Arizona Solar Fields
I wrote a story about a year or so ago called “The Arizona Solar Fields.” I said that the wind turbines near Palm Springs were pretty cool and unmistakable at that Arizona had a unique opportunity Read more
SolarCity Update
The solar panels on my roof have been activated for almost a year. Since that time I have offset nearly 6,000 lbs of CO2 emissions and saved the equivalent of 3 mature trees. Not too shabby. If the State of Arizona won’t exploit this natural resource, I will.
To all the people who say solar doesn’t work or that it’s too expensive, I have one thing to say: You’re wrong! I lease these solar panels from SolarCity and the lease payment is $47.00 a month. I know people who spend more money than that on booze each month.
Two New Solatubes- A Bright Idea
It’s no secret that I’m a huge advocate of solar power. I have solar panels on my roof, a solar attic fan, and I plan on getting a solar water heater. I’m not sure where it will fit on the roof, but I’m going to try. My newest foray into harnessing the power of the sun to my benefit is through the two Solatubes I had installed. I saw something like them at Costco but the directions indicated that I would have to install them by cutting a hole my roof. Yeah, no thank you. The only tools I own are a hammer and screwdriver and the idea of cutting a hole in the ROOF is counterintuitive to me. Much better to pay someone else to do it.
I had one installed in the kitchen and one at the end of the hall, the part of my house that most resembled a cave. I have no complaints about these lights. During the day my house is flooded with soft, natural, white sunlight that costs nothing. It took some time getting used to because I would see such glorious light shining from overhead and I’d reach to turn off the switch when I left the room. But the only way to turn it off is when the sun goes down.
It really is such amazing technology and so simple. A thing that looks like a mushroom sticks out of the roof and it’s connected to a tube that comes through my celling and looks like a regular light fixture. The tube is highly reflective and causes the rays to bounce around inside the tube and shine into the house. The light that comes through is soft on your eyes, doesn’t make that electric buzzing noise and is free.
I’m not sure why houses in Arizona are not built with these to begin with. They were not expensive and the lights qualify for state and federal tax credits.
Solar Power House Part II
The solar panels have been installed on my house! I’m so excited. They look sleek, modern and powerful. I do want to say, that I am NOT an environmentalist. I am not about “being green” for the sake of being green. (In fact, I give thanks to the sootiest smokestack for helping to make life worth living. But I don’t want to get into that right now.) I like solar because I live in a state that gets a lot of sunshine. The state wants to grow, diversify and be respected. The state gets a lot of sunshine. The technology exists to capture and use the power from the sun. Why wouldn’t the state want to use that? Arizona should be looking for ways to capitalize on the qualities that make it unique. Phoenix has long been known as the “Valley of the Sun” so why not the “City of the Sun” too? Why is the city not using the abundant sunlight we receive almost year-round to produce power? (I know Phil Gordon supports solar and recently was in DC sharing some ideas with Obama people.) Personally, I support efficiency, creativity and lower bills. I support new technology and being self sufficient.
The solar panels on my roof are leased from Solar City. I pay them a minimal monthly fee. For example, my bill to Solar City will be $47.00 a month and the solar panels will generate about 53% of my electricity use. Last month my power bill was $89.00. That is outrageously expensive considering I haven’t run my heater in weeks and I have not run my A/C since October. There is one other person who lives in my house. We both work full time and are gone most of the day (meaning there is close to zero electricity being used.) Our house is just under 1300 square feet. We barely used any electricity and the bill was still close to 100 bucks. And the power company just announced another rate increase. With my solar panels I will no longer be at the mercy of the government run monopoly called the power company.
Solar City appealed to my inner capitalist. They offered a better product for less money. The sales rep answered all my questions and was only an email away if I needed to ask something else. The customer service reps on the phone have always been friendly and helpful. The install guys did a great job and got everything up in a few days.
I am excited to be part of the technology of the future. I am proud to be a supporter of new technology and a new way of thinking. I am looking forward to saving extra money each month. I can finally start to save up to buy that gas guzzling Jeep Wrangler I’ve been wanting.
Solar Powered House
My house was built in 1959 (ancient almost, by Phoenix standards) yet I feel that it is only now about to live up to its fullest potential. I always think of the late 50s and early 60s as a time of new technology, exploration, and phrases like “new and improved”. This November my house won’t be “new” but definitely “improved” when 24 solar panels from Solar City are installed. This will bring my house out of the 20th Century and into the futuristic space age world where it was always meant to be.
I realize the costs have long been prohibitively expensive to go solar. Who has an extra $40,000 lying around to buy a system? Sadly, I do not. I can barely afford my $15,000 car. But then I read about Solar City, a company that doesn’t just sell a solar panel system, but allows you to lease one. (Only with a credit score above 720). The capitalist in me went wild. Finally, someone had discovered a way to bring the new technology to the masses at an affordable price.
I had to put $1,000 down for the install. Fair enough. An engineer has to come measure my roof and design the system. Also the panels are going to be attached to the rafters in my roof and that’s a big job. Here’s how the rest works: My power company gives Solar City a hefty sized credit towards the cost of the system. Solar City floats this to me which in turn lowers my monthly lease payment. ($56.00 a month for the size of the system.) The solar panels generate DC watts, which is then converted to AC watts, which is then fed into my electric meter.
I won’t be off the power grid completely. The technology just isn’t there yet. But I will be generating 53% of my power from our warm and abundant Arizona sun. On average I’ve been paying about $160 a month to my electric company. Now I’ll be paying them about $17.00 (on average) on top of the $56.00 for the lease. That is a savings of $87.00 a month, on average. I’m A-ok with that.
The system is monitored and covered for any repairs over the time of the lease by Solar City. I’ll receive a login and password so that I can get on the Internet and monitor how much power my system is producing. Solar City is handling all the paper work to let the electric company know that I am going solar. They are doing all the leg work, and I get all the benefits.
I’ve been saying for years that Arizona should have gone solar 30 years ago. Of course, I understand the reasons why Arizona didn’t. I believe the sun has set on those days. But I see it rising bright and powerful on the Arizona of the 21st Century.
