When Brandon Cheshire founded SunHarvest Solar & Electrical in 2009, he was ready to use his years of electrical experience to bring renewable energy to homeowners in the Phoenix area. He didn’t expect to spend most of his time fighting for acceptance.
“I haven’t really wanted to get involved in public policy, regulation or politics, but it seems like I’m wearing a second hat nowadays that’s more of a lobbyist or a political insider,” Cheshire said. “I meet with senators and regulators and try to convince them that solar is an economically viable solution and it should be embraced instead of resisted.”
The regulatory atmosphere of SunHarvest’s service area in Arizona is tough right now.
“We have the two largest utility companies in the state that have tried to pass a solar fee of $50 to $100 a month for their solar customers,” Cheshire said. “The regulated monopoly was able to get a 70-cents-per-kilowatt fee initiated for solar customers, and that is per month. The second utility is currently accepting public comments for a similar revenue tax on the sun.”
Even with the setbacks, SunHarvest—which works on mostly residential systems—is on track to install close to 200 kW each week in 2015.
“Our local governments are doing great things to invest in solar,” Cheshire said. “When you get down to the local levels like the city councils and mayors, they’re doing a handful of things and have passed solar generation standards by 2020 or 2025 that are very progressive. The fight is always going to be with the state and the federal government and the regulatory interests of a few, but decisions are paving the way for states to adopt more aggressive implementation standards.”
Cheshire believes more consumers will catch on to the benefits of solar in the near future.
“I believe solar will be as ubiquitous as cell phones in five years,” Cheshire said. “If I had to make a prediction, I believe this will be out of environmental and scientific necessity. I’d like to quote Jimi Hendrix here, and he said that we’ll have peace when the power of love overcomes the love of power. I believe that the will and urgency to adopt solar will be evident and prevalent in five years.”
SunHarvest Solar’s unique blend of services allows customers to choose the company’s level of involvement.
“We have somewhat of an ala carte brand of services,” Cheshire said. “We’ll work with the customer who is the do-it-yourself and the survivalist, and they want to do everything [and] just need a licensed contractor to certify and inspect. We’ll offer the full spectrum where the homeowner just needs to sign and give us access to their roof and everything is done for them. [We] will really cater to both those sides and anything in between.”
At the end of the day, the enjoyment Cheshire feels by providing homeowners with renewable energy is still there.
“I love creating positive change and powering citizens and consumers alike and the satisfaction received from an honest day’s work,” he said. “Turning on a little power plant that you just spent the day building is incredibly rewarding on so many levels. Plus, we’re doing our part and leading by example and hopefully providing a legacy for our progeny.” SPW
D. M. Warshevsky says
Great article. Solar is the way. My SunPower system works perfectly as designed.
Ken Muir says
It’s a real pleasure knowing Brandon Cheshire. I so admire his commitment to spreading the clean distributed grid model.
Distributed generation is the perfect disruptive technology solution. It facilities the completion of displacing fossil fuels as an energy source. Whether the utilities embrace this or not, disruptive technologies always win in the long run.
For now, Arizona utilities have chosen the unfortunate path of resistance. Instead of continuing to embrace DG to allow them to clean their grid, abandon fossil fuels and clean our environment, they have decided to portray their proactive clean DG customers as the problem rather than the solution. They do this at their own economic peril.
Clean DG providers like myself, and Brandon’s customers will take the next steps to force emissions free power creation.
Step One is to get as efficient as possible. As a result, our solar powered homes will push ever more, cheap, clean power onto the grid. Hopefully after step one, the utilities will wake up and realize that the growing DG grid is becoming more and more of a force in their overall production.
If the utilities choose to continue to fight technology, in the interest of keeping their fossil fuel sector going, Step Two will kick in.
Step Two is, existing solar adopters will initiate solar plus storage with energy management load balancers. Solar plus storage plus on-site load balancers will protect us from unfair Demand Charges imposed on us by rigid backwards thinking utilities. This is simple, inevitable technology growth
Solar installers will benefit as they can help integrate these systems.
Once Step Two begins to take hold in mass, the utility has another decision point. They will have to ask themselves two questions. Do I keep these highly efficient, near invisible energy users to my grid and clean energy providers on my grid? Or do I double down against them in my inaccurate and unfair demonizing of them, as some kind of made up problem?
If the utilities choose to accept our presence on the grid as a clean part of their portfolio, allowing them to begin to ratchet back their dependence on fossil fuel sources, specifically coal, than all Arizonan’s win, including the utilities.
If the utilities decide to continue their old school model and insistence on burning coal for power at the expense of all of us, then we will have no choice. We will be forced to drop off their grid, taking with us our clean power, the revenue we provide to the utility and all we contribute to the overall clean DG power delivery system.
This will not hurt us and in the long run, it will not hurt the utilities, as their demand will begin to decrease sharply and their portfolio will shift again.
The people who will feel hurt are the people inside the utilities, whose model insist on ever increasing demand, for ever increasing profits at the expense of the consumer. These people will suffer significantly as their model has changed. The ground has shifted under them. Their consumer has spoken. Should they continue to decide to turn deaf ears during every step of this technological transition, they will force themselves and their parent companies into an early and messy demise. If that happens, We the People will be more than happy to take over, return them to true municipalities that are responsive to the customer and quick on their feet when technology advances.
KnightBiologist says
Thank you Brandon Cheshire, for being at the forefront and cutting edge of the future. The future is solar!