Kelly Lady was a happy energy services consultant for Austin Utilities Monday.

Lady visited Good Earth Natural Foods, Jay C. Hormel Nature Center and Worlein Funeral Home and handed out rebate checks Monday for their participation in Austin Utilities’ Solar Choice program.

“As a municipal utility, we are here to provide a benefit to our customers,” Lady said. “If our customers are interested in installing renewable energy projects, we are here to support them and help them along the way.”

Every unit of electricity produced by solar is a unit that does not need to be produced by burning fossil fuels. Surveys have shown that most people prefer solar electricity over other forms of energy production and want to see solar energy used on a greater scale.

Solar Choice makes solar electricity affordable by connecting customers who want to produce solar electricity with other customers who want to support the development of renewable energy by paying a small premium on their utility bill. Customers can actively promote the development of local renewable energy in their communities by becoming either Solar Choice producers or Solar Choice purchasers.

The program is unique in that it encourages the installation of local, clean, renewable energy by relying on free-market supply and demand principles rather than rebates, tax incentives, or other government subsidies. This allows Austin Utilities’ customers to choose whether or not they want to support renewable energy development in the community.

The Good Earth Natural Goods generated 880 watts; the Nature Center, 1,400; and Worlein Funeral Home, 3,000 with their own photovoltaic projects.

This was the third year for Good Earth’s participation, the second for the Nature Center’s and the first for Worlein Funeral Home.

Monday’s clear blue skies and bright sunshine were the perfect backdrop to see Worlein Funeral Home’s project at work.

“There is one set of eight and one set of seven panels. They are south-facing and at an angle that is good the year around,” Paul Worlein said. “They should collect very well and very efficiently.”

The owner of Worlein Funeral Home eagerly shows off is photovoltaic project at the funeral home located along Fourth Street Northwest in Austin across from Oakwood Cemetery.

“They will be collecting from the time the sun comes up to sunset each day,” Worlein said. “The best time of the year will be around June 21, when the sun is at its highest point in the sky.”

Worlein spent nearly two years studying renewable energy projects before deciding on the solar panels. He was originally interested in wind energy.

“We have a flat roof with a southern exposure that was ideal for the situation,” he said.

“We had to first find out if it was 1), practical, and 2) affordable,” he said.

Worlein contacted the only certified solar installer in the Upper Midwest: Innovative Power Systems (IPS) of Minneapolis.

Fourteen months passed with more meticulous study before the project was commissioned.

The system can produce a maximum of 3,000 watts, converting direct current to alternating current, with a special inverter device.

The system began operating Feb. 9.

Worlein Funeral Home was built in 1993 and every energy efficiency available was incorporated in the building.

An energy audit by Austin Utilities has helped the building retain its energy integrity.

Through the years, other efficiencies have been pursued, including most recently CFL bulbs.

According to Worlein, he has received several inquiries from other greater Austin business-owners who are interested in renewable energy projects that could be installed at their facilities.

Worlein plans to give programs at local churches and civic organizations about his renewable energy project in order to encourage others to “go green.”

“It’s was satisfying when it was commission to know that we can sit back for 25 to 30 years and let the system work by itself,” he said.

Since being turned on Feb. 5, the photovoltaic system has generated 925 kilowatt hours.

Do the math: 3 months equal 925 kilowatt hours times four equals a sun-shining example how good going green really is.

“Right now 10 percent of the electricity energy Austin Utilities provides its customers comes from wind,” Lady said. “It comes from the wind turbines near Dexter.”

“Those wind turbines put energy onto the grid and those energy molecules aren’t necessarily making it here to Austin,” she added.

“We know the people who are in our Solar Choice program are creating and using renewable energy right here in our community,” she said.

For more information about Solar Choice, go on-line to the Austin Utilities web site www.austinutilities.com and connect to the Solar Choice link or call Lady at 433-8886.