REC Solar panel installation. Photo courtesy, REC Solar, Inc. By Peg Champion, GreenTown Correspondent Residents of Los Altos and Los Altos Hills are one step closer to affordable solar power. In January, GreenTown joined three other San Mateo County cities – Hillsborough, Portola Valley and Woodside – in SunShares, an innovative group-buy program. The program, sponsored by Bay Area Climate Collaborative (BACC), helps communities in the Bay Area advance their sustainability goals. “This program will help you reduce utility bills, increase home comfort and generate clean energy,” says Kevin Armstrong, technical advisor at GroupEnergy, the administrator for the program. “In addition to the great group discounts on solar, there are significant savings available – up to $4,000 – through energy-efficiency rebates from Energy Upgrade California.” The federal energy Investment Tax Credit (ITC), available through 2016, provides tax credits for up to 30 percent of the total system cost. Solar panel installation, John Bigler residence, Los Altos. Photo by John Bigler. Sharing with Others – the Group-Buy Model GreenTown Program Manager Gary Hedden says that the new program not only delivers savings 15 percent lower than current market rates, it also eliminates customer confusion in the complex bid-evaluation process. In the process, a resident is often forced to compare “apples to oranges” in terms of installation, length of contract, pricing, etc. “We’ve taken care of a crucial first step for anyone interested in solar. SunShares issued a Request for Proposal and, on March 12, completed the difficult process of vetting and selecting providers from among seven solar and two energy-upgrade companies.” The SunShares evaluation committee chose REC Solar for the solar installations and SDI Insulation for energy-saving upgrades. REC Solar will offer discounted pricing, as well as a solar lease/power purchase agreement (PPA), which enables homeowners to install solar with little or no money down and to see immediate savings on their utility bill. SDI Insulation is an approved PG&E contractor in the Energy Upgrade California program. Solar System Savings Hedden says residents with energy bills averaging $100 or more per month can save money using a solar photovoltaic (PV) system. Here’s how it works: PV systems generate electricity during the day, when demand throughout PG&E’s territory is the greatest.  Any excess power generated by your PV system is sent to the utility grid. Your utility meter tracks how much electricity you take and how much your system gives to the grid. Excess generation earns you credits from your utility company, a process known as net energy metering. By installing a PV system, you’re contributing to a cleaner, greener and more efficient distributed energy grid. “Collaborating with BACC SunShares on this effort is an important part of GreenTown Los Altos’s ongoing Energy Savers Program, which provides information and online assessments to reduce home energy use and increase renewable energy,” says GreenTown Los Altos Chair Margie Suozzo. “We are pleased to participate in this new collaborative effort to expand solar energy in Los Altos and Los Altos Hills.” For more details on how BACC SunShares can help you reduce your electric bill – and your carbon footprint – email energy@GreenTownLosAltos.org or come to the workshop Wednesday, March 21, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., at 359 State St. Resources Register for the workshop. For information on the benefits of going solar, read the BACC report “Why Go Solar?” Learn about the GreenTown Los Altos’s Energy Savers Program. To find out more about solar PV and other energy-efficiency measures for your home. For more information about the BACC SunShares program. Peg Champion is a member of GreenTown Los Altos and the principal of Champion Organic Communications. Her work focuses on communication and education strategies to encourage sustainable behavior. #SunShares #Residentialsolar #BACC #Solargroupbuyprogram #BayAreaClimateCollaborative

Attendees get up to speed on greywater rules and regs. Greywater systems take water from bathroom sinks, showers, tubs, and washing machines and reuse it elsewhere, typically on the landscape. In Santa Clara County, more than half our water is used for landscaping. We can cut our outdoor water use by reusing laundry water, which accounts for about 10% of the typical resident’s water use, with a “laundry-to-landscape” greywater system, the focus of a March 10th GreenTown Los Altos workshop. Participants prime and glue greywater distribution pipes. Twenty-four highly-engaged participants gathered at the home of Kacey Fitzpatrick, former GreenTown Executive Director, to learn about and install a system that would use Kacey’s dirty laundry water to water fruit trees throughout the yard. Greywater guru, Forrest Linebarger, member of GreenTown’s Leadership Team and Principal of Vox Design Group, an award-winning sustainable design firm, led the workshop. After learning about the rules and regulations governing greywater systems in California, participants got their hands dirty, cutting and laying PVC pipe, priming and gluing joints, and installing valves. Linebarger and Fitzpatrick had done some work previously — digging lines and setting up the interior plumbing — so the group was able to complete the installation in just a few hours and witness the new system in action. Laundry water flowed freely to three mulch basins strategically placed around Fitzpatrick’s yard. If you are interested in hosting a GreenTown workshop at your home or would like to learn more about what GreenTown is doing to reduce water use, contact water@GreenTownLosAltos.org. To find out more about greywater: Check out this KPIX5 News Story featuring a system Forrest installed in Mountain View Visit WhollyH20 and Greywater Action. Click here for a list of Bay Area installers. Linebarger hands Fitzpatrick her new greywater system manual.

