City of Berkeley and U.S. Department of Energy representatives unveiled a new city program Tuesday that provides community members with free solar energy consulting services.

The SmartSolar program, a partnership between the city and Berkeley-based nonprofit Community Energy Services Corporation, will be funded in its first year by about $200,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy.

The corporation will provide free individualized consulting services, energy audits and referrals to solar energy system vendors, said Chris Bradt, program manager for SmartSolar.

"What we're trying to be is that consumer resource, to really make people comfortable as they move forward with these projects," he said.

Through a selective review, the department chose Berkeley as one of 25 cities in its Solar America Cities program, which assists the adoption of solar technologies.

The program features a Berkeley Solar Map, www.cityofberkeley.info/solarmap, a new Web site run by the city that gives free energy assessments to Berkeley community members, Bradt said.

After users type in a property address at the site, the service uses the Google map platform to generate an estimated summary of potential savings and solar energy output.

The solar map takes into account the total amount of roof space, obstructions on the roof that may block construction and seasonal changes that affect the overall amount of sunlight and shading, Bradt said.

Mayor Tom Bates, who was at the event, said the new program is a good information source for calculating the cost and savings of installing a solar energy system.

"I'm really happy to see the program come to Berkeley because it provides us with another tool to assess if solar and solar energy makes sense for people and their homes," he said.

Bradt said he hopes community members will take advantage of the Web site, but that its results are only estimates of solar energy potential.

"This is an estimate because sometimes this program can't always capture all those variables in the most accurate way," he said.

For a more accurate assessment, Bradt said residents can contact the nonprofit for an energy audit.

Community members should consider solar energy because the state and federal governments are now offering tax credits for solar panel and solar thermal system installations, according to Bates.

"Right now is a very good time for people to examine (whether) to make their homes (and) business more energy efficient and whether it makes sense to put solar on their roof," he said.

Tags: SOLAR PANELS, COMMUNITY ENERGY SERVICES CORPORATION