Premier Power Helps KB Home Build Solar Community in California

El Dorado Hills, Calif. (PRWeb) January 15, 2007 -- Last year, California established itself as the nation's major player in the renewable energy market, enacting the largest solar policy ever in the United States. Ready to meet that new demand is Premier Power, which has recently formed a partnership with one of Americas leading residential homebuilders, KB Home.

The historic California Solar Initiative (CSI) plan allots $3.2 billion for solar energy rebates in the state over the next 11 years. Premier Power is taking part in that landmark program to help bring renewable energy into the mainstream with its latest project in Woodland, Calif. Teaming up with Sharp, the top solar cell manufacturer in the world, Premier Power is currently working with KB Home at its new Woodshire community in the Northern California, located 20 miles northwest of Sacramento. KB Home's Woodshire community offers buyers choices from 16 floor plans ranging in size from 2 to 5 bedrooms with 1,191 to 3,544 square feet.

"The California Solar Initiative will help keep the solar industry on the right path to having a very bright future," said Dean R. Marks, president of Premier Power. "I feel it's important that all states, cities and businesses adopt Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) to ensure that a certain percentage of their energy comes from renewables. Premier Power believes that we all need to do what we can to become strong environmental stewards."

Premier takes that stewardship seriously, and is making their environmental mark on Woodland by installing integrated solar tiles on many homes in the community. When KB Home's Energy Starrated
houses are complimented with the costeffective 3.0kW Premier Power Solar System, the result will be 30 years of nominal electric bills for residents, who also receive a $2,000 federal tax credit.

"KB Home is proud to be partnering with Premier Power ... and homebuyers choosing to install these panels will reap the benefits of annual savings," said Barry Grant, KB Home's Territory President. "Based on our research, we understand the importance of energy efficiency to our buyers. In fact, in our recent buyer survey, 32% of KB homebuyers feel solar panels are important and would be willing to put forth the investment in their home."

Once the domain of counterculture activists, solar power has quickly become a hot, hightech commodity because of concerns over high oil prices and global warming. Public demand for environmentallyfriendly energy and a longterm solar rebate program were catalysts for change in California. The rebate from the CSI plan, which applies to the Premier Power project in Woodland, is currently $2.80 per watt, and will make a gradual decline over the next 10 years.

There's little doubt that the genie is out of the bottle when it comes to solar energy. The industry, which accounted for $11.2 billion globally in 2005, is expected to reach $51 billion by 2015, according to California research firm Clean Edge. It's a growing market that KB Home has dedicated itself to by signing on with Premier Power.

"It's a breath of fresh air to see another large home builder embrace green building practices that will help us all protect our environment, reduce fossil fuel consumption and decrease our dependency on foreign oil," said Marks. "KB Home knows the consumer wants to do the right thing and that's why they are making it easy for the home buyer to purchase this solar electric appliance."

About Premier Power

Today Premier Power is one of the leading global solar photovoltaic designer and integrator with a reputation of delivering excellent quality, superior customer dedication and innovative architectural solar integration. Premier Power spun off Premier Homes, the first home builder to develop a 100% solar community, in 2002. Now, with offices in California, New Jersey, New York and Spain, Premier Power continues its fast growth seeking to install a million solar systems to become a big part of the environmental solution. For more information, please call 8779390400 or visit: www.premierpower.com

About KB Home

Building homes for nearly half a century, KB Home is one of America's premier homebuilders with domesticoperating divisions in some of the fastestgrowing regions and states. In fiscal 2005, the Company delivered homes to 37,140 families in the United States and France. KB Home also offers complete mortgage services through Countrywide KB Home Loans, a joint venture with Countrywide Financial Corporation. Founded in 1957, and ranked the #1 homebuilder in Fortune Magazine's 2006 list of America's Most Admired Companies, KB Home is a Fortune 500 company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "KBH." For more information, please call 8885246637 or visit: www.kbhome.com

About Sharp

Sharp Solar Energy Solutions Group is a division of Sharp Electronics Corporation, the U.S. subsidiary of Sharp Corporation, Osaka, Japan. With solar cell production capacity of 600 megawatts (MW) worldwide and more than 200,000 installations per year, Sharp is the world's solar production leader, a position the company has held for more than five years. For more information, please call 8007652706 or visit: www.sharpusa.com/solar

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