“Solar power is key to San Francisco’s future…”

San Francisco, with a 72% recycling rate and a goal of zero waste to landfill by 2020, is being called one of the ‘greenest cities’ in the U.S. Jared Blumenfeld, director of the department of the environment talks about some of the projects, including an interactive map that helps users understand their carbon footprint and a solar mashup that enables citizens to price out the cost of installing solar on building rooftops.

San Francisco Solar Facts:

PV systems installed: 2,043
Total CEC-AC capacity: 9.2 MW
Estimated Energy produced: 13,437 MWh/yr
Estimated Annual savings: $2,213,611
Estimated Annual CO2 reduction: 4,036 tonnes

Would you like to save money on your energy bill and erase your carbon foot print?

Talk to the SF Bay Area’s leading PV solar system contractors Century Roof and Solar. 888-233-7548

Original post/video from: http://www.smartplanet.com

Facts from: http://sf.solarmap.org

Since the 1970s – and perhaps well before – many pundits have proclaimed that a Golden Age of solar energy was “just around the corner.” Soon, they promised, solar would replace more polluting energy sources, such as coal and natural gas. In the decades since solar’s first “big promise,” the technology has seen its ups and downs. At this point, consumers are significantly confused. Where is solar at? Will the fabled solar energy revolution ever arrive? If so, when?

Evidence is mounting that we may indeed finally be on the verge of revolutionizing our energy grid and switching over to solar in a large scale way. Consider the following factors conspiring to bring about and accelerate the solar revolution.

1. The “green energy” revolution has gone mainstream.

Irrespective of your political persuasion or your views on alternative energy, you cannot deny how much attention the media, politicians, and our culture at large have been lavishing on “green energy solutions.” America is obsessed with green energy as never before. This collective obsession cannot help but fuel the fire of the solar revolution.

2. Powerful new consumer motivators.

Homeowners are tired of paying through the nose at the pump and on their utility bills.  Economic times are tight. Consumers want new, innovative ways to save without compromising their lifestyles. Once you install a solar array, you essentially maintain total independence from the grid power utility – and you can keep this independence up for a lifetime without investing in maintenance. Consumers are also more inclined to install solar for social reasons. Solar is not for the eclectic or overly wealthy anymore: it’s a viable, even fashionable solution.

Finally, there are serious financial motivations. For instance, a federal government tax incentive program recently provided $4,000 in tax credits for homeowners who installed solar. That’s a$4,000 deduction in money you would owe at the end of the year.

3. Radical improvements in solar technologies.

The “barrier to entry” for homeowners has never been lower. The decades of R&D, combined with the passion and urgency of solar advocates has led to the development of exciting, novel,cost effective, and well-engineered solutions. All that said, designing, developing, and executing a solar energy solution for your home can be a daunting task, unless you have a partner whom you can trust to facilitate the experience tomake sure it hews to your principles and budget.

Fortunately, you can connect with the most trusted name in roofing, Century Roof and Solar. For over 15 years, our contractors have installed premium roof systems throughout the San Francisco Bay area.  Learn more about how we can help you save money, protect the environment, and get free of the grid with a solar solution at www.noutilitybill.com, or connect with us at 888-233-7548 for a free roofing and/or solar quote.

Whether you’re about to embark on a major remodeling project that could take many months and require the services of multiple contractors; or you simply want to repair a roof that got damaged during a recent windstorm, you likely harbor worries about the process. Below, we discuss three of the biggest homeowner concerns:

1. Identifying the right price for the job.

You’d like to keep costs low for obvious reasons. On the other hand, you realize that if you accept the lowest bid simply because it’s the cheapest, you could set yourself up for disaster.  Lousy workmanship, missed deadlines, and chaos at the construction site can make you miserable and ultimately inflate project costs. In the worst case scenario, you may need to pay a second contractor to redo the first contractor’s botched job.

In an ideal world, you want a roofing company that’s going to be completely honest with you about pricing and that’s going to give you an excellent deal for your money – that is, the contractors will meet your needs and provide complete transparency of process.

2. A desire for the project to go smoothly, satisfyingly, cleanly, and without drama.

Homeowners who remodel fear (and rightly so) projects running over budget, running overtime frame, or simply running out of control. We all have heard horror stories from neighbors and friends who have hired the wrong contractors. The results are sadly predictable: construction debris and litter strewn over the lawn; property (such as garden plants) disrespected and stompedout of existence; rude, discourteous workers; “unexpected” delays and so on.

In an ideal world, you want the experience to be completely drama-free. Your contractor should demonstrate respect, courteousness, cleanliness, and the ability to manage internal projects so that they minimize disruption to your life and maximize efficiency and quality.

3. A desire for long-term value from the re-roofing.

What exactly constitutes “value”?  The answer boils down to quality over time. Your finished product – the roof that’s restored, repaired, or reinstalled – should add to your property’s value and your own well being simultaneously. Ideally, the roof should be made of sturdy, durable, high-quality components from manufacturers who employ the best standards, and should minimize the likelihood that you will have to “re-repair” the work.

We at Century Roof and Solar employ only the best quality controlled products (such as roof and gutter products) from trusted manufacturers.  We have developed a reputation for delivering clean, quality, reliable, on-time results, and we’ve won awards for our customer satisfaction.  We are a Diamond Certified company, a proud member of the Better Business Bureau, and a member of the Committee for Firesafe Dwellings (a non-profit corporation). We have 15 years of experience, and we can handle jobs of immense complexity as well as jobs that have a tight time deadline.  Learn about how we can help you at www.centuryrooftile.com, or call us for a quote at 510-780-9489.