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In
these times of uncertain energy policy and increasing environmental
degradation due to the extraction and burning of fossil fuels, an exciting
alternative source of energy is solar power. Here in sunny Marin, harnessing
solar energy will not only be good for the environment and your pocketbook,
but it promises to highlight your home, building or business as a model
for alternative energy solutions throughout the Bay Area and beyond.
Our
Vision is to move the communities of Fairfax and Marin County from a
reliance on centrally located, costly, polluting power plants that are
dependent on fossil and nuclear fuels, toward decentralized, locally-owned,
renewable energy sources. Sustainable Fairfax supports individual efforts
to go solar as well as the development of a more responsible countywide
energy policy.
In
2001 we produced a series of Solar Forums designed to educate the public
about current energy policy, introduce ways to conserve energy at home
and demystify the process and technology behind wind and solar power.
For more information follow the links below:
What
is The Solar Cooperative?
As
an outgrowth of Sustainable Fairfax’s Solar Forums, a group of
Marin County residents has formed a solar cooperative made up of potential
purchasers of solar technology as well as community-minded installers,
designers and other technicians involved in the installation process.
The coop, called Cooperative
Community Energy, held its inaugural meeting on Saturday, August
25, 2001.
Cooperative
Community Energy is not affiliated with Sustainable Fairfax. For more
information about what Sustainable Fairfax is doing with regard to Solar
Energy, please visit the Marin Local Energy Council
page.
Help
Make Solar Power a Reality in Marin County
If
you have been considering outfitting your home to harness solar energy,
now is the time; The California Energy Commission’s Buy-down program
rebates up to 50% of your system costs.
Contact
your town councils to inquire if your building inspection team has taken
the educational classes offered through the California Energy Commission
on solar and wind installation for residential and business applications.
For
additional information and legislative updates check our Community
Choice section.
The
First Step of Conservation
Solar
equipment can be expensive, and the best way to reduce the overall cost
is to make your home as energy efficient as possible BEFORE designing
your solar system. If you are considering joining us in the bulk purchase
of solar equipment for your home or business, we ask that you review
"Energy
Efficiency: First Things First" by the Rocky Mountain Institute.
Remember, as your energy efficiency increases the cost of a solar system
decreases!
Once
you've reviewed "Energy
Efficiency: First Things First," please see our Steps
to Going Solar page for next steps. For more comprehensive information
on energy-related areas please see these other documents published by
RMI:
Solar
Open House
Ben
Macri & Ruth Dunmire are holding an open house to allow the community
to see the "nuts & bolts" of their solar grid intertie
system from noon-3 pm on Saturday, May 12, 2001. Their home is located
at 7 Olive Avenue (off Center Blvd., near Yolanda Station) in San Anselmo.
Come and learn how you can benefit the earth by using the sun's clean,
free energy!
Since
parking is limited, please park on San Anselmo Avenue, or better yet
walk or ride a bike to Ben's place! For more information, contact Ben
or Ruth at (415) 459-7595.
Follow-up
to the Earth Day Solar Energy Forum
Sustainable
Fairfax will host a follow-up event to our Earth Day Solar Energy Forum
which drew about 500 people. This event will take place on Wednesday,
May 2, from 6:30-8:30 pm at the Fairfax Women’s Club and will continue
the discussion of a bulk purchase of solar merchandise. A short film
on solar installation Residential Solar Electricity with Johnny Weiss
will also be shown.
This
event is open to anyone interested in bulk purchasing solar merchandise—you
do not need to be a Fairfax resident to participate. Bring a copy
of your last PG&E bill. We will discuss the steps towards installing
solar components on your home/business.
More
About the Film: Residential Solar Electricity with Johnny Weiss
At
Solar Energy International in Carbondale, Colorado, Johnny Weiss and
his partner, Ken Olson, teach the practical use of renewable energy
technologies to students from all over the world. Johnny has been teaching,
designing and installing solar electric Photovoltaic systems for over
fifteen years. In this video, Johnny gives and demonstrates practical
answers to the questions most asked by homeowners as they consider the
purchase and installation of their own solar electric system, including:
- What
are the basic components of a residential PV system?
-
How do you wire Photovoltaic modules?
-
What’s the best way to mount Photovoltaic modules?
-
What are trackers, and when are they appropriate?
-
What is a solar pathfinder, and how do you use it to site your PV
array?
-
What are charge controllers used for?
-
What voltage system is best for residential use?
