From Keeping Current - CCEnergy's newsletter, Summer 2002 Edition

CCEnergy member profile: Liz Merry

There are all sorts of CCEnergy members, customers who install PV systems, installers, and other businesses who work to promote the co-op around California. Each member has in common that they want the solar technology market to grow and our energy to come from renewable resources. This column is to examine the experience of some of our members.

Liz Merry is a PV advocate with her own business, Verve Enterprises, in Davis, California. She's also the proud owner of a 2.5kW PV system with Kyocera panels and SMA Sunny Boy Inverter. As a Davis solar PV activist, Merry organized six homeowners (including herself) to install PV systems prior to CCEnergy's incorporation in Fall 2001. She learned some lessons and a few surprises during the process.

Here are a few of them:

• The City of Davis requires an engineering report for every PV system installed.


• PG&E sends a 10-page energy production statement to E-NET customers every month, in addition to their regular utility bill.


• Solar PV panels in Davis' agricultural zone get visibly dusty when the pollen is blowing around. The impact on energy productivity has yet to be quantified, but the elegant blue glass is certainly less attractive covered with dust.

Merry is both a member of CCEnergy and a consultant helping to establish the Davis branch of the co-op. "I think the cooperative business model, rather than a private for-profit structure, could provide significant benefits to the consumer," she says. "It is vital for our environment that the California PV market matures, provides quality customer service, and standardizes their equipment descriptions."

Back to Summer 2002 newsletter table of contents