Martinez man installs solar to save money, reduce carbon footprint

Martinez resident Jim Baak, Director of Policy for Large Scale for the San Francisco-based Vote Solar Initiative, has spent years convincing others that solar is the right move. But it wasn’t until recently that the conditions were right for Baak to install photovoltaic solar panels on his own home.

“I’ve wanted to go solar for a long time now and Martinez is a really good location for it,” said Baak. “We’ve got lots of sunshine here and it’s pretty sunny all summer long. You don’t need to worry about producing energy to power an air conditioner, and you know that you’re not contributing to burnouts and blackouts.”

Baak, who has owned his home for eleven years, said that one of the main reasons he went solar was his family. “I wanted to show my daughter by example – rather than just talk about energy conservation and renewables – that we were able to do something about it.”

Baak chose to work with Berkeley-based Sungevity. “I’m familiar with a lot of different solar companies but I was drawn to Sungevity’s approach,” said Baak. “Sungevity is unique because with satellite and aerial imagery they can see how much space you have available, whether you would have shading issues, and they give you an estimate of your savings, how much it would cost to buy a system and how much it would pay back,” he explained.

“We’ve found a way for our customers to save more by reducing the number of site visits and streamlining what is otherwise a time consuming process,” said Danny Kennedy, President of Sungevity. “Our solar estimates are often more accurate than the old fashioned method of climbing up on a roof to measure, and we can predict solar potential and a homeowners return on investment.”

Residential homeowners can request a solar quote and purchase a solar system from Sungevity in a few simple steps. All users have to do is log onto www.sungevity.com to enter their home address, pinpoint their home on a map and leave their contact information. Sungevity will send a free solar quote within 24 hours to homeowners, letting them know the different options they have to go solar based on their roof size and the amount of sun their home receives. Homeowners can compare the rate of return, power generation and environmental benefits of different system sizes before selecting the one that best fits their needs.

“At any moment I can log on and see how much energy my system is producing,” said Baak. “It was really easy to do; a very painless process, that will result in a significant reduction in my carbon footprint for the next 25 years.”