Sept. 16, 2002

It is our pleasure to write a recommendation letter for Cooperative Community Energy.

We have been looking for the opportunity to go solar for many years now. The reason for the delay was the intimidating amount of information required to bring everything together: requirement analysis, design, financing, permits, contractor research, equipment research, etc.

The co-op helped us out as promised from the initial design to the installation and all the paperwork. Our installation was small, but in some ways challenging: our roof is facing east and west only. No good access to a south-facing roof. In addition, there are many trees that shade parts of the roof during the day. To overcome the problems of the roof orientation we explored a number of alternative designs that involved different number of panels, different inverters and different panel orientations and locations. Through the co-op members we had access to a pool of knowledge that proved invaluable. They were very well informed and very keen to find the best solution for out situation. After we explored out options and reached a decision, we used the co-op's Solar Pathfinder to find the panel locations that maximize energy production.

CCEnergy recommended three pre-qualified contractors, experienced with solar installations. After discussing our installation with them, we decided to work with Roy Phillips, who did an excellent and thorough job. He brought in a structural engineer to inspect the roof. In accordance to the engineer's analysis we reinforced the roof for the panel weight and wind-load. On the days of installation volunteers from the co-op came and assisted with the installation, giving the whole experience the feeling of a barn raising.

One of the areas that the co-op proved most useful was dealing with the required paperwork. The number of applications is intimidating. PG&E, CEC, the city of San Anselmo, the Fire Department, they all need a number of forms to be filled out, and for each a number of supporting documents. Furthermore, the clerks one deals with are not well informed and you get different answers depending on whom you talk to. (Clearly the required bureaucracy for home Solar installation needs to be reduced.) The co-op, headed by Dan Pellegrini, took care of all of the paperwork for us.

The co-op proved very useful during the inspections. Inspectors are not yet familiar with solar installations. The city of San Anselmo had no problems passing inspection, but the Fire Department did, and asked for modifications that were not required by code. Dan Pellegrini took on the case: he did the research and collected the information that proved the installation was in accordance to code. The Fire Department subsequently approved the installation.

All in all, the co-op made this a good experience for us, almost too easy. Equally important, it brought us in touch with a community of members who are making a commitment to solar energy.

Marios Leventopoulos and Charlotte Pilgrim

See photos of Marios Leventopoulos's solar PV installation
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