Archive for July 4th, 2010
Hi! About a month ago I got a quote from a solar power contractor here in Arizona to put solar cell panels on the roof of our house to provide our house with “green” electricity and, if I had any excess capacity, to sell the excess to the power company. Well, the estimate came out to around $61,000. I thought that was a bit much. I would get something like a $14,000 credit from the feds over three years to help with the costs, but that still left us with having to come up with $47,000.
I just read about the Obama administration handing out $2 billion in grants to companies in the southwest, Arizona included, to build solar powered electric generating plants. These power plants would still be conventional in the sense that, although they would use solar power to generate electricity, the electricity generated would still be used to boil water to create steam to turn generators to then create electricity which would then go into the grid. The problem with building a plant like this in Arizona is water. We’re already short on water, so where are you going to the water to this without impacting the environment?
Solution! Instead of centralizing the electric generating facility into a conventional power plant that needs massive amounts of water to generate steam, why not take the money and decentralize the generation of electricity by installing solar panels on customer’s roofs?! Start with entities that have large roof areas like shopping centers. Then go to interested home owners (like me) and install solar panels on their roofs at no charge. Then offer electricity at deeply discounted prices like 50% off of customer rates that don’t have solar roofs, for those that volunteer to put solar panels on their roofs. The solar panels are owned by the power company and are to be maintained by the power company. When they need replacement or repairs, the power company takes care of it just like all the transformers and power lines they already take care of.
And while we’re at it, why don’t the state governments in sunshiny states like Arizona (or the federal government for all states) mandate that all new homes built be built with solar panels on their roofs? Yes, it adds to the cost of construction resulting in a higher priced house, but its going to save the homeowner money in the long run (that’s what solar panel salesmen are telling us now anyway) and its green and it reduces our dependence on foreign oil, etc, etc. When these solar panels start to break down the owner has the option of replacing them himself (he continues to get free electricity) or turning them over to the power company to fix (he gets a 50% reduction in rates). So you’ve got the best of both worlds! For those that are rich enough to be their own power company, they buy and maintain their own solar panels and get free electricity. And for those of us that can’t afford the large initial capital outlay, we can still go green, help the environment and alleviate our dependence on foreign oil and still get some money off on our electric bills! A win win situation for all.
Now I know there may be some problems to work out like what if the roof needs repairing, or after the electric company installs the solar panels all of a sudden the roof starts leaking, etc, etc. All I can say is, if we can put a man on the moon, so we should be able to do this. And lets start doing this soon. Don’t wait until the oil runs out! And I also like this plan because it directly helps people. The government bails out banks, investment houses, insurance companies, car companies and now it wants to directly help power companies. Let’s help the power companies out by helping their customers out. The power companies will then reap the benefits through their customers!
