Last Month Welcome To OC invited its readers to participate in a contest held by So-Cal Solar on “How Green Are You?”  Take a look below to read about the winners and their great ideas on being green.

Green Contest Winner…The Komar’s Impact

March 18th, 2010
So-Cal Solar Inc. ran a contest last month on how green are you. After many entries we are happy to announce Nick and Brooke Komar as our winners. This couple really has made saving our planet a priority in their household and together their contributions make a positive impact on our environment. Below is their story on how they work together to reduce, reuse and recycle.

“Reduce: For the past 6 years I’ve been reducing the amount of plastic bags in our landfills by shopping with fabric grocery bags. If I forget them in the car, I ask the grocer to put my cart aside and I run and grab them (they’re only 50 feet away! no biggie!); at malls I reduce shopping bags by asking subsequent stores to place their merchandise in my initial bag; I do all my shopping on one day to reduce emissions; we keep our A/C and heat as low as possible and just put on or take off layers to regulate our temperature; recently I’ve learned my hubby limits himself to just a few squares of toilet paper per bathroom pit stop!

Reuse: I’ve always been a fan of reconstituting items. As an artist, I will repurpose objects and make them into new things (clothing into a purse, curtains into a canvas, wine corks into a trivet); our wedding day was even green! Our e-vites/RSVP were virtual & I went to antique stores to purchase the centerpieces (candelabra’s) and have used them to decorate our home since then. My wedding dress will be re-worn by a friend and then I’m having it turned into a quilt!

Recycle: I began recycling in 4th grade after I completed a school project on ozone layer depletion and greenhouse gases. It impacted me greatly. I thought I wouldn’t live to see my 18th birthday because of pollution! Thankfully I am still here, and our earth is here too! But that made a big impact on how I live my life. My husband and I thankfully now live in a town/city that encourages living green! Plano, TX accepts all plastics, papers, glass, and metal and they collect them at our doorstep biweekly! However, before that, I lived in Germany (where they enforced recycling) and in Indiana where I would have to take separate recyclables myself and then transport them in my car to the local recycling plant.”

Recycling, reusing, and recycling are a great way to start your quest to care for our planet.  There are many Orange County businesses who have gone the extra step and have “greened” up their business practices.   Check them out HERE!

So Cal Solar wants to know “How Green Are You”. Tell us your story on what you do to impact the environment in a positive way. No impact is too small or large and we want to hear about it to share with the world and continue increasing awareness. If you recycle we want hear about it. If you have a solar electric system we want to what your system’s environmental impact has done. If you stopped using plastic bags we want to know how you adjusted from plastic to eco-bags. If you do it all WE WANT TO HEAR ABOUT IT!!!!

Bringing environmental awareness to our readers is a top priority for So-Cal Solar Inc. That is why we have decided to run a contest and hear how our readers have changed their lifestyles to help the environment. The “How Green Are You” contest will be from February 22-March 17, 2010.   Details of the contest can be found on http://tinyurl.com/ygktxgr.

Another great way to express your environmental savvy is to patronize green businesses.  Every step toward reducing our carbon footprint is a step in the right direction.  Make your first step by visiting Going Green in OC!

OC residents know that reducing their carbon footprint is paramount to the future of their world and are actively researching solar energy businesses. 

 Our environment’s resources are not limitless and we should always be looking for ways to be good caretakers of Mother Earth.  Using the sun to turn your roof into a miniature electrical power plant for your home makes sense on two fronts.  One, solar electricity is a clean power source.  It generates electricity that is free of harmful CO2 emissions and other greenhouse gases.  Two, many state and local government programs offer incentives and rebates to subsidize the cost of equipment and installation so it makes good financial sense to go solar.  Solar electricity converts sunlight directly into electricity, which can help reduce your electricity bills by as much as 60 percent.  What a great savings!

So how does it work?  Solar electric systems, also known as photovoltaic (PV) systems, convert sunlight into electricity.  The building blocks of a PV system consist of solar cells.  When sunlight is absorbed by the semiconductor materials, the solar energy knocks electrons loose from their atoms.  This “photoelectric effect” causes the free electrons to travel into a circuit built into the solar cell to form a current.  PV systems produce more electricity on sunny days, but will still work on cloudy days.  To produce more power, the solar cell must be interconnected to form panels or modules.  Then if more power is needed, several modules can be installed on a building. Modules come in different sizes and range from about 10 to 300 watts in power output. About 10–20 PV arrays can provide enough power for a household.  A well-designed and maintained PV system will operate for more than 20 years and the PV module, with no moving parts, has an expected lifetime exceeding 30 years. A PV system generates more than $10,000 worth of electricity over 30 years. Now that is a staggering figure.

Just like buying a car or making any other long-term investment, it is important to do your research before making a purchase. Mail-order companies, large discount warehouses, small mom-and pop businesses, and large corporations all sell and install renewable energy (RE) systems.  You want to be sure that the person or company that is designing and installing your new solar system has the expertise to install an efficient, safe, and reliable system.  You will want to check their professional credentials and be sure they have an electrical license.  If they don’t have the electrical license, you need to sure that either the installer does or you hire a licensed electrician to obtain the permit, supervise the job, and do the final AC hookups.  It’s a good idea to hire an installer who is bonded and insured, although this generally means that they will cost a little more.  Making sure the products are UL, ETL, or CSA approved is one way to ensure the safety and reliabiltiy of the product.  Ask about service agreements and performance guarantees.  Lastly, ask for references.

Don’t delay.  Make a difference today.  Visit OCRG and get a listing of companies in Orange County to help you plan your conversion to solar energy.