By Debra Erdley, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

March 14--In a city meteorologists call one of the cloudiest in the United States, Michael Ramsey's North Side apartment seems an unlikely locale to tap the sun's power.

But technological advances, coupled with rising energy prices and a bevy of state and federal incentives, are selling people such as Ramsey, a University of Pittsburgh geology professor, and Stephen Lee, head of the school of architecture at Carnegie Mellon University, on the benefits of solar power.

Last week, Ramsey had 48 solar panels installed on part of the roof of his 2,000-square-foot apartment. The rest of the roof will be covered with plants, designed to provide maximum insulation and drainage.

Lee, who worked on the first urban solar project in Pittsburgh in 1976, had 13 solar panels installed on the roof of his Polish Hill office in December.

"To walk the talk, I put an array on our roof," Lee said. Although Ramsey estimates the panels will provide most of his power, Lee estimates his smaller system will provide a quarter to a third of his office's energy.

Statistics from the National Climatic Data Center indicate Pittsburgh, with an average of 59 sunny days a year, is among the country's cloudiest cities. Michelle Waldgeir of Astrum Solar, the company that installed Ramsey's system, said there's adequate sunshine to power solar systems.

"It's one of the things that surprises a lot of folks. It's cloudy here, but even when there are clouds there is some light. Germany is the leader in solar technology and, relative to Germany, Pittsburgh's got quite a lot of light," Waldgeir said.

"And on beautiful sunny days when it produces more energy than you need, it will flow into the grid, so your meter flows backwards," she said.

Department of Energy figures show Pennsylvanians are adopting solar power at a rate far outstripping many sunnier climes. According to the agency's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, only California and New Jersey rank ahead of Pennsylvania in the number of solar systems installed.

Joe Morinville of Energy Independent Solutions, the Robinson firm that installed Lee's system, got involved in solar energy in the late 1980s. He said the addition of microinverters that allow each solar panel to work to maximum capacity is a major plus for homeowners. In the past, when shade covered some panels, all worked at lower capacity.

"I have 13 panels. If one is shaded, the others all are in full sun and operate at maximum capacity," Lee said.

The availability of Pennsylvania Sunshine rebates, a state grant program that expires this year, might have played a role in solar's ascendancy.

According to the state Department of Environmental Protection, the program had reservations for about $94 million in rebates by the end of 2010. Tom Bell, director of the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority, said the program, begun in 2009, logged reservations for money for solar systems for 658 small businesses and about 4,800 homes.

Bell said home and business owners might cancel some of those reservations, but he believes the program helped boost the state's standing in alternative energy output. He said contractors in Western Pennsylvania told him customers still clamor for grants.

Lee and Ramsey conceded it took a combination of state grants, federal tax credits and the knowledge that they could sell solar renewable energy credits -- known as SRECs -- every year to utilities, to put solar systems within their reach.

Ramsey said the 30 percent federal tax credit on his system, coupled with a $10,000 Pennsylvania Sunshine grant and a contract that means he'll collect about $3,000 a year in SREC credits, made his $50,000 investment doable.

Lee said the grants and credits mean his $23,000 system will pay for itself in seven or eight years, maybe sooner.

"All the numbers ... go out the door as soon as power starts going up," Lee said.

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