APS, solar industry at odds on value of power from rooftop units

Arizona Public Service Co. and the solar industry have published conflicting studies estimating the value of rooftop solar panels, foreshadowing a debate that will determine the future of the budding solar industry in Arizona.

The APS report says that people with rooftop solar are being overpaid for the excess electricity they generate, which is directed to the power grid when they are not using it. The solar-industry report said those customers are being underpaid and that their solar panels provide value to the utility by helping APS avoid expenses like new power plants.

The two sides are making their arguments as APS prepares to ask regulators in July for a reduction in its credits. The five Arizona Corporation Commissioners will decide whether to keep or alter the payments.

Read more: APS, solar industry at odds on value of power from rooftop units

Scottsdale entrepreneur thinks inside the box

Peter Corbett / Arizona Republic Charles Sidi shows the prototype of his BizBox invention a mobile building with solar panels that can be used for a variety of uses, including as a sales office, trade show display or medical clinic.


Business innovators often talk about thinking outside the box.

Scottsdale homebuilder Charles Sidi did that to come up with BizBox, a mobile, solar building with glass walls, display panels and a wraparound deck that can be set up in about 20 minutes.

The steel-frame units can be used as portable offices, stores, restaurants, medical clinics, emergency-services headquarters and trade-show displays, Sidi said.

"It's far better than a vendor trailer," he said. "It's a comfortable space to operate out of."

It is a different kind of business real estate that Sidi notes is all about "location, location, location."

Priced at $129,950, the just-launched cubes weigh about 7,500 pounds. The BizBox space extends to 26 feet long by 8 ½-feet wide and 10 feet high.

The BizBox can also be leased from Equipment Leasing Services of Scottsdale for $1,800 per month.

BizBox opened its 2,000-square-foot showroom in Scottsdale this week at 15855 Greenway-Hayden Loop, Suite 160.

Sidi and investment partner Rick Sikorski took their BizBox prototype on the road this past week to Toronto for a franchise industry trade show.

A ¾-ton truck can pull the BizBox, which has its own 50-gallon water tank, a gasoline generator, heating and cooling and solar panels with battery-pack energy storage.

A skylight, efficient LED lighting and 3-inch walls complete BizBox's features.

"It's not just green wash," Sidi said. "We're serious about its green features."

BizBox can be wrapped with branding murals touting products and businesses.

A BizBox food or yogurt shop of about 220 square feet could seat up to 10 people.

Sidi, a British native from Manchester, had been in commercial development for more than 20 years. He moved to Scottsdale in 2006 and built custom homes here until the housing market faltered.

He started sketching his BizBox idea a year ago and the prototype recently was finished.

"I wasn't prepared to sit around and be defeated by the economy," Sidi said.

His partner, Sikorski, founded Fitness Together, a personal-training franchise, and Elements Therapeutic Massage. He sold both entities in 2006.

Progressive Industries in Phoenix, which is assembling the BizBox units, has been manufacturing custom trailers for about 30 years, owner Bob Wilson said.

"I think this is the neatest thing," Wilson said of BizBox. "It's unique and has a lot of uses."

by Peter Corbett The Arizona Republic Oct. 10, 2011 01:27 PM




Scottsdale entrepreneur thinks inside the box

2 big solar projects mulled for W. Valley

by Rebekah L. Sanders The Arizona Republic May. 25, 2010 12:00 AM

Two solar arrays that could become among the country's largest are being planned in the West Valley.

Luke Air Force Base in Glendale is preparing to install solar panels this fall that would generate 60 percent of the base's electricity by 2011 and could eclipse solar projects at other U.S. military bases, according to Lt. Col. John Thomas, head of the base's civil-engineer squadron.

"We want to take care of the land we have and leave it better for tomorrow," he said.

Meanwhile, homebuilder DMB Associates is proposing a solar field nearly twice the size of Luke's on 200 acres at its Buckeye housing development Verrado, senior vice president of operations Tom Lucas said this week.

Verrado is near Interstate 10, west of 195th Avenue. Solon Corp., a photovoltaic solar-panel manufacturer based in Tucson, would supply the panels.

DMB's project is one of 50 renewable-energy proposals that Arizona Public Service is considering. APS had requested proposals for projects that would add to the utility company's alternative-energy portfolio.

APS would not say when a winning project would be chosen. Luke is not part of the APS proposals.

"We've cared about the environment ever since we started building master-planned communities," Lucas said. "We want to add solar energy to the portfolio of DMB."

The solar plans were touted as advances toward sustainability in the West Valley at a panel discussion May 18 sponsored by Valley Forward, a non-profit that promotes balancing economic development and environmental quality.

Glendale Mayor Elaine Scruggs, a panelist, noted the city's efforts to cut electricity use by replacing incandescent bulbs with more efficient lighting and partnering with a company that turns the city's landfill gas into power.

Scruggs advocated better statewide transportation planning to improve sustainability.

Funding for transit has plummeted with the economy and state budget cuts, forcing cities to reduce bus and transit services, she said.


2 big solar projects mulled for W. Valley