-
Why are inverters such an important part of PV system design?
-
Should I use AC or DC appliances?
-
What do I need to know about Photovoltaic storage batteries?
-
How do I wire the battery terminals for trouble-free operation?
-
What are the functions of the various pieces of safety equipment,
and how are they wired together?
-
How much does PV power cost for the average home?
Sustainable
Fairfax is committed to supporting all age groups in the community,
to work together to regenerate and preserve the social, economic and
environmental well-being of Fairfax. For more information, contact the
Hotline. If possible we prefer e-mail correspondence for Solar Committee
inquires.
Summary
of the First Follow Up to the Earth Day Solar Forum
Sustainable
Fairfax hosted an event at the Women’s club in Fairfax on May 2nd,
showing a film on solar installation and sharing information on the
first steps towards installing solar components on a home or business.
This
followed an Earth day forum that drew over 500 people. One solution
to the energy crisis dealing with the rate hikes by now-bankrupt PG&E
is to put up solar panels and that is what over 100 Marin County residents
and businesses are looking into. The
Good Earth Health Food Store and O’Donnell’s Fairfax Nursery
are two Fairfax businesses currently involved with the process.
Over
100 residents who signed a list saying they wanted to be involved in
a collective purchase were in attendance for the Wednesday evening event.
The evening also emphasized the need for conservation and collective
purchasing of energy efficient appliances.
Summary
of the Earth Day Solar Forum
The
Fairfax Women’s Club was the site of Sustainable Fairfax’s
Solar Energy Forum that attracted about 500 people.
The
Organization’s cofounder, Odessa Wolff stated ”I felt really
excited by just the numbers of people who showed up- and I was disappointed
not to have the space available to accommodate them.” (The Women’s
Club holds about 200.) “About 300 people were not able to get into
the event. As I sat at the table in front of the event I was struck
by how many people just kept coming and coming and the amount of interest
indicated by the numbers of people coming by. It was fantastic outside.”
Participants at the event, speakers and organizers alike, had set up
demonstration solar panels that ran a radio and a video. There was also
a solar oven which one of the children used to bake cookies. “So
many people came up to me with great ideas of things we can do as a
community. Many expressed a willingness to participate in a lot of different
areas.”
The
day began with fiddle music by John Caulfield, followed by the panel
of 4 speakers. Author Peter Asmus spoke about the Energy Industry, the
Energy Crisis, and the evolution and movement toward alternative technologies,
such as wind and solar power. He was followed by Paul Fenn of Local
Power, author of the Community Choice legislation currently before the
Sacramento legislature, carried by Rep. Carole Migden, which would allow
communities to aggregate and distribute energy as well as qualify for
large amounts of money toward renewables. He is currently consulting
with Tom Ammiano and San Francisco Board of supervisors on a solar energy
system that would generate 50 megawatts of power, currently the largest
program in the United States.
Ben
Macri of San Anselmo who owns both a solar home and an electric car,
and works as a solar consultant while teaching in the Applied Science
Department at the City College of San Francisco, was the third speaker.
He designed and built his own solar system, which is now up and running
and often he watches his energy meter run backwards. Ben combined a
visual and spoken accounting of the reasons to go solar and the breakdown
of energy costs based on the type of appliances in your home.
Solar FAQ's
How did the idea for a co-op come
about?
On Earth Day, Sustainable Fairfax held its Solar Energy
forum, which happened to coincide with the biggest energy "crisis" since
the mid-70's gasoline shortages. Hundreds of citizens attended the event
and the follow-up of interest was overwhelming. Sustainable Fairfax
had organized the event to make people aware of solar energy options
and to instigate community action to come up with our own solutions
to the energy "crisis". The co-op is a solution that evolved out of
a series of meetings and investigations over the ensuing two months.
It will give a lot of people what they say they want: lower cost clean
renewable energy equipment and quality installation services.
The initial strategy was to organize a bulk purchase
of photovoltaic equipment. The purpose of a bulk order was to aggregate
the demand for a product to take advantage of volume discount pricing
and to provide leverage to negotiate the best prices. In the course
of our research into the solar equipment market, we have learned a lot
about its pricing structures and dynamics.
Our first thought was to select a local distributor
and place a large order for the equipment they carry in hopes of getting
some price break based on the size of the order. This approach had the
benefit of simplicity and expediency, but fell far short of our expectations
regarding discount pricing and selection.
