PROJECT OPEN HAND CELEBRATES PG&E solar panel donation
2 October 2007
BY PAT MURPHY
Sentinel Editor & Publisher
Copyright © 2007 San Francisco Sentinel
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and Project Open Hand have celebrated the unveiling of the non-profit’s new state of the art solar and solar thermal energy system.
PG&E’s Bill Morrow was joined by San Francisco Treasurer Jose Cisneros, San Francisco Assessor Recorder Phil Ting, and San Francisco Commission on the Environment President Paul Pelosi, Jr. to celebrate with community members who could see live readings of the new system’s power generation and the amount of greenhouse gas emissions the system has avoided.
City Treasurer Jose Cisneros directs comments to Project Open Hand Director
Tom Nolan, left.
San Francisco Commission on The
Environment President Paul Pelosi, Jr.
“Pacific Gas and Electric Company is proud to partner with Project Open Hand by donating two solar installations that not only help reduce green house gas emissions, but most importantly, increase the number of people who can be fed each day,” said Bill Morrow, president and chief executiveofficer of PG&E.
“By creating successful partnerships like the one we have today, our goal is to stimulate interest and confidence in the use of solar photovoltaic and solar thermal systems for a wide variety of applications.”
PG&E donated $200,000 to install a solar photovoltaic (PV) and a solar thermal system for Project Open Hand, part of its $7.5 million commitment to increase solar power in San Francisco.
The 22KW 34 panel PV system installed by SolarCity is expected to produce more than 30,000 kW hours of clean renewable energy that will have zero greenhouse gas emissions.
The solar thermal system, installed by Luminalt, is the first solar water heater system ever donated by PG&E and will allow Project Open Hand to save significantly on their hot water costs.
The state-of-the-art thermal system will produce enough energy to heat 170,000 gallons of water per year and reduce greenhouse gasses by almost 2 million pounds over its lifetime.
Combined, the two solar systems will save Project Open Hand over $12,000 annually in energy costs and over $600,000 over the life of the system. This savings will allow the non-profit to serve an additional 6,700 home-delivered meals a year.
“As part of the Bay Area community, and of this planet we all share, I believe Project Open Hand has to do its part by using resources carefully and prudently, and — as much as possible — through reducing our dependence on non-renewable resources,” said Tom Nolan, Executive Director of Project Open Hand.
“PG&E has been a longtime supporter of Project Open Hand and we were very gratified when they selected us, donating a complete ’solar system’ supplying both electricity and hot water. We are very excited about this new endeavor and indebted to PG&E for its extremely generous contribution to the greening of Project Open Hand,” Nolan added.
This visible solar installation showcases one approach that is available to residential and commercial property owners interested in integrating solar systems on their buildings.
The partnership with Project Open Hand is yet another step PG&E is taking to help San Francisco become more environmentally friendly by reducing its carbon footprint.
“As Treasurer of San Francisco, I have seen first hand the success and benefit of public-private partnerships,” said San Francisco Treasurer Jose Cisneros.
“PG&E’s partnership with Project Open Hand to increase solar power in San Francisco is another significant accomplishment we can add to the list.”
“Not only is PG&E a major tax payer in their headquarter city of San Francisco,” said San Francisco Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting.
Phil Ting
“They have become one of the major drivers behind increasing solar energy usage in San Francisco as well as insuring our non-profit community is a prime beneficiary.”
“I applaud PG&E for their environmental leadership and taking the charge against climate change,” said Paul Pelosi Jr., President of the San Francisco Commission on the Environment.
“They are not only committed to increasing the amount of clean renewable energy delivered to their customers, but making sure their customers are also living the dream of using and benefiting from renewable sources such as solar.”
PG&E has interconnected more than 17,000 customer-owned solar-generating systems to the power grid — representing more than 110 megawatts and more than any other utility in the nation.
In San Francisco, PG&E has helped interconnect almost 500 of these solar systems, the most of
any Northern California city. In just the past 24 months, PG&E has interconnected nearly 6,900 customers representing 61.5 megawatts of solar power.
PG&E has also provided close to $210 million in rebates to nearly 450 customers through California’s Self-Generation Incentive Program and California Solar Initiative (CSI). Through the CSI, PG&E has the potential to provide an additional $950 million in solar incentives.
For more information on PG&E’s environmental efforts, visit our pge.com/environment.
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PAT MURPHY
Sentinel Editor & Publisher
In his youth, Pat Murphy worked as a General Assignment reporter for the Richmond Independent, the Berkeley Daily Gazette, and the San Francisco Chronicle. He served as Managing Editor of the St. Albans (Vermont) Daily Messenger at age 21. Murphy also launched ValPak couponing in San Francisco, as the company’s first San Francisco franchise owner. He walked the bricks, developing ad strategy for a broad range of restaurants and merchants. Pat knows what works and what doesn’t work. His writing skill has been employed by marketing agencies, including Don Solem & Associates. He has covered San Francisco governance for the past ten years. Pat scribes an offbeat view of the human family through Believe It or What.
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