from marketing, legal and financial professionals. These represent real, countable jobs.

And despite recent headlines, solar manufacturing is strong: 60 factories have either added or expanded in the last 18 months, in some of the most economically-depressed states like Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. Last week’s announcement that Solyndra is closing down operations and laying off 1,100 workers has received much press attention and the loss of those jobs is indeed unfortunate. But the industry as a whole is growing and maturing. Just look at a few of Solyndra’s neighbors to see the flip side: SunPower has more than 1,000 employees in the U.S. and another 100 contracted manufacturers in Milpitas. Across the bay in San Mateo is SolarCity, the country’s largest residential solar service provider: they have 1200 employees, including 500 added in the last year and plans to hire 200-300 more before the end of 2011. And there are many more stories like these all across the country.

Thank you, U.S. solar industry, for being a bright spot during these tough economic times, and for bringing us ever closer to the day when solar is recognized as being as red, white and blue as it is green.

Vote Solar is a non-profit grassroots organization working to fight climate change and foster economic opportunity by bringing solar energy into the mainstream.

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Greek officials are calling for an ambitious expansion of solar power generation in their sunny country, hoping that large-scale production of renewable energy will generate significant revenues and green jobs for the country’s troubled economy.

Greek Energy Minister George Papaconstantinou says his country’s solar power plan, Project Helios, would boost Greece’s solar power production from a paltry 206 megawatts today to 2.2 gigawatts by 2020 and up to 10 gigawatts by 2050.

Speaking at an energy conference in Germany, Papaconstantinou said Greece is hoping to attract 20 billion euros ($28 billion) in foreign and domestic investment to launch Project Helios, which could export solar-generated electricity to other European states.

Papaconstantinou said that the potential for solar power generation in Greece is enormous, as the country enjoys 300 days of sunny weather a year — 50 percent more than Germany. At present, however, Germany’s solar power production is 80 times greater than Greece’s.

Article appearing courtesy Yale Environment 360.

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Here’s something you don’t hear people complain about much these days: worker shortages. That is, unless you’re in energy efficiency, an industry that is booming as others are busting.

Sixty percent of those responding to a recent survey by the Association of Energy Services Professionals cited a lack of talented workers in energy efficiency.

“Energy efficiency is a rapidly growing segment of the overall energy industry and we believe there is a clear lack of talent that is necessary to fill the positions that are open,” said Meg Matt, the AESP president and CEO.

So where do you find these jobs?

Another recent report, this one by the Brookings Institution and Battelle’s Technology Partnership, sheds some light. Look to major metropolitan areas and young businesses for jobs not only in energy efficiency, but also in other segments of the clean economy, according to Sizing the Clean Economy: A National and Regional Green Jobs Assessment.

In the midst of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, the clean economy expanded by 8.3 percent, says the report. Efficiency, renewable energy, biofuels and other clean industries accounted for 2.7 million US jobs in 2010. To put that number in perspective, that’s more jobs than you’ll find in fossil fuels or biosciences, but still less than information technology.

Green jobs in general, and green construction in particular, were clustered in 100 large metropolitan areas. About 73 percent of the nation’s LEED certified green buildings are in these cities. Raleigh and Seattle have strong green architecture and building sectors. The energy saving/ building materials industry is thriving in Houston and Minneapolis. Boston excels in HVAC and building control systems, according to the Brookings/Battelle report.

The findings are in keeping with U.S. economic geography. The 100 largest metropolitan areas “are the nation’s innovation engines,” responsible for 78 percent of the US’ green patents. Further, most of the “highest-impact” U.S. cleantech firms called out in the 2010 Global Cleantech 100 list are based in these cities, particularly Boston, San Francisco, San Jose, and Los Angeles, said the report. In all, the100 biggest cities created three-quarters of the clean economy jobs from 2003 to 2010.

“In short, metropolitan areas, large and small, are now and will increasingly be the nation’s critical centers of clean economy talent, innovation, and finance and so its top hubs of commercialization, deployment, and trade,” the report said. “Regions and metropolitan areas, in short, are not a part of the national clean economy; they are that economy.”