Our next strategy was to widen our search to include
the equipment and suppliers that have been approved by the California
Energy Commission. We researched the equipment to better understand
what is most appropriate for our typical homeowner and contacted the
suppliers to negotiate the best prices.
Based on the estimated size of the orders over the next
several months (about 2 megawatts) a number of industry experts, including
the distributors, recommended that we go directly to the manufacturers
to get the best prices. By doing this, we would be acting as a wholesaler/distributor,
and would need to structure a business entity, such as a buyer's co-op,
to process the orders.
There was a lot of discussion about creating installation
services, and installation services may be included in the future, but
for now we want to get equipment and start getting installations started
by selecting well qualified independent installation professionals in
our community. We have come to appreciate that the long-term success
of renewable energy depends on vigilant compliance to rigorous engineering
standards, so we are building processes by which we will ensure a high
level of quality for the installations done for for our members.
Will I be able to choose the
product/manufacture, or am I limited to specific products?
The California Energy Commission has published a list
of approved equipment that qualifies for the "buydown" rebate
program. For solar installations, the primary components are the photovoltaic
modules ("solar panels") and the inverters that convert the
DC power to AC that can be used in your existing home wiring and sold
back to the grid. You can see the lists for PV
modules and inverters
on the CEC
web site.
Since the buydown rebate is so compelling, it makes
sense to base our selection on these components. To reduce the scope
of our efforts to a manageable level, we have decided to eliminate those
components that are not likely to be of interest to our members. For
example, we decided to only research the solar modules that are 75 watts
and larger. After further research, we narrowed our focus from 94 module
choices to 14 choices for our members, which should still be plenty.
Most people who responded to the Market
Survey indicated that they wanted us to make specific equipment
recommendations and keep the list short and simple. If there is a particular
module that you simply must have, then you are free to suggest it; we
may ask you to help do the research for pricing and availability.
What are the advantages
of a Co-op vs a Non-Profit?
A clarification may in order. The terms "non-profit
organization" and "co-operative" are pretty much mutually exclusive
in the legal sense. This distinction is muddled by sometimes conflicting
State and Federal laws on the matter. I didn't realize the distinctions,
myself, until we got pretty far along in the planning process for this
co-op, but here's how I understand it. A non-profit organization must
work for the good of the public community without favoring any group
or organization. A co-operative organization works for the benefit of
its members, though it may, and often does, also provide significant
benefits to the community at large. State law has placed co-ops in the
category of "non-profit" to distinguish them from standard "for-profit"
corporations; this is mainly due to the requirement that a co-op distribute
its "profits" to its members, so the co-op itself does not show a profit
at the end of the year. So, the co-op resides in a middle ground between
"non-profit" and "for-profit" that provides many of the benefits of
each.
Since a non-profit cannot act on the behalf of specific
individuals, such as those wishing to purchase solar equipment, it is
not the right type of organization for such an activity. We could not
qualify as a non-profit organization under IRS rules. A co-op, on the
other hand, is ideally suited to this type of activity; in fact, they
were developed for the specific purpose of helping individuals organize
their economic resources for their common good, such as agricultural
co-ops. Food co-ops operate on a similar principle whereby individuals
band together to aggregate their purchases to get goods at wholesale
prices and pass along the savings to the members. This co-op was formed
to serve the same purpose, aggregation of demand, but to purchase solar
equipment instead of food.
A co-op is a democratically controlled organization,
whereas a non-profit organization is not. This means that a co-op must
be more responsive to the needs of its members, reflecting the needs
of the communities in which those members live. It is typical for co-op
members to vote to allocate funds for community based projects and organizations
rather than distribute their "profits" amongst themselves. This gives
a co-operative organization a certain amount of economic leverage to
fund "good works" in their communities that might otherwise go unfunded
by municipal or other government entities.
We are aware of other groups in the Bay Area that are
forming co-ops similar to our own. This is great news because it will
make it possible for us to co-operate with them to further aggregate
our purchasing power for lower prices. This aggregation will also give
us leverage to make the market, from manufacturers to system integraters
to installers, more responsive to the needs of our communities. It will
also help to define a larger market into which manufacturers can sell,
which will spur them to invest in more manufacturing facilities (maybe
in our community) and further lower the cost of equipment.
Will someone determine what
I need to install, or do I have to figure it out all by myself?
This really depends on you. We can perform an initial
site inspection to determin whether your location is even a good candidate
for solar energy, or whether other options might be more appropriate.
