Politics & Government

Supervisor Jeff Stone Takes Advantage of Solar HERO Program

"I wanted to be one of the first to go through our HERO program at WRCOG," said Stone, who flipped the switch to his new system at a brief ceremony, held to spread awareness of the program.

Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone is the latest to go solar under the nation’s largest renewable energy campaign in western Riverside County.

Murrieta-based , the region’s largest solar provider, is leading the charge to roll out the program for homeowners from San Jacinto to Corona and south into Temecula.

The Western Riverside County of Governments has established the to assist homeowners in paying for a solar-powered system.

Find out what's happening in Murrietawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

It will also help pay for other home improvement products with low-interest financing.

There is also no money down and payments are tied to homes' property taxes, which means residents are not required to continue paying if their homes are sold.

Find out what's happening in Murrietawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The program is available to homeowners in 17 cities and the unincorporated areas of western Riverside County.

“I wanted to be one of the first to go through our HERO program at WRCOG,” said Stone, who flipped the switch to his new system recently at a brief ceremony held to spread awareness of the program.

“HERO makes it easy to go solar, reduce energy costs and to create jobs for our region.”

Stone chose HelioPower to install a 14 kW (kilowatt) DC system on his home in Temecula, based on the company’s reputation as the home solar value leader in California.

The company, based in Murrieta, has been consistently ranked among the top in the state for providing reliable energy at one of the lowest costs per watt around.

Pointing to his meter, Stone smiled as he watched it “spin” backwards. “Whatever we don’t use, Edison is buying from us,” Stone explained. “They’ll be grabbing up even more as it gets hotter, particularly with the San Onofre plant down.”

HelioPower's Scott Gordon, senior vice president of sales, said that through HERO, average homeowners can expect to bring their energy costs down considerably with little or nothing out of pocket.

“WRCOG has set up an easy-to-understand program to help incentivize homeowners to make energy-efficiency improvements that save them money and increase the value of their homes,” Gordon said.

“We are proud to be a part of this innovative program as one of its preferred solar integrators.”

“The HERO program has already helped hundreds of people finance solar PV systems, air-conditioners, windows, roofs, and many other products,” said JP McNeill, a HERO program representative.

"The program, launched in December 2011, has received more than 600 applications from property owners looking to finance hundreds of different products.” 

About 4,000 new jobs will be created through the program and roughly 15 million kWh of energy will be saved, according to WRCOG projections.

About $325 million in funding has been raised to date to benefit residential and commercial property owners.

Tax credits also help to decrease costs.

Stone said he hopes to bring his household to a net zero energy consumption to free himself of his monthly electricity bills, which had been running between $700 and $1,100 a month.

A time-lapse video of Stone’s clay tile roof solar installation can be found here.

A list of HERO cities, more information about the HERO program and help to qualify your property can be found here.

About HelioPower
HelioPower is an integrated energy solutions company with almost 3,000 solar and clean energy systems engineered and installed since 2001.

For more information, visit here or call 1-87-SOLAR 888.  


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here