Here Comes the Sun: Green Energy for Your Home

By Lawrence Hefler, Director of corporate marketing at BlueChip Energy in Lake Mary and certified eco-consultant.

Every minute of every day, we use energy in our homes. We flip a switch and expect that something will turn on. But if our electricity is generated by burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas, it comes with an additional price: the release of greenhouse gases.

Cleaner energy options can supplement the electricity coming into your home or the energy used to heat your water. Renewable energy sources such as the sun enable the functions of your home to continue unchanged but improve conditions for the Earth and your budget. As more homeowners focus on increasing energy efficiency, reducing their electricity costs and cutting carbon emissions, they are adding solar energy systems.

As an added bonus, federal and state financial incentives are available to reduce the cost of a solar system. The Energy Policy Act provides a federal tax credit equal to 30 percent of qualifying expenditures for purchase of photovoltaic property and for solar water heating. The state of Florida also has a solar rebate program. While there is an upfront cost, incentives bring it down along with reducing long-term energy costs.

Tap The Sun’s Energy

The sun’s energy can produce power in two ways: photovoltaic, or PV, and solar thermal. PV systems change sunlight directly into electricity. Depending on the size of the system, PV can provide all of your home’s electricity needs, supplement your current source, or even generate surplus electricity that you can place back onto the electric grid.

A PV system needs unobstructed access to the sun’s rays for most or all of the day throughout the year. Thus, solar panels are productive in Florida where there is a lot of sunlight and can generate payback in a few years.

PV systems work any time the sun is shining, but more electricity is produced when the sunlight is more intense and strikes the PV modules directly. Unlike solar thermal systems for heating water, PV does not use the sun’s heat to make electricity. Instead, electrons freed by the interaction of sunlight with semiconductor materials in PV cells are captured in an electric current. PV allows you to produce electricity from a clean, renewable resource.

Why Go Solar?

People decide to buy solar systems for a variety of reasons. Some people want to help preserve the planet’s finite fossil-fuel resources and reduce air pollution. Others want to invest in an energy-producing improvement to their property. Some people like the security of reducing the amount of electricity they buy from their utility because it makes them less vulnerable to price increases. And some people just appreciate the independence that a PV system provides. A solar electric system can be a reliable and clean producer of electricity for a home or office.

The economics of a solar electric system depend on variables such as your energy consumption and your solar productivity. A solar company can tell you how much electricity your PV system will produce per year (measured in kilowatt-hours) and compare that number to your annual electricity usage (called demand) to get an idea of how much you will save. As a rule, the cost per kilowatt-hour goes down as you increase the size of the system.

Consider Future Needs

When considering solar for your home, keep in mind that a growing family will face growing energy needs and that adding a solar system will not cause a reassessment of your property taxes. Green tip: Before you start letting the sunshine in, become energy efficient first, conserve energy, and then plan to reduce your long-term energy costs with renewable solar energy.

 

 

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