We can discuss with you a set of equipment options ranging from individual
components to fully pre-engineered systems that may be suitable for
your situation and sizing requirements. We can also provide additional
services such as filing all of the necessary paperwork for state rebates
and local permits and arranging inspections.
If you want further technical assistance, there are
a number of local solar designers who can help you perform an energy
audit and make recommendations regarding conservation, system sizing,
and specific equipment. These services are not free, of course, but
will make the overall process much easier for members.
If you want to design your own system, there are plenty
of resources to guide you. Subscribe to Home
Power magazine to get up to date information regarding equipment
and see examples of systems that people have installed for themselves.
There are plenty of online resources.
Participate in meetings and talk to other members regarding
their projects and plans. Take a training seminar. Share your information.
There are over 200 people who have signed up to be involved in this
effort. We are all going through the same process, so we have a great
opportunity to support each other and be good neighbors.
To facilitate the sharing of information, we have set
up an online "community" on this yahoo groups site. You are
invited to join
this group to gain access to the resources on the site and participate
on the mailing list. To subscribe to the group list, send an email to
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
and you will automatically be added.
Who will install the system
and what will the warranty be on the product and the labor?
As with the system design, you may either hire a licensed
contractor to install the equipment or do it yourself. Again, deferring
to the CEC
requirements, if you hire a contractor, that person must have an
appropriate C-10 or C-46 contractor's license to do the work. We are
researching local contractors and will provide a list of qualified contractors
available for referrals.
If you decide to install your own system on your own
home, you do not need to have a contractor's license. However, common
sense would dictate that a novice "do-it-yourselfer" should
have an experienced electrician involved at some point to inspect the
work before "throwing the switch".
To qualify for the buydown rebate, the CEC requires
that the retailer must provide a 5 year warranty on the equipment and
the installer must provide a 5 year warranty on the labor. However,
the typical manufacturer's warranty for PV modules is around 20 - 25
years.
What if I want to install the
system myself; will there be help available to guide me?
If you want to "do-it-yourself", there are
plenty of resources to guide you. One of the goals of this community
effort is to bring you and your neighbors together to learn from each
other and share your information and experiences.
In years past, people would organize "barn raisings",
where the community would gather to help a farmer erect a new barn,
with the understanding that today's beneficiary of neighborly assistance
will be eager to help when it's someone else who needs to put up a barn.
Same principle applies, here. Give and receive. Receive and give.
Our primary concern is safety. Remember that you are
dealing with electrical equipment that can generate thousands of watts
of power. You are also going to be on a roof high above the ground.
Be careful! To help prepare members for work on each other's
installations, we will sponsor a series of training seminars as well
as hands-on workshops to familiarize you with the equipment and develop
safe procedures.
Do I have to get all the permits
myself?
Co-operative Community Energy will handle this for you
as part of the service you receive as a member. However, you may do
this yourself. To simplify the process, we hope to publish a list of
steps and appropriate municipal contacts on this web site.
How long does it take to get permits
and how much will it cost?
We are still in the process of investigating this. Every
municipality is different. We are working with a PV expert who is planning
a training session for building permit and inspection departments in
Marin to make them more familiar with solar installations. We hope this
will make them more receptive to solar system projects and shorten the
approval process. It will also provide a forum for them to meet the
contractors who will be doing the installation, increasing the chances
of a successful inspection.
We are still looking for volunteers to contact and work
with the local municipal authorities to streamline the process and identify
potential issues, such as scenic corridor requirements, that will affect
a solar installation project.
I have funds now available, how
long will it take to get my system installed and running?
Good question - hard to answer, since there are many
factors and steps to get to completion.
Once an order has been placed, delivery of components
may take 3 weeks or more. Some manufacturers are taking orders now for
October delivery; luckily there are alternatives that are more readily
available.
Once the equipment arrives, it needs to be installed.
If you are doing the installation yourself, the time frame is really
up to you. Think of this as a project on par with a kitchen or bathroom
remodeling job. You are the best judge of your abilities, here.
If you have decided to have a licensed contractor do
the installation, you need to schedule time with the installer. You
will find that most, if not all, of them are extremely busy right now
and are scheduling jobs now for September installations.
Once the job is complete, you will need to get a local
building inspector to visit your home and approve the work. We are working
with local municipal authorities to streamline this process.
Finally, you will need to get a PG&E inspector to
visit your home and sign off on the work.
Flip the switch... you're solar powered!
I don't have funds available.
Are there programs available that will help me finance my solar system?
