Letter from the President

Each month, POC President Denis Trafecanty will publish a letter to our supporters with news about current events, actions you can take, or other relevant news to our mission. We will also be sending this letter to our email subscribers. If you would like to be included on our mailing list, please fill out the contact form here.

Dear POC Supporters,

I want to share with you some thoughts about energy independence for all of us who are homeowners and business owners. I think it’s time for all of us to consider the benefits of installing solar on either our rooftop or somewhere on our property. The Federal and California benefits are extremely generous right now and the cost of solar panels is dropping considerably.

Look at this fairly comprehensive article on rooftop solar written by Marla Dickenson of the LA Times. This article discusses the various ways to finance the cost, including leasing at a very small initial cost. In the example in this article, a $37,500 solar installation costs only 55%, or $20,500. When my wife and I purchased our solar system in 2008, we paid 80% of the cost. Since then, the solar panel prices have dropped and the Federal rebate of 30% has no limit on it. We built a system sufficient to cover all of our energy needs for the year, and our total annual bill from SDGE was $50.00 (annual transmission charge). Let me repeat - $50 for the whole year!

I really think it’s time to pencil it out for your consideration. It’s the right thing to do and it may keep you functional at home now that there are announced threats of energy shut offs by our investor owned utility. Please read the LA Times article to learn more about the current state of solar installations in California and since three of our seven Board members have rooftop solar, we would be happy to share our experiences with you.

As our friend Don Christiansen calls it, “Renewable Energy is Homeland Security”.

Thanks for reading,

Denis Trafecanty
President, The Protect Our Communities Foundation