I grew up ten miles from Berkeley, California, and thus am well-versed in their hippie ways.   Did you know, for instance, that Berkeley is a nuclear-free zone?  It’s true!   I mean, I don’t think the signs announcing that will help if someone else decides to make the Bay Area a nuclear zone for whatever horrible reason, but points for effort.   Also, what about the Lawrence-Livermore Lab?  But you know what?  I had a point to all this that I should get around to telling you.

Berkeley’s City Council, in its progressive (that’s a better word than hippie, isn’t it) form, approved yesterday loans to property owners for installing solar panels on their roofs.   All joking aside, this is awesome news.   The reason many people don’t invest in solar energy is the initial investment, and this could literally wipe out that problem.   The New York Times reports that the loans will probably be up to $22,000 apiece, and be paid back over 20 years as part of the homeowner’s property tax.

The city is going to run a pilot program first, in which $1.5 million will be raised, and approximately 50 loans will be given out.   Assuming the success of the test run (and I think we can only assume this will be a success), “the kitty could eventually contain tens of millions of dollars, and hundreds of property owners could be eligible to participate.”

And though the homeowners (obviously) will have to pay back the loan, the fact that it’s spread out over 20 years means the actual financial impact will be less than negligible, as “homeowners would pay roughly $180 more per month on their property tax bills, though much of that cost could be expected to be recouped in savings on electrical bills.”  I am trying to figure out another loan you could take out where the rate of return would be this guaranteed, and I can’t really think of anything.

The mayor of Berkeley certainly thinks that this is a great idea, and that people are going to jump onboard quickly.

The city’s mayor, Tom Bates, said in an interview shortly before the vote, I think this is probably the most important contribution Berkeley can make toward taking on global warming, and reducing greenhouse gases. He added, ‘I think the idea is going to go like wildfire’ through other city governments. Already, he said, nearly two dozen cities, from San Francisco to Annapolis and Seattle to Cambridge, Mass., have called indicating they want to follow suit.

So for all the fun I was making of Berkeley at the top of this post, the City Council and the residents definitely deserve a big round of applause for thinking up and starting the implementation of this idea.   Assuming the city can find a lender to back the project (that’s the one piece they don’t have yet, and I hear there’s some issues with the market these days), it’s a win-win-win-win for the backers, the city, the homeowners, and the environment.   Hopefully those other “two dozen cities” will follow suit.

So this post got kind of long.   Sorry.   But it’s great news, no?  The final vote by the City Council is November 6, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, whose article also contains some great information on the nuts and bolts of the plan (read it!   it’s even better than the NYT article!).   You can takepart by visiting findsolar.com to look for professionals to help you to install your own solar panel system.