Yes.
The California Energy Commission has a list
of companies financing solar, wind and other energy systems. Also,
many lending institutions that have traditionally shied away from financing
solar installations have now changed their attitudes, in light of the
current energy "crisis" in California, and are eager to finance
the flurry of purchases now underway. Rumor has it that Wells Fargo
has decided to be the "Solar Bank" for financing solar installations.
There are also a
number of other incentive programs available to help homeowners
with the financial aspects of going solar.
How much will a solar system
cost and will it cover all my electrical needs?
The cost of a solar electric system will depend on how
much power you consume and what portion of your total energy needs you
want to supply with solar power. Here is a quick example that should
give you a rough idea of the investment, followed by some steps to guide
you through your own analysis.
Quick Example: A 2 kilowatt system should put a significant
dent in your PG&E bill and will cost about $19,000 (before rebates)
if purchased from a local retailer here in Marin. The California Energy
Commission "buydown" program offers a rebate of $4.50 per
watt up to 50% of the cost, so this example system could get a rebate
of around $8,850. (Yeah, smarty-pants, we know that $4.50 x 2,000 watts
= $9,000, but the CEC applies various other factors in their calculations,
such as inverter efficiency and past usage patterns.) Anyway, final
cost for this example would be around $10,150 after rebate. Your system
will be different.
Your analysis: Take a look at your PG&E bill. On
page 3 you should find a section called the "Electric Account Detail".
There are two figures, here, of interest:
- Usage - this shows how much electricity you consumed
over the course of the month, expressed in units called "kilowatt
hours". Typical usage for a modest 2-bedroom home will range
between 350 and 700 Kwh (kilowatt hours).
Technical Note: A "watt" is a unit
of power, but it is an instantaneous measure; the "hours"
add the time element. Here is an example by way of an analogy: Your
car runs out of gas. You can apply muscle power to push the car
(think "watts" here) but you will need to apply that power
over a period of time to push the car to the nearest gas station
a block away (think "hours" here, though it should only
take a few minutes). You will have expended energy (measured in
units called "foot pound minutes").
- Kwh per day - This is in the heavy border box at
the bottom of the page (or at the top of the next page), right next
to the "Electric Kwh" figure that looks suspiciously like
your "Usage" figure. The Kwh per day breaks the monthly
figure down to a daily figure. This is important because you want
to compare your daily usage with the amount of power that you can
generate each day while the sun is shining on your home.
This area gets an average of about 5.5 hours of "usable"
sunlight each day; more in the summer, less in the winter. Using the
2 Kw system in our previous example, we could generate about 11 Kwh
of power each day. Do the math: 2 Kw x 5.5 hours = 11 Kwh. A 3Kw system
would yield 16.5 Kwh daily.
Technical Note: The National Renewable Energy Lab
publishes figures
for Solar Radiation for various localities across the US. The figures
for San Francisco are available here
and here
in spreadsheet format.
Resist the urge to rush out to buy your solar panels.
The first step is to conserve. We cannot emphasize this enough.
A popular rule of thumb is that each dollar you spend on reducing your
consumption (switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs and more efficient
appliances) will translate into a 5 dollar savings in terms of solar
equipment that you will not have to spend.
The next point to consider is that you may not want
to completely eliminate your dependency on PG&E by producing all
of your own power and getting "off the grid", as attractive
as that may sound. There are some very practical reasons for this:
- The California Energy Commission "buydown"
program is only available to homeowners who stay connected to the
grid and are able to feed power to the grid. This is called a "grid
tie" system. No grid tie, no rebate. An "off grid"
system will have the added expense of storage batteries to provide
power at night. A "grid tie" uses the grid itself as a storage
medium. However, many homeowners are opting for hybrid systems that
are connected to the grid but also have back-up batteries to avoid
the affects of rolling blackouts.
- When you are producing more power than you are using,
you will run your meter backwards and get credit off of your PG&E
bill. This is called a "Net Credit", and it reduces the
amount you owe PG&E. However, PG&E is not required to pay
you for all the electricity you feed into the grid. If you reduce
your PG&E bill to zero, that is all you will get "paid"
for your excess electricity. After that, you are just subsidizing
PG&E with your free electricity. Is that really what you intend
to do?
- Your investment payback period will be determined
by the utility costs that you offset by your solar installation, i.e.
the money you would have spent on utility power. Since the utility
rates are tiered and increase by usage, you will find it most cost
effective to replace that portion of your bill that is above your
baseline usage, since that is the most expensive power that you are
currently purchasing.
