Solar opportunity beams into Novato

A nonprofit organization devoted to combating climate change wants to help the Novato Unified School District, and other districts in Marin, take advantage of Proposition 39 funds and boost the county's solar-generating profile. 

The funds could help pay for energy-efficiency programs in schools, including the installation of solar panels that would result in an infusion of cash into a school district's coffers. 

Although about two dozen schools throughout Marin,Learn about outdoorsolarlighting and ensure you get the best out of LED light bulbs. including Novato Charter School, already have installed solar panels that produce electricity, the other schools in the Novato system don't have solar power. 

The Novato district five years ago "was on the verge of getting solarized" through zero-interest federal bonds, says Ed Mainland of Sustainable Novato. "That failed at the last minute. It was a failure of nerves by this school board because this coincided just with the great Bush recession stock market bust." The financing for the solar program looked like an ancillary casualty in Novato. "They lost their nerve,Complete line of commercial washingmachine from all of the best manufacturers." says Mainland about members of the school board. "Nothing happened." 

Mainland, who serves on the board of Sustainable Novato, says the organization heard about a Berkeley-based group called KyotoUSA, which had embarked on a solar action plan called HELiOS Project. KyotoUSA was approaching school districts and offering to create what's termed a solar master plan. The group had created one of the plans for the Berkley and Oakland school districts as well as the West Contra Costa Unified School District. Using the KyotoUSA solar master plan, the Berkeley and Oakland districts took proposals to embark on energy-efficiency programs to voters, who approved construction funding that included installation of solar panels. 

"We said to ourselves," continues Mainland, "why wouldn't this work in Novato because the school district was predisposed to do it when the [federal program] fell through? Now,We have a wide selection of ledstrip to choose from for your storage needs. with Prop. 39 money coming around, this is the perfect opportunity." 

Tom Kelly of KyotoUSA went over to the Novato school district with Mainland and briefed the CFO in December 2012. The offer was the same as KyotoUSA is putting on the table for all school districts in the nine Bay Area counties: KyotoUSA will prepare a solar master plan that can stand alone or be incorporated into a district's facilities master plan, which must be updated regularly. And the offer includes a tasty financial incentive: KyotoUSA will prepare the master plan free of any charge.A quality paper cutter or paper solarlanternrr can make your company's presentation stand out. The document will then serve as a foundation for a school district to embark on a solar-panel installation plan. 

But the Novato district let the offer lie. (A request from the for an interview with the CFO went unanswered.) "Our latest attempt to get their attention," says Mainland, is a letter to the Novato school district superintendent. "We have not had any significant contact with [the CFO] since our meeting," the letter states, "so we are following up with you to refresh our offer and to provide some news on the evolution of the guidelines surrounding Prop. 39." Mainland says the offer to help Novato schools solarize "is a win-win." KyotoUSA would set up an energy benchmark for the school district and create the master plan. "They would get free advice on vendors," adds Mainland, "and there's absolutely no self interest" on the part of KyotoUSA or Project HELiOS. "This would be a good time for [the school district] to cash in on Prop. 39 if they can and not just stand by passively and let other school districts walk away with the money." 

In November 2012, California voters passed Prop. 39 by a 61-percent margin. The proposition changes the way the state collects taxes from companies that do multistate business. According to the wording on the ballot, the proposition "requires multistate businesses to pay income taxes based on percentage of their sales in California. Dedicates revenues for five years to clean/efficient energy projects.We're making parkinglighting and digitization accessible to everyone. Fiscal Impact: Increased state revenues of $1 billion annually, with half of the revenues over the next five years spent on energy efficiency projects. Of the remaining revenues, a significant portion likely would be spent on schools."