Ryan and sister Cameron Cox, 3rd and 2nd grader at Santa Rita Elementary The GreenTown Walk or Wheel (WoW!) program honors kids who walk or ride their bikes to school. Ryan Cox 3rd Grader, Santa Rita Elementary School Cameron Cox 2nd Grader, Santa Rita Elementary School How far and how often do you ride your bike to/from school? We ride our bikes everyday except when it rains. What is your favorite thing about riding your bike? My favorite thing is I get to ride with my sister, Cameron. What do you wish was better about your trip? I wish it was not so cold sometimes. Why do you ride your bike to school? It gets me active and I get to go outside. What is the funniest thing that happened on your ride? Coco, our neighbor’s dog, chased after us. How would you get other kids to ride their bikes to/from school? I would say they could win a Popsicle party for their class. #BikingtoSchool #SantaRita #WOWWalkorWheel

Last year Los Altos/Hills come in 5th out of the 9 competing communities – not bad for our first year.  But we can do better! If you plan to ride your bike during the Drive Less Challenge, you might want to tune up your safety and bike riding skills by coming to one of the Family Bike Days on March 30 or 31 or the Bike Rodeo on April 7. #DriveLessChallenge

Matt McTighe, 7th Grader at Blach Middle School The GreenTown Walk or Wheel (WoW!) program honors kids who walk or ride their bikes to school. Matt McTighe 7th Grader, Blach Middle School How far and how often do you ride your bike to/from school?  How long does it take? I ride about 2 miles from home to school and about 4 or 5 days a week.  It takes 15 minutes to ride to school. What is your favorite thing about riding your bike? I like going off mini-jumps on the curbs as I go to school.  I like going off road as well on gravel or dirt on the way to school near St. Simon on Grant Rd. What do you wish was better about your ride to/from school? I wish the sidewalks were wider so that I can ride my bike on them because the cars feel they are very close when I ride on the street. Why do you ride your bike to school? We live a little far away so I cannot walk and my dad does not want to drive me school. How would you get other kids to ride their bikes to/from school? Why would they drive in a car when they live so close to school and could get there just as fast? #BikingtoSchool #BlachMiddleSchool #WOWWalkorWheel

Remember the feeling of first learning to ride a bicycle on your own—without training wheels and without a parent’s balancing hand? Remember that sudden rush of freedom? Not only is bicycling fun and freeing, it is also a great way to get exercise. But bicycling comes with risks. To address these, the Los Altos Police Department, in partnership with the GreenTown Los Altos WoW! program and the Los Altos Recreation Department is holding Family Bike Days designed to teach young bicyclists the skills they need to be better cyclists: March 30, 2012, 3:30pm-6:30pm, Oak Avenue Elementary School, 1501 Oak Avenue, Los Altos, in cooperation with Oak Avenue Elementary School PTA March 31, 2012, 10:00am-1:00pm, Santa Rita Elementary School, 700 Los Altos Avenue, Los Altos, in cooperation with Santa Rita Elementary PTA April 7, 2012, 9:30am, Hillview Community Center at the Los Altos Recreation Department’s Easter Egg Hunt These events are made up of a series of stations, each addressing an important aspect of safe cycling. Participants will have their bikes inspected and helmets fitted, then learn about and practice bicycle-handling skills that will increase their enjoyment of bicycling and could some day save their lives. Parents must be present at the Family Bike Days and must sign a permission form for their children to participate. The Family Bike Days are paid for by the City of Los Altos. For more information or to volunteer contact SafeMoves at 408-374-8991 or email bike@greentownlosaltos.org. Recycle that Bike! Do you have a bike that is not being used? Want to help children in need experience the joy and freedom of cycling? GreenTown Los Altos is partnering with the Silicon Valley Bicycle Exchange for its first annual Used Bike Drive at the Santa Rita Family Bike Day: March 31, 10:00am-1:00pm, Santa Rita Elementary School, 700 Los Altos Avenue, Los Altos. We will be accepting gently used bikes of all sizes. Flat tires and broken or missing parts are no problem, but we can’t restore paint and can’t reverse corrosion. So please donate thoughtfully. For more information or to volunteer, contact Kathleen Santora at 408-893-9091 or contact bike@greentownlosaltos.org. #bike #losaltosschools

