A sunny future for energy

NEWPORT BEACH — Phil Baltazar spends six days a week driving to homes and businesses around Southern California and encouraging them to embrace an alternative source of energy. He envisions a day, not far in the future, when the word “alternative” won’t apply.

Baltazar, who lives in Newport Beach and graduated from Newport Harbor High School 10 years ago, works as a consultant for REC Solar, a company that provides solar paneling for homes and businesses. Shortly after Baltazar graduated from college, he set out to find a job that would benefit the environment, but he’s not in it just to save the earth. As fuel costs rise and politicians debate the need for drilling, Baltazar believes more people are considering solar energy, and he’s looking to get an early start in the industry.

“We’re busier than we’ve ever been, but we haven’t even hit the tip of the iceberg,” Baltazar said Thursday in between consulting visits.

“I think there will come a day when every single house will consider it.”

Baltazar, an REC employee for two years, works in the company’s small Corona del Mar office and spends much of his work week visiting homes and businesses to assess how well the owners could fit solar paneling onto their buildings — and how much money they could save from putting it in.

By his own count, Baltazar has helped bring solar energy to about four dozen facilities to date.

REC Solar isn’t the only solar installation company in Orange County — Akeena Solar and Solar-Tec Systems, among others, also cover the area — but it still services a small minority of energy users.

Richard Luehrs, the president of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce, said he’s had a solar panel on his roof since 1983, when he installed it to fend off high fuel costs.

Still, he said, he doesn’t see many others around town, and he suspects many people view solar paneling as too expensive or too risky.

“I think solar is great,” Luehrs said. “Alternative fuels of all sorts are long overdue, as we all know, and the sooner we can develop these alternatives into usable, household, average, everybody-buy-it access, we’ll be in great shape.”

Baltazar and his colleagues are hoping to show residents that solar paneling is usable and accessible — and, in the long run, profitable.

When he assesses a building, Baltazar said, he gives the owner a quote showing how much money they would save on energy costs by installing even limited panels.

His most jaw-dropping estimate: With 100% solar paneling, an average Costa Mesa house could knock $22,431 off its bills over a decade.

He noted that, despite some political skepticism about global warming, he doesn’t see the trend as running along party lines.

“It’s not a Democratic-Republican thing anymore,” Baltazar said. “It’s not a tree-hugger mentality. It’s something that’s just here.”

SPECIALTY: Solar panel installation

ADDRESS: 1700 Coral Place, Newport Beach

CONTACT: (949) 573-5305 or www.recsolar.com

MICHAEL MILLER may be reached at (714) 966-4617 or at [email protected].