Case Studies
With multiple Renova installations operating successfully throughout our Valley we thought that you might be interested in our scrapbook of photos…you might just recognize your neighbor's home or the commercial installation just up the street!
"The desert has such abundant sunshine--it seems crazy not to use it!
We decided to invest in our future—and reduced our electric bill by half by just making a few energy-saving changes—even before we installed our solar panels. Renova’s energy efficiency experts first analyzed our existing energy use, then identified energy-saving measures we could take, complete with cost and payback information.
They handled all the paperwork for the rebates and tax incentives. Best of all, implementing energy-saving measures first also meant that we needed 25% fewer solar panels, which saved us a substantial amount of money. All this and Renova also provided unparalleled customer service. We’re very pleased."
Dick & Jan Storbo
La Quinta Case Study
The Challenge: A young couple who are in the Valley only six months out of the year experience high electric bills in a four-year old, Southwestern-style home with pool. They plan on moving into the home full time in 10 years and until that time want to eliminate their electric cost and lower their gas bills. They also want the option of adding more solar collection capability should they have the need once full-time residents.
The Criteria: This home is a solar installer's dream with plenty of flat, unobstructed roof space, a great true-south facing direction and plenty of garage space for the inverters to silently convert their direct current (DC) to alternating current (AC) for their grid tied connection. If we were simply solar installers we would install based on their current needs. However, it's wrong to simply add a solar solution to a home in need of some serious efficiency upgrades.
Since increasing energy efficiency and cost savings is our first goal in this 2,600 square foot home, we have set aggressive energy target savings with the homeowner's blessings. We intend to tighten up the home's energy use so that we can install a system that will be 25% less costly after these efficiencies.
"Renova Solar did a great job with the photovoltaic solar installation at the Whitewater Preserve. Our site is owned and managed by The Wildlands Conservancy, a California non-profit company dedicated to preserving our beautiful natural landscapes and introducing children to the wonder of nature. We talked to many different solar companies before finding and choosing Renova, and we chose them because they had a different approach. They weren't just trying to sell a product, they were looking at our project from the perspective of a good craftsman. Our goal was to become a net producer of energy as an organization, and Renova did not just look to produce energy by selling a solar system. The first conversation we had really focused on energy efficiency, and secondly on how large of an installation would be necessary. During the process of installation, the Renova team was easy to work with because they were consistently solution-oriented, unafraid to look at our project from different perspectives to find the best fit for our location. They never just told us what we wanted, but worked openly with us.
Renova is now updating an off the grid solar system for our non-profit, and we are planning future work here at Whitewater in modernizing our water pumping systems. Thanks, Renova!"
Frazier Haney
Preserve Manager
The Wildlands Conservancy
Whitewater Preserve Case Study
The Challenge: The Whitewater Preserve is 2,851 acres surrounded by the Bureau of Land Management San Gorgonio Wilderness and owned by the non-profit The Wildlands Conservancy. The Preserve area includes the 291-acre former Whitewater Trout Farm (founded in 1939) and lies at the end of Whitewater Canyon Road, north of Palm Springs off Interstate 10, and is an important portal into the San Gorgonio Wilderness and preserve lands.
The preserve’s close proximity to the Coachella Valley makes it ideally situated for outdoor education programs.
Previously, it used pumping from four stations for 20 hours per day and at a cost of nearly $16,000 per month in utility costs. As it is located in Southern California Edison’s utility zone, this non profit organization knew they would have to hedge their future utility cost as they delivered on their core mission to preserve and present wilderness areas in a low impact manner.
The Criteria: The overriding goal was to ensure the system could be positioned to absorb the greatest amount of energy from the sun without being too intrusive within the natural landscape. Renova’s designers went to work to determine the best solution that would deliver the greatest results in the most cost effective manner. They decided to create a hybrid system of roof and ground mount with an equal amount of modules each so as to remain symmetrical while using the least amount of space within the shortest range of the grid connection point.
