Yes! Solar to Work on Salinas Housing Developments

California-based Yes! Solar will be working on three Salinas, Calif., affordable housing project, it has reported. The three housing developments are the Monterey Street Apartments, Fanoe Vista Apartments and the Benito Street Apartments, and are in the communities of Soledad and Gonzalez in Monterey County in Northern California.The new work is in keeping with California’s push in the energy arena, as evidenced by Gov. Arnold’s Schwarzenegger’s recent executive order that set a goal to reduce energy use in state owned buildings by 20 percent by 2010. Kirk Stokes, general manager at Yes! Solar Solutions, told CPN, “SPI is the first company to bring solar power widely to affordable housing. While there were a couple local projects that preceded ours, we are the first (and still only) company to offer and install PV into affordable housing throughout the state of California…through our emerging franchise model, (Yes! Solar Solutions) will continue to expand our capabilities geographically (throughout CA and beyond) to offer PV to affordable housing wherever it makes economic sense.” Yes! Solar Solutions will provide most of the electricity needs for all the common areas and for the 166 separate apartment units. In all, the power requirements will be about 210 kilowatts. Two of the three projects–Monterey St. & Benito St.–will be completed and be occupied by the end of 2008. Fanoe Vista is slated for completion in early 2009.Said Stokes “Each of the systems installed in the project was designed to save the property owner and tenants about 70-80 percent of their annual electricity costs…approximately $15,000 to $30,000 in annual electricity savings depending on the specific project. In a sense installing a PV system “freezes” the cost of electricity (over the PV systems 30 year life) at today’s electric utility prices…So, the next time the local utility company raises its electric rates the owner and tenant will be immune to that rate increase. “ Yes! has also been involved with other projects. Most recently, they completed a project to convert the Rippling River Development in Carmel Valley to solar with a 32-kilowatt system. The company has completed nine major affordable housing developments and that represents about three quarters of a megawatt of contracted and installed PV systems.