Sep 27 2007
Today at the Solar Power 2007 conference, Lennar Corporation's Sacramento Division will receive the Solar Electric Power Association's (SEPA) 2007 Award for Solar Business Achievement in the category of "Partnering for Success." Lennar is being recognized as a leader in building new homes equipped with solar power, and for securing its leadership position through partnerships with SunPower Corporation and utility providers PG&E, Roseville Electric and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD).
In the Sacramento region, the homebuilder has planned to build 18 Lennar SOLARplus communities, representing nearly 2,000 new homes with solar power systems. Each home is equipped with a SunPower SunTile solar power system as a standard feature. The SunTile system integrates with the roof construction and features the highest efficiency solar cells available on the commercial market. In addition to the solar power systems, Lennar incorporates energy-efficient features into these homes, further reducing monthly home energy bills.
"For homeowners, the benefits of Lennar's energy-efficient homes with solar are two-fold: they can achieve significant savings on their utility bills and they can feel good about producing their own clean, renewable energy," said Bill Kelly, general manager of SunPower's New Homes division.
"As a result, it's not surprising that sales of Lennar's SOLARplus homes have been outpacing neighboring, comparable homes without solar power systems."
"The SunPower solar power systems are well integrated into our homes' design and look great. They operate simply, requiring no effort by our customers to enjoy the monthly savings," said Jeff Panasiti, president of Lennar Homes' Sacramento division. "As a builder, including roof integrated solar in the homes' construction makes great sense. We're very pleased to receive this recognition from SEPA for our efforts and those of our valued partners."
As a result of its success in the Sacramento area, more Lennar Divisions are investigating how they can incorporate solar in their new offerings. Lennar's Bay Area Division is working with PG&E and recently announced that all of its new homes will include solar. Lennar opened its first solar community of 77 homes in February.