Looking at broader regions, it’s not surprising to find California and the West responsible for the most clean economy jobs, when measured as a percentage of total employment. About 2.2 percent of the jobs in the West are related to the clean economy. The Northeast comes in second at 2.1 percent, followed by the Midwest’s 2 percent and the South’s 1.8 percent.

What kinds of businesses produce clean economy jobs? The young upstarts – or at least they’re responsible for the recent mercurial job growth.

Here’s how Brooking/Battelle explained this phenomenon. “Old establishments in the clean economy (those born before 2003) created an average of just three jobs for every one establishment from 2003 to 2010 while new establishments created 37 jobs. This compares favorably to new establishments nationally which created just 10 jobs per establishment over the same period.”

How much do these jobs pay? Quite a bit.

Brooking/Battelle found that clean economy jobs pay about 13 percent more than typical US jobs, and have a median wage of $44,000. AESP said 80 percent of those who responded to its survey cited vacant jobs in energy efficiency with salaries of $50,000 to $100,000 and 28 percent said jobs were untaken at salaries of $100,000 to $150,000.

So spread the word. Not all the economic news is gloom and doom. Energy efficiency and the clean economy are hiring.

Elisa Wood is a long-time energy writer whose work appears in many of the industry’s top magazines and newsletters. She is publisher of the Energy Efficiency Markets podcast and newsletter.

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Late last week New York lawmakers went home for the summer without passing the NY Solar Jobs Act that we all worked so hard to advance. Friends, we are disappointed that we don’t have a brand new big solar program to celebrate, but there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about a bright future for solar in the Empire State.

As we have remarked before the effort to make New York a solar powerhouse has been an incredible ride.

* The bill’s many economic and environmental benefits gained strong bi-partisan support from legislators. In the senate alone there were 31 sponsors and co-sponsors. That’s nearly half the body!
* Our grassroots coalition helped encourage New York voters to send more than 10,000 emails and 31,500 letters to lawmakers.
* Our industry campaign elicited memos of support from well over 100 organizations including biggies like Dow, GE, and Staples.
* NY sports heroes and reality TV stars upped the wattage with their public support.
* Times Square got a little sunnier thanks to our photo contest that drew submissions from solar fans from upstate and down.
* And that all earned the campaign tons of great press coverage in New York and beyond.

And yet, between a race to get the state budget passed on time and earn a high-profile victory for gay marriage, NY lawmakers did not pass the Solar Jobs Act. However, in the final days of their busy session, Albany did pass an omnibus energy bill, the Power NY Act, which touches on a number of issues that are relevant to the state’s clean economy. It streamlines power plant siting (this includes wind and solar projects), allows on-bill financing for the Green Jobs/Green NY efficiency retrofit program and . . . drumroll please . . . orders a cost/benefit study for the very solar goals that were set forth in the NY Solar Jobs Act.

That’s right, lawmakers heard your call for a solar powered NY, and ended the tale of this year’s session with a big bookmark in the form of a solar study that must be delivered by January 1, 2012. And you can bet that we’ll be working to speed this along so that New Yorkers can begin to reap the benefits of a strong solar market sooner rather than later.

Needless to say we are disappointed by the delay in the bill’s passage – a move that means New York will miss out on immediate opportunities for federal funding, economic development and new job opportunities as neighboring states continue to charge ahead. However, NY legislators’ attention to solar over the course of the 2011 session as well as the ultimate inclusion of the solar study provision in Power NY Act indicate real interest in advancing New York’s solar economy.

We couldn’t have come this far without the tremendous support and hard work of our fellow advocates, businesses and individual solar fans. With your continued help, we’re confident that we’ll get ‘em yet!

And so, this summer we plan on taking these lemons and turning them into … delicious solar powered margaritas.

Vote Solar is a non-profit grassroots organization working to fight climate change and foster economic opportunity by bringing solar energy into the mainstream.

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