AstroPower Selected to Supply 500 Solar-Electric Power Systems to Lennar
AstroPower Inc. (Newark, DE) announced that it has been selected by US Home, a division of Lennar Corp. (Miami, FL), to supply at least 500 solar-electric home power systems beginning in 2003 for US Home's new home construction. Under the agreement, US Home will offer AstroPower's solar-electric home power systems as a standard feature within its Bickford Ranch community, located in Lincoln, California. With a goal of 1,000 solar-powered homes, Bickford Ranch would be the world's largest community of single-family, grid-connected, solar-electric-powered homes.
US Home will offer its homebuyers AstroPower's SunUPS solar-electric home power system with battery backup, which provides homeowners with uninterrupted power even during utility outages. Alternatively, homeowners can choose AstroPower's SunLine system, which offers the same packaged components of the SunUPS system without the continuous power option. Both the SunUPS and SunLine systems are fully packaged systems.
“From the day they move in, residents who choose solar-electric power in the Bickford Ranch community will begin saving money,” said Howard Wenger, AstroPower's vice president, Premium Power. “The bottom line is that solar power at Bickford Ranch will be more affordable than today's utility grid power, thanks to streamlined costs realized in new construction, built-in financing and a California incentive rebate that cuts the installed cost in half. Not only that, these residents will send power back to the electricity grid, literally spinning their utility meters backward, while lowering their electric bills. US Home has just brought a healthy dose of good news in the wake of the California energy crisis.”
“The impacts of the Bickford Ranch installation will undoubtedly be recognized throughout the solar power industry as well as the building market,” said Dr. Allen Barnett, president and CEO of AstroPower. “There are no installations like it in the world today. One thousand homeowners -- in one single-family home community -- will reap the benefits of solar-electric power. This provides further evidence that solar-electric power is becoming mainstream.”
