SJ Mayor and Stanford Scholar talk solar at SunPower HQ

SJ Mayor and Stanford Scholar talk solar at SunPower HQ

San Jose, CA – June 20, 2014 – Last night, the Bay Area Chapter of CALSEIA (California Solar Energy Industries Association) welcomed San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed and Stanford scholar Jeffrey Ball to speak at the SunPower headquarters in San Jose about their visions for the future of solar. Mayor Reed spoke of his “Green Vision” campaign and his take on solar in San Jose. On a global scale, Ball discussed solar relations between the U.S. and China and the direction that global solar is heading. Randy Zechman, Clean Solar CEO and CALSEIA Bay Area Chapter President, moderated the event on June 19th.

Mayor Charles “Chuck” Reed announced his “Green Vision” for San Jose in October of 2007, a comprehensive environmental guide for San Jose over the next 15 years. The plan includes 10 goals aimed at creating thousands of new jobs and demonstrating how deploying clean and green technology is fiscally responsible. One of his goals was to bring several solar power companies to the city, and since the plan’s adoption, Clean Solar and SunPower have become two of them.  Mayor Reed has served as the 64th Mayor of San Jose since 2007.

Jeffrey Ball contributed to the Wall Street Journal as a reporter, columnist, and editor for 14 years, focusing on energy and the environment. He has now become the scholar-in-residence at Stanford University’s Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance. Ball heads a project entitled “Avoiding Sunstroke“, which explores the global solar race and specifically U.S. and China solar relations.

San Jose ranks fourth in the nation for the amount of solar installed, according to Mayor Reed. At SunPower, he addressed the members of CALSEIA and their guests about his “Green Vision” for solar. On the local level, Mayor Reed spoke highly of the new PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) financing program. As of December 2013, the city of San Jose opted to allow green energy and energy conservation upgrades to now be financed through property taxes. This alternative method of financing will allow many more residents of San Jose to afford solar.

Mayor Reed Clean Solar
San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed and Clean Solar CEO/CALSEIA Bay Area Chapter President Randy Zechman

Mayor Reed continued with the accomplishments the city of San Jose has made to date as part of his “Green Vision”. The city has become the first to add LED traffic lights and recently added 50 electric vehicles (EV) to the city fleet. Altogether, San Jose is a leader in clean and renewable energy and Mayor Reed sees the next step as having to “figure out how to get others to do it.” San Jose is looking to generate 100% of their power from clean energy by 2020.

Jeffrey Ball discussed the U.S. and China’s positions in the “solar race” and how each might deploy clean energy capital more efficiently if each one played to their own economic strengths. As part of their study, Stanford invited 20 solar company CEOs from around the world to their campus one year ago. Over the course of a day and a half, the topic at hand was to discuss “What will the globalizing solar industry look like in 2025?” Ball concentrated on the four scenarios for the global solar industry in 2025 which are dependent on low to high barriers and low to high solar penetration.

There was a gathering of influential companies and organizations in the solar industry present to hear Mayor Reed and Ball speak including CALSEIA, Wesco, Clean Solar, and SunPower.

About CALSEIA

Since the 1970s, CALSEIA (California Solar Energy Industries Association) has advanced the common interests of the California solar industry, helping make California’s solar market the most robust in the United States. Comprised of California solar contractors, manufacturers, distributors, developers, utilities, engineers, consultants and educational organizations, CALSEIA represents a diverse membership committed to growing the California solar industry. For more information about CALSEIA, visit www.calseia.org.

About Clean Solar

Clean Solar is the largest residential solar installation company in the Bay Area. The company’s unparalleled quality and customer service allows for the design of a custom solar system to meet each homeowner’s specific power needs. Along with custom solutions, Clean Solar also offers many financial options including $0 down solar leases. Clean Solar is headquartered in San Jose, CA and was founded by Randy Zechman and Jeff Ritchey in 2007. For more information about Clean Solar, visit www.CleanSolar.com.

Media Contacts:

Devraj Grewal – Marketing Assistant

888-551-7652 x 316

devrajg@cleansolar.com

Leslie Gaynor – Director, Marketing

888-551-7652 x 305

leslieg@cleansolar.com