Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Triple bottom line accounting for solar power

My brother in Medford has recently put solar collectors on his house. They did cost quite a bit and it would be a long time before that bill could be paid off just in terms of saving on his electric bill.

On the other hand, when friends come to visit, my guess is, the solar panels and the electronics behind them get shown off.

Other folks spend money collecting antiques, buying nice furniture, collecting artwork so they can have something unique to entertain with. Why not be the first person on your block to have solar power? It's a good thing to do.

2 comments:

Clark said...

I know people way up North who have photovoltaics and for them it's just a sensible thing to do. It can cost $5000 to get connected to the grid and the same amount of money can get you a pretty skookum system of panels, batteries and appliances.
But in a town it can seem sort of odd but what doesn't?

Theslowlane Robert Ashworth said...

Good to hear from you.

My brother lives in a town and a big part of his roof is covered with panels. He's also on the grid and still thinks he will use more power (especially in winter) than the panels provide.

For much of summer, however, he is able to sell some power back to the grid. The meter runs backwards. They have a special meter and the power company approves.

He also now has air conditioning, which I think he never had before.

$5,000 is a big price just to get hooked up to the grid. Solar can go a long way, especially with special appliances and things like LED lights.