How much will I save by working
with the co-op rather than contacting solar retailers and installers?
The co-op can help you save on the equipment costs (not
the labor costs) by getting prices that are close to wholesale prices.
Retailers will charge a markup of anywhere from 20% - 40%. A group in
Southern California recently did a bulk order. Using their experience
as a guide, the savings can be substantial. A quick example for a 2.4Kw
PV system:
- Kyocera KC120-1 120 watt Solar
Module (105.7 watt CEC rating)
- 20 panels = 2,400 watts
- Catalog price: $14,640
- Bulk price: $10,780
- Savings : $3,860 or 26% off
- Trace SW4048 Sinewave Inverter
(95% CEC efficiency)
- Catalog price: $3,495
- Bulk price: $2,319
- Savings : $1,176 or 33% off
- Trace PC250 Power Center
- Catalog price: $1,495
- Bulk price: $1,259
- Savings : $236 or 16% off
These are just the major components, and don't include
meters, wiring, etc.
- Total (Based on these components)
- Catalog price: $19,630
- Bulk price: $14,358
- Savings : $5,272 or 27% off
These are all eligible for the CEC Buy-down rebate of
$4.50 per watt, up to 50% of cost.
- Applying the CEC rebates:
- Catalog price: $19,630 - $9,037 = $10,593
- Bulk price: $14,358 - $7,179 = $7,179
- Savings : $3,414 or 32% off
Of course, this example is not a guarantee that we will
get the same prices.
How can I learn more about the
"nuts & bolts" of solar installation?
There are many resources, such as books, magazines,
and web sites devoted to the practical applications of solar electric
systems. The California Energy Commission is sponsoring a series of
two-day
workshops on Designing & Installing Code-Compliant Photovoltaic
(PV) Systems. These workshops are specifically geared toward Electricians,
Electrical Contractors, Solar Contractors, Inspectors & Engineers,
though anyone can attend. We are working with the trainer to set up
a workshop here in Marin.
Many others involved in the co-op have asked for training,
so we are planning to sponsor a series of training sessions with Reinhold
Ziegler, Bill Brooks, and other industry experts who have been involved
in solar power installations for many years.
Visit a local solar "Open House" to see how
others in our community have successfully installed solar equipment
at their homes. The Northern California Solar Energy Association is
sponsoring a day of Solar
Home Tours on Saturday, October 13.
Talk to other co-op members who are in the process of
installing their systems. Volunteer to help in the installation and
get some "hands on" experience.
I want a solar water heating
system, will you be "bulk purchasing" these as well?
Perhaps. We have decided to focus on the solar electric
equipment for now. However, based on our experience, we may initiate
similar programs for solar heating equipment, wind turbines, micro-hydro
turbines, fuel cells, and energy-efficient appliances.
I want to install wind turbines,
will you be "bulk purchasing" these too?
As above.
How do I get additional information
and stay informed on the current status of "Co-operative Community
Energy"?
The Co-operative
Community Energy web site on yahoo groups is updated often, so check
the site for news and notifications. This site also has technical information
regarding solar equipment as well as a mailing list, calendar, and resource
links.
How can I help? And, who do
I contact?
We encourage you to help by joining a committee to research
installer contractors, establish contacts within the various municipal
building departments, and publish a newsletter.
To help us get a better idea of our needs and numbers,
please fill out our Solar
Purchase Survey and send it in.
You can also contact Daniel Pellegrini directly at 415-256-1748.
Home-scale, applied Permaculture
Saturdays in downtown Fairfax this Summer!
Every 2nd and 4th Saturday from July 8th through October 29th Sustainable
Fairfax is conducting a hands-on workshop in the backyard of what will
become the Sustainability Center at 141 Bolinas Road.
Click here for more info...
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When Ray Martin opened the Scoop in 2001, he was the first Bay Area entrepreneur to sell organic ice cream flavored with sustainably sourced and local ingredients, such as on organic ice cream base from Straus organic creamery in Marshall, strawberries from Russ Sartori's farm in Tomales, raspberries from Mt. Barnabe Farms in San Geronimo, lavender and honey grown in West Marin. Fairfax Scoop has gone on to become one of Marin's hottest destinations for ice cream served in cookie-like, waffled cones and cups made fresh, on the premises, also from organic ingredients. A dozen flavors are served at any time; these always include one soy ice cream and one sorbet.
