The last 12 months have seen a massive increase in the number of North East homes being fitted with solar panels. But as Government subsidies are slashed by more than half, Equinox Energy’s PAUL MILLS says it’s more important than ever to make sure you pick the right people to add green energy to your home
THE last 12 months have been an exciting time for Equinox Energy. Over the next year the company’s customers will make more than 54 megawatt hours of clean, renewable electricity.
“That’s enough for almost 40,000 loads of washing and will generate almost 25,000 in income for those households,” said Paul Mills.
“But my major concern remains for people who may not be getting a good service from their installers.
“I recently witnessed a team carrying out a large installation on a house in a single day.
“The team drilled straight through the roof slates to erect the photovoltaic (PV) mounting structure and then sealed the holes with silicone.
“The advantage for the installer is that this takes a shorter amount of time. But this is not allowed under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) guidelines because over time the silicone will degrade and water may well enter the roof, directly into the timbers.
“My worry is that the householder could face unexpected large bills in the future if they have to repair or replace the roof structure.”
The Microgeneration Certification Scheme sets a range of minimum standards accredited installers must follow, with work inspected annually.
The MCS’s main guide to PV installation states “in all circumstances the building’s weather tightness must be maintained”.
Holes drilled through roofing felt or roof tiles and slates, sealed with mastic or silicone sealant, are not considered durable.
Mr Mills said to reassure customers that Equinox does not breach the rules, he sits down with each one to fully explain the work.
“Customers cannot be expected to have detailed knowledge of PV installation techniques,” he said.
“I take the time to explain to all our customers how the system will be installed and how I will ensure that their roof is at least as watertight as before I start the installation.
“I also explain how Equinox Energy only uses the highest quality components to ensure that our installations are constructed from the best materials available.
“None of the work of Equinox Energy is sub-contracted apart from erection of scaffolding. That way we have complete control of the quality of the installation from the selection of components and electrical and roofing work, to the production of the warranty pack.”
The REC panels used by Equinox Energy have just come top in the Photon 2012 test, an independent survey of electricity production by 45 different types of PV panels.
On average REC modules produced 6% more power than its nearest rival – which over the lifespan of the panels would make a significant difference to the return on the investment.
When it comes to PV installations – as in most things – Mr Mills said you really do get what you pay for.
2012年2月20日星期一
2012年2月19日星期日
Solar enthusiasm exceeds practicality
Germany once prided itself on being the "photovoltaic world champion", doling out generous subsidies totalling more than $US130 billion to citizens to invest in solar energy, according to Germany's Ruhr University.
But now the German government is vowing to cut the subsidies sooner than planned and to phase out support over the next five years. What went wrong?
There is a fundamental problem with subsidising inefficient green technology: it is affordable only if it is done in tiny, tokenistic amounts. Using their government's generous subsidies, Germans installed 7.5 gigawatts of photovoltaic capacity last year, more than double what the government deemed "acceptable". It is estimated this will lead to a $US260 ($243) hike in the average consumer's annual power bill.
According to Der Spiegel, even members of Chancellor Angela Merkel's staff are now describing the policy as a massive money pit. Philipp Rosler, Germany's Minister of Economics and Technology, has called the spiralling solar subsidies a "threat to the economy".
Germany's enthusiasm for solar power is understandable. We could satisfy all of the world's energy needs for an entire year if we could capture just one hour of the sun's energy. Even with the inefficiency of current PV technology, we could meet the entire globe's energy demand with solar panels by covering 250,000sq km, about 2.6 per cent of the Sahara Desert.
Unfortunately, Germany, like most of the world, is not as sunny as the Sahara. And while sunlight is free, panels and installation are not. Solar power is at least four times more costly than energy produced by fossil fuels. It also has the distinct disadvantage of not working at night, when much electricity is consumed.
In the words of the German Association of Physicists, "solar energy cannot replace any additional power plants". On short, overcast winter days, Germany's 1.1 million solar-power systems generate no electricity. The country is then forced to import considerable amounts of electricity from nuclear power plants in France and the Czech Republic. When the sun failed to shine last winter, one emergency back-up plan powered up an Austrian oil-fired plant to fill the supply gap.
Indeed, despite the massive investment, solar power accounts for only about 0.3 per cent of Germany's total energy. This is one of the key reasons why Germans now pay the second-highest price for electricity in the developed world . Germans pay three times more than their American counterparts.
Moreover, this sizeable investment does remarkably little to counter global warming. Even with unrealistically generous assumptions, the unimpressive net effect is that solar power reduces Germany's CO2 emissions by roughly eight million tonnes, or about 1 per cent, for the next 20 years.
