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Top Builders in GE’s Customer Roster for Solar Technology

Many of the country’s largest builders are using GE Energy's solar electric equipment and customer service to meet the growing demand for energy-efficient homes, according to the manufacturer. Especially popular are integrated tile systems that blend seamlessly with the roofline.

Headquartered in Atlanta, GE is a member of the National Council of the Housing Industry — the Supplier 100 of NAHB.

One of the country’s most prominent solar-housing projects — the 1,260-home Terramor Village — will feature GE solar equipment in more than 75% of its homes sited for solar, making it the nation’s largest solar-powered community when it is finished in 2005. Terramor Village is one of six villages comprising Ladera Ranch, an 8,100-unit development in southern Orange County, CA.

Ladera Ranch has served as a springboard for other solar communities being planned and built in New York, New Jersey, Florida, Nevada and other states.

GE Energy’s growing customer roster includes Centex Homes, Clarum Homes, K. Hovnanian, Morrison Homes, Pardee Homes, Premier Homes, Pulte Homes, Richmond American Homes, Shea Homes, Standard Pacific Homes and Warmington Homes California.

Among projects using GE solar equipment:

• One of the first multi-regional builders to make a 100% commitment to ENERGY STAR®, Pardee Homes is partnering with GE on roof-integrated solar technology for Evergreen in Terramor Village and at “Soleil at Bordeaux,” San Diego County’s first community of “Zero Energy Homes” (ZEH). GE products are being used extensively in the Pardee’s LivingSmart program, which will account for 2,400 new energy- and resource-efficient homes by the end of next year, according to Joyce Mason, the company’s vice president of marketing.
• Shea Homes began using GE equipment on some of its first developments in California and is already planning additional projects. “Because of our experience and the response of our home owners to cleaner, renewable energy homes featuring GE’s solar technology, we are already planning our fifth green-living community with GE,” said Bill Pisetsky, vice president of sales and marketing for Shea Homes of Southern California.

While GE’s equipment will generate electricity for the Ladera Ranch and Soleil at Bordeaux homes, any excess power will be fed to the public utility grid, says the manufacturer. Under a local utility “net metering” program, when renewable energy is delivered to the grid, home owners’ meters will spin backwards and yield credits on their utility bills. Both developments are served by San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E).

When solar energy is combined with energy conservation practices, the Terramor Village homes can provide up to 70% of a house’s power requirements using solar electricity. Conservation methods include using fluorescent lighting, tankless water heaters and ENERGY STAR appliances; and exceeding California’s Title 24 building code requirements for energy efficiency.

The desire for reliable, affordable and renewable energy has fueled the solar industry’s 30% annual growth for the past five years, according to GE. That growth is expected to continue at an annual rate of 20% or more, putting it among the fastest-growing renewable energy segments of the global power industry.

GE Energy’s current range of solar energy products includes solar cells, modules and pre-packaged systems. The modules range from 35 to 165 watts, while system designs can range from hundreds of watts to megawatts and can be used in either on-grid or off-grid applications.

GE Energy’s solar equipment is manufactured at its facility in Newark, DE.

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