Grist uncovered a fun list of 41 rules for lady bicyclists dating from 1895.  Click the image below to go to the Grist.org story and read all 41 rules on the brainpickings.org site. Comic by Kate Beaton. © 1999-2012 Grist Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved.

The First Saturday Bike Group - Jessie Bourgan, Ellie Vanderlip, Alex Fowler, Molly Vanderlip, Gary Hedden, Leah Bourgan, Susan Bourgan, and Scott Vanderlip. by Gary Hedden, Volunteer GreenTown Los Altos GreenTown Los Altos kicked off another season of First Saturday Bike Rides this past weekend.  Led by Scott Vanderlip, bike enthusiast and GreenTown volunteer, three adults and five kids hit the road for a trip from downtown Los Altos to Stevens Creek Trail and then on to Shoreline Park. What a day for a ride!  Blue sky, warm – my kind of winter weather we kept telling each other.  We stopped for soft drinks and ice cream at Shoreline and then headed back home through the back streets of Palo Alto.  Jessie, our youngest rider at age 10, was a real inspiration as we completed our 20 mile loop.  That’s a lot of miles, but you know what, we all had a great time.  Check out the GreenTown web site to see what we have planned for next month. All photos courtesy of Gary Hedden. Jessie leads the way along Stevens Creek Trail Molly leads the way along the Baylands Park Bike Trail Scott and Molly at Shoreline Park Jessie, Alex and Leah on the Bay Shore Bike Path in Palo Alto #FirstSaturdayBikeRides

by Joe Eyre "Treatment" by artist and GreenTown member, Linda Gass. Copyright © 2009 Linda Gass On 3/1/12 I attended the last public informational meeting held by the staff of the Palo Alto Regional Water Quality Control Plant. This is the facility that treats the sewerage from Los Altos and Los Altos Hills as well as Palo Alto, Stanford, and Mountain View. The staff has been doing long range planning and this particular meeting focused on liquids treatment and then looked at the overall plant recommendations. The plant was built in 1972 and requires continual upgrading due to wear and/or new regulations. Liquids treatment has several steps ranging from settling to disinfecting. During this process the plant removes CBOD’s solids, and total ammonia as nitrogen. Looking ahead, the staff is concerned about regulations limiting the amount of nitrogen and emerging constituents that can be discharged with the processed water. Today, neither of these are removed and flow directly out with the discharged water into the bay and harming fish and wildlife. Nitrogen causes algae bloom which depletes oxygen from the water and killing aquatic life. The emerging constituents are pharmaceuticals, endocrine disruptors (such as birth control pills and estrogen) and the chemicals from anti-bacterial soap. As an individual, you can help by limiting the dumping of these chemicals into wastewater. The staff showed three different approaches to liquids treatments, looking at their costs and the amount of greenhouse gases they emit. Not surprisingly, the cheapest option emits the most greenhouse gases. One big issue the plant has is that water seeps into the sewer system and increases flows dramatically from something like 22 million gallons/day to up to 80 million gallons a day. This extra water comes from stormwater during winter rains and seepage from bay water which gets into the sewer pipes flowing from Mountain View and through the bay. This requires the plant to size up their equipment to handle a lot more capacity than the sewer-only flows require. The plant recycles some water (about 5-8%) and this is used for landscape water at the Palo Alto and Shoreline golf courses. However, this water has about 1.5 times the salinity that plants can comfortably handle and so the facility needs to reduce the salinity of the recycled water. Some of salinity comes from old water softeners but most of it is coming from the Mountain View pipe flowing through the bay which allows bay water into the line. Mountain View is working to line these pipes so they let less bay water into them. Looking forward they need to figure out the best way to get rid of biosolids, the stuff that settles or is extracted from the water. Options include different treatments on site or trucking it to San Jose which has excess capacity. As an interesting aside, a representative from Stanford was in the audience. Stanford contributes about 4% of the daily flows to the facility but the biggest water user on the Stanford campus is the cooling tower of their power plant (this is pretty typical around the US — so the more electric you use, the more water you use). An exciting initiative there is that all new building is designed not to increase the stormwater runoff. They are using different building and retention techniques to keep stormwater on site. This is good because stormwater carries chemicals into creeks, causes erosion and flooding, and as mentioned above, some of it flows into the sewer system. This was the last informational meeting and the next step is for the staff to put together detailed financials and present their recommendations to the Palo Alto City Council. For a copy of the presentation, click on “Carollo Engineers March 2012 Presentation” on the following site: http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/depts/pwd/news/details.asp?NewsID=1471&TargetID=65#Planning Process Documents #PaloAltoWastewaterPlant

A GreenTown Los Altos welcome to the Los Altos History Museum. © 2012 Joel F. Bartlett. All rights reserved. by Peg Champion “What a blessing for the rain – it’s our water supply coming down!” With that, Linda Gass, curator of the Shaped by Water – Past, Present and Future exhibit, greeted more than 125 enthusiastic guests crowding the foyer of the Los Altos History museum on Feb. 29, a cold and rainy evening. GreenTown Los Altos hosted the event to celebrate the exhibit and the many volunteers who helped to create it. Shaped by Water covers both the history and future of water in the Santa Clara Valley. The exhibit examines the changing relationship between people and water over the years and poses a vital question: Can history teach us to become better stewards of our water supply? Artifacts, interactive displays and creative art installations inside and on the grounds of the museum encourage visitors to take action to conserve and preserve this precious resource. Margie Suozzo, chair of the GTLA leadership team, addresses guests. © 2012 Joel F. Bartlett. All rights reserved. In brief remarks, Margie Suozzo, chair of the GreenTown leadership team, warmly thanked the GreenTown Water Stewardship Committee for its help throughout the many stages of the exhibit process: research, writing, building and program planning. Noting that the committee’s “primary role was the creation of the ‘future’ section, and the many outdoor displays that are a part of it,” she also called out Joe Eyre’s leadership in formulating “a cohesive whole from our many fragmented ideas.” Epicurean Group Executive Chefs Jamie Barillas and Roger Rungpha, with Sous Chef Doug Frizzell. © 2012 Joel F. Bartlett. All rights reserved. “And, I wanted you to know that here at GreenTown, we put our money where your mouths are!” Suozzo continued, recognizing the chefs of Epicurean Group, who provided the evening’s organic and sustainable food. The food service company, headquartered on Main Street in Los Altos and a member of GTLA, emphasizes local and seasonable foods. Suozzo noted all of the foods were “low-water use” according to the “hidden water use” scale in the exhibit. The team of waitresses and waiters included students from Los Altos High School who circulated among guests serving canapés such as citrus quinoa on red endive with a strawberry balsamic coulis. Los Altos History Museum member John Reed and former GreenTown Executive Director Kacey Fitzpatrick try out the “hidden water use” scale. © 2012 Joel F. Bartlett. All rights reserved. Suozzo pointed out that even the cups, plates and napkins were water-friendly, made of 100 percent compostable materials. The serviceware came from the GreenTown Co-op, a service that Mary Clark Bartlett, owner of Epicurean Group, and GTLA started to help local businesses purchase compostable food serviceware at affordable prices. The guests enjoyed a variety of Northern California wines, donated by GreenTown members for the event. Most of the wines were organically grown – without chemical pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers harmful to the watershed. Many of the wineries also practice other sustainable practices, such as using energy from renewable sources, reducing packaging and recycling process wastewater, Suozzo said. “I came away with a new understanding of why everyone needs to contribute to conservation,” said Brad Whitworth, a GreenTown member who attended the event. “The evening was a perfect example of sustainability at work. It’s not the easiest or least expensive path to follow, but it is the wisest.” It’s shocking! Industrially-produced beef ranks highest on the hidden water use scale. (Photo: Brad Whitworth) Shaped by Water– Past, Present and Future Los Altos History Museum, 51 S. San Antonio Rd. Open Thursday through Sunday, Noon to 4 p.m., through April 22. The Shaped by Water exhibition goes beyond the Museum’s walls with events and community engagement scheduled throughout the course of the exhibition. Upcoming events include: Bus tour of the Adobe Creek watershed with several stops, expert speakers, lunch and moderate walking. Saturday, March 24, 9 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. $35. Register now. Water-themed Earth Day Festival, Saturday, April 21. Noon – 4 p.m., free. Museum Courtyard. Exhibit Curator Linda Gass, Former Palo Alto Mayor Peter Drekmeier, Margie Suozzo. © 2012 Joel F. Bartlett. All rights reserved. Our thanks to: The GreenTown Water Stewardship Committee: Sybil Cramer, Joe Eyre, Linda Gass, Kit Gordon, Gary Hedden, Maddy McBirney, Barbara and Kevin O’Reilly, Kathleen Santora, Scott Vanderlip and Linda Ziff. The Shaped by Water Event Committee: Peg Champion, Jan Davis, Jennifer Delamare, Michele Gerstel, Mary Gospe, Maddy McBirney, Barb O’Reilly, Margie Suozzo, Laura Teksler. Peg Champion is a member of GreenTown Los Altos and the principal of Champion Organic Communications. Her work focuses on communication and education strategies to encourage sustainable behavior. For more information visit http://www.ChampionOrganic.com #ShapedbyWaterExhibit #LindaGass #EpicureanGroup #GreenTownLosAltos #SantaClaraCountyWater #MargieSuozzo

Silicon Valley Bike Commuters Push Pedaling for Improved Health Brooke Ray Smith, shown wearing her bike commuter clothing, and “Blue Steel,” her Jamis Quest road bike. Smith rides Blue Steel everyday to her office at Passerelle Investment Co. in downtown Los Altos. by Peg Champion, GreenTown Correspondent While most Silicon Valley commuters dread their daily drive in stop-and-go traffic, Suzanne Ambiel looks forward to her ride to work. “My 15-minute commute is one of the most relaxing parts of my day.” A marketing manager at VMware in Palo Alto, Ambiel is one of many Los Altos residents who commute to work by bicycle. Reasons to Ride Besides avoiding the hassles of a car, you have plenty of reasons for taking a ride: personal health, environmental responsibility and that old stand-buy, money. Jim Thurber, fourth-grade teacher at Gardner Bullis Elementary, who commutes daily, says, “I’m a cheapskate. I hate to buy gasoline. I’d also like to put my cardiologist out of business.” Deb Kilpatrick, a senior vice president at a genomic diagnostics company in Palo Alto, agrees, “I like looking at my bike and car odometers in December each year. On average, my bike mileage is about two times that of my car. It’s great to see how much bike commuting lowers my carbon footprint – 15 to 20 percent annually. And it saves on car insurance, too.” Nationally, only one in 165 Americans rides a bike to work, according to the 2010 US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS.) But in Silicon Valley, between three to eight times as many ride in some towns. “This is a beautiful place – with great weather – to commute on bike,” says Jim Fenton, a Los Altos resident who combines light rail with his ride to a job at a tech start-up in San Jose. “And, for the most part, the roads around here are bike-friendly.” Bike Commuter Jim Thurber with his customized “Purple Pocket Rocket” - a folding bike that feels and rides like a full-size bicycle. Capable of fitting under your desk at work or in the overhead rack on Caltrain, the Pocket Rocket is made by Bike Friday, located in Eugene, Oregon. The combination of public transportation and cycling is increasing in popularity. BART, CalTrain and light rail provide bike cars for commuters. Brooke Ray Smith, a dedicated rider who lives in San Francisco and works in Los Altos, says, “Four days a week I use the Dutch/Danish model: I wear my work clothes, bike at a more leisurely pace and take CalTrain. Once a week, when I want an aerobic workout, I’ll wear my spandex and ride in with a group of fellow cyclists, SF2G (San Francisco to Google.) Or, I might decide on a 30-mile ride from the Millbrae station.” Like many, Smith’s employer provides facilities to shower and change. The 2011 Drive Less Challenge inspired Tom Fenstermacher to get back on his bike after ankle surgery. He subsequently won the challenge for his combined bike/train commute to San Francisco, logging in 765 miles over the two-week challenge period. His reasoning was simple. “I wanted to spend more time with my family, but I also wanted to get some exercise. By commuting to work this way, I was able to multi-task.” Ride Results Fenstermacher says the best thing about bike commuting is “having an opportunity to think and meditate.” Other riders agree that a surprising result of commuting is the mental-health benefit: “I arrive at work refreshed and ready to take on the world,” “I am more productive at work,” “Biking puts me in a good mood,” “Riding gives me an e-break,” and “When I’m pedaling, I have the time to collect my thoughts before and after work.” Still not convinced? Last year, an analysis by Atlantic journalists Richard Florida and Charlotta Mellander using American Community Survey data found that metros where more people cycle to work are more affluent, better-educated, more creative, more fit – and happier than non-biking places. Special thanks to bike shop manager Matt McDonald for hosting our “commuter chat” at 359 State Street on a busy Saturday afternoon, and to all the commuters who shared their stories. Peg Champion is a member of GreenTown Los Altos and the principal of Champion Organic Communications. Her work focuses on communication and education strategies to encourage sustainable behavior. For more information visit http://www.ChampionOrganic.com. Tail lights on Jim Thurber's "Purple Pocket Rocket" bike. Resources Learn more about the GreenTown Los Altos Bike/Walk Los Altos Program Join us for the First Saturday Family Bike Ride, March 3, 1PM-4PM. More information. To calculate your “carbon footprint” – how many tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases your lifestyle and transportation choices create – try out The Nature Conservancy’s carbon calculator Read about “Commuter Angst, Dangerous Drivers, and Other Obstacles on the Path to Two-Wheeled Transcendence” in this primer for new commuters, The Enlightened Cyclist. Release date March 7, 2012. Advice for a New Bike Commuter “Ride as if the drivers are blind, and you are invisible,” is a common cyclist aphorism. Below is wise counsel from bike commuters interviewed for this article. Use these tips to prepare for the Drive Less Challenge that begins on Earth Day 2012. Don’t be afraid to try it – if you’re curious, just give it a try. Start when it’s sunny – spring is the perfect time to start! Take a practice run – experiment on the weekend when there is less traffic. Begin gradually – try a trip once a month, and build up to once a week. Ride with a buddy – team up with a friend and enjoy the ride together. Get safety training – learn and follow the rules of the road. Get the right gear – use a bicycle made for commuting, equipped with lights. You’ll also need a rear-view mirror and a good bike lock. Get into a routine – ask yourself, is there any reason I can’t ride today? Be aware – stay alert to cars, wildlife and other riders. Ride slowly – remember, this isn’t a race! Make sure you are visible to cars – use multiple lights and reflective clothing. Use tools – check out Google maps for the best bike routes. Use BikeNav, a free iPhone app with elevation maps that can help you get to work without breaking a sweat, and track all your rides with Strava. Talk to the experts – ask questions. Other commuters from work and bike-shop managers can help get you started. Communicate – use hand signals and other nonverbal techniques, including smiling, to communicate with other riders and drivers on the road. Avoid “helmet hair” – part your hair on the opposite side before putting on your helmet. Have fun! #bikecommuting #GreenTownLosAltos #siliconvalley

By John Bigler, Los Altos resident We chose to size our new PV system at 5.88 kW to fully cover our monthly electric costs.  This is not to say that we generate more kilowatts than we use, but rather, that we earn more kilowatt credits than we spend.  The secret that makes this work is during the May-October (summer) timeframe, PG&E credits us at triple rates during the daytime hours when we are producing excess electricity since this is their peak demand period and they appreciate our extra power generation during that time.  To allow me to monitor our power generation, I also asked Cobalt to install a data link from our PV system to my computer so I could retrieve live and historical power generation data at my desktop. As an early adopter of PV technology, the net cost of our system after rebates was relatively high.  At our current rate of savings, we are expecting our Return-on-Investment (ROI) on our 25-year system to occur somewhere around 16 years (10 years from now).  For homeowners installing in 2012, the recent leaps in design and efficiency should now produce a much faster 15% to 30% ROI per year (per Cobalt’s website).  Your PV bids should show you your expected ROI timeframe based on your specific system size and electric history. Today, our PV system has been running for almost 6 years with zero PV downtime and zero required maintenance.  All I have to do is rinse our rooftop panels about twice a year.  We are very happy we made the leap to Solar. For more information on solar, and GreenTown’s upcoming solar group purchase program, email energy@greentownlosaltos.org. #GreenTownLosAltos #LosAltos #solarstory