When the effects are calculated in a standard climate model, the result is a reduction in average temperature of one twenty-thousandth of a degree celsius. By the end of the century, Germany's $US130bn solar panel subsidies will have postponed temperature increases by 23 hours.
Using solar, Germany is paying about $US1000 per tonne of CO2 reduced. The current CO2 price in Europe is $US8. Germany could have cut 131 times as much CO2 for the same price. Instead, the Germans are wasting more than 99c of every euro that they plough into solar panels.
It gets worse: because Germany is part of the EU emissions trading system, the actual effect of extra solar panels in Germany leads to no CO2 reductions, because total emissions are already capped.
Instead, the Germans simply allow other parts of the EU to emit more CO2. Germany's solar panels have only made it cheaper for Portugal or Greece to use coal. Defenders of Germany's solar subsidies also claim that they have helped to create "green jobs" but each job created by green-energy policies costs an average of $US175,000, considerably more than job creation elsewhere in the economy. And many "green jobs" are being exported to China, meaning that Europeans subsidise Chinese jobs, with no CO2 reductions.
Germany's experiment with subsidising inefficient solar technology has failed. What governments should do instead is to focus first on increasing research and development to make green-energy technology cheaper and more competitive. Production should be ramped up later.
But now the German government is vowing to cut the subsidies sooner than planned and to phase out support over the next five years. What went wrong?
There is a fundamental problem with subsidising inefficient green technology: it is affordable only if it is done in tiny, tokenistic amounts. Using their government's generous subsidies, Germans installed 7.5 gigawatts of photovoltaic capacity last year, more than double what the government deemed "acceptable". It is estimated this will lead to a $US260 ($243) hike in the average consumer's annual power bill.
According to Der Spiegel, even members of Chancellor Angela Merkel's staff are now describing the policy as a massive money pit. Philipp Rosler, Germany's Minister of Economics and Technology, has called the spiralling solar subsidies a "threat to the economy".
Germany's enthusiasm for solar power is understandable. We could satisfy all of the world's energy needs for an entire year if we could capture just one hour of the sun's energy. Even with the inefficiency of current PV technology, we could meet the entire globe's energy demand with solar panels by covering 250,000sq km, about 2.6 per cent of the Sahara Desert.
Unfortunately, Germany, like most of the world, is not as sunny as the Sahara. And while sunlight is free, panels and installation are not. Solar power is at least four times more costly than energy produced by fossil fuels. It also has the distinct disadvantage of not working at night, when much electricity is consumed.
In the words of the German Association of Physicists, "solar energy cannot replace any additional power plants". On short, overcast winter days, Germany's 1.1 million solar-power systems generate no electricity. The country is then forced to import considerable amounts of electricity from nuclear power plants in France and the Czech Republic. When the sun failed to shine last winter, one emergency back-up plan powered up an Austrian oil-fired plant to fill the supply gap.
Indeed, despite the massive investment, solar power accounts for only about 0.3 per cent of Germany's total energy. This is one of the key reasons why Germans now pay the second-highest price for electricity in the developed world . Germans pay three times more than their American counterparts.
Moreover, this sizeable investment does remarkably little to counter global warming. Even with unrealistically generous assumptions, the unimpressive net effect is that solar power reduces Germany's CO2 emissions by roughly eight million tonnes, or about 1 per cent, for the next 20 years.
When the effects are calculated in a standard climate model, the result is a reduction in average temperature of one twenty-thousandth of a degree celsius. By the end of the century, Germany's $US130bn solar panel subsidies will have postponed temperature increases by 23 hours.
Using solar, Germany is paying about $US1000 per tonne of CO2 reduced. The current CO2 price in Europe is $US8. Germany could have cut 131 times as much CO2 for the same price. Instead, the Germans are wasting more than 99c of every euro that they plough into solar panels.
It gets worse: because Germany is part of the EU emissions trading system, the actual effect of extra solar panels in Germany leads to no CO2 reductions, because total emissions are already capped.
Instead, the Germans simply allow other parts of the EU to emit more CO2. Germany's solar panels have only made it cheaper for Portugal or Greece to use coal. Defenders of Germany's solar subsidies also claim that they have helped to create "green jobs" but each job created by green-energy policies costs an average of $US175,000, considerably more than job creation elsewhere in the economy. And many "green jobs" are being exported to China, meaning that Europeans subsidise Chinese jobs, with no CO2 reductions.
Germany's experiment with subsidising inefficient solar technology has failed. What governments should do instead is to focus first on increasing research and development to make green-energy technology cheaper and more competitive. Production should be ramped up later.
2012年2月16日星期四
Oregon Transportation Facilities Offset Energy Use with SolarWorld Solar Panels
Planners of Oregon's transportation infrastructure are charting a course to a cleaner energy future by using SolarWorