Harvey Hoefer and Lisa Carr have harnessed sun power to help irrigate their organic cabernet vineyard as well as power their rural northern California home.

When you ask clinical psychologist Harvey Hoefer why he and his physician wife, Lisa Carr, decided to install a solar system, his answer is, essentially, why not? In this day and age, “Why does anyone not go solar?” he asks.

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Certain wines are known for having good years.
And that means 2006 is a very good vintage for Frey organic and biodynamic wine. It was April 2006 that the Redwood Valley, CA winery installed a 17.3kW grid-tied photovoltaic system consisting of 91 panels. Now, in addition to watching their 61 acres of vines ripen, they’re watching their electric bills wither on the vine.

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When Don Hutchins decided to rebuild his chicken houses at his historic Petaluma, CA homestead and former chicken ranch, one of the requirements from his wife Miriam was to consider incorporating solar power. An environmental activist, Miriam convinced Don of the virtues and good sense of going solar. Working with the restrictive codes of the historic California property, Don developed a plan that renovated his old dilapidated chicken coops into a 6 kilowatt solar power plant.

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Living in Sebastopol, California, a town that has a pioneering municipal solar program, Joe and Julie Halpin were surrounded by solar. But it wasn’t until they traveled up to Hopland, CA to attend SolFest at the Solar Living Center that they decided to solarize their own home.

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This summer, Real Goods Solar will be installing a 71-kilowatt (kW) AC solar electric system at the Boys & Girls Club Valley of the Moon (BGCVOM), located in Sonoma, California. The solar system is designed to offset approximately 80% of the facility’s energy costs. This savings will be used to further support the services that help secure the safe and supportive after-school learning program.

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(and retires big utility bills as well.)

As Richard and Jackie Holmes head into their golden years, they’re getting a little help from golden energy. The 5.9 kilowatt Real Goods solar electric system they installed at their home in Occidental, CA, in 2003, has substantially lowered their monthly utility bills.

“It has turned out to be quite wonderful,” Jackie says. “Our bill this month was $5.60 [you read that right: five dollars and sixty cents]. Before solar, it was $324.”

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