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Start Big
Do you really want a divorce? Going Green Alternative Energy
Here’s where the two options split. The first option was having a miniscule to zero power bill, but still being attached to the grid. The second was getting a “divorce” from the power company altogether and being detached from the grid completely. Unless you live in the hinterlands and have no access to the grid anyway, the Queen recommends the first option. Power companies aren’t inherently evil, they are merely products of the strange history of electrical power in this country. So, to get the best of both worlds, stay part of the grid, but use very little of what they offer.
Let’s say you have done many of the efficiency measures listed above and have lowered your kwh usage to the minimum. And then you install a 5 kw photo voltaic system. Weee! Here we get to a little bit of tricky stuff.
A big question looms at this point: does your utility offer net metering? If so – yahoo! Here is how net metering works. When you are using electricity from the grid, your meter spins forward. When your home or office is producing more than you need, the meter spins backwards as the excess electricity goes back out to the grid. Why is this so great? It means you are essentially being paid retail for the electricity your house produces.
With no net metering, any excess electricity produced by your house is repaid at wholesale cost. Perhaps you pay 12 cents per kwh to buy your power, but if you produce and sell back, you only get 5 cents per kwh. Bleah. Let’s be honest here, if you were a utility in it for the money, you’d hate net metering. Having to pay retail to some annoying business or homeowner who is producing extra electricity with their silly, bothersome system would be nothing but a pain in the collective rear end. Kind of makes it all the more appealing, doesn’t it? Anyway, net metering is not usually offered out of the goodness of anyone’s heart. Municipal power suppliers may offer the incentive, but other than that, it is usually offered because it is required by state law. There are more layers of net metering, but we shall skip the gory details here. If you are contemplating a PV system, talk to the Queen and she’ll explain. Also, if you wonder what incentives are offered for your area, go to www.dsireusa.org and click on your state. This is a great website!
If all of this makes you feel empowered rather than panicked, read on. Here are the basic numbers for making guesstimates. Get out your thinking cap and calculator and see if this can work for your place:
System requirements:
- South or nearly South facing roof with lots of sun
- 100 sq ft of space needed per kilowatt
- 3lbs per sq ft
- $8.25 + per watt installed cost
Example: A 5 kilowatt system will need 500 sq ft, will weigh about 1500 lbs and installed cost would be $41,250 before incentives, tax breaks, etc… With incentives and tax breaks, that $41,250 cost could be cut down to $14,875 or less.
Payback time! What will it be? That is the next big question. Let’s say you have theoretically installed the system above and are now $14,875 in the hole. If you are smart (which clearly you are since you are reading this website), you’d probably fold this into the cost of your house, with the mortgage, or a home equity loan. Meaning all the interest while you repay will be tax deductible.
Let’s think about this in another way. You pay money for electricity every month. Period. This is money which will go out the door one way or another – every month. Period. Why not change your mindset and decide that the money will instead go towards your own electricity generating plant? You might pay more than you would have if you relied entirely on the utility company – for awhile. But here’s your bet. Do you think utility rates will go down? I don’t. I think they’ll continue to go up over the long term. And as they go up, your PV system increases in value because it is generating electricity which is worth more money. So, you pay a little more in total for your energy costs for a number of years, but eventually, your system is paid off. And then? Then you have your own electricity generating plant making power just for you – for years. And how cool is that?
“…when we sold the Bellflower home, we were amazed that the $12,000 solar investment increased the value of the house by $30,000.”
Norma & Alan Williamson
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Let’s look at another frequently asked question here. “What if I move? I can’t recoup my investment… can I?” The good news is that by some estimates, every $1000 of cost savings per year will increase the appraised value of your house by up to $20,000. Here’s another little bagatelle - in a slowing real estate market, energy efficient houses sell, even while others sit. The whole calculation is complex, but suffice it to say, a PV system can be an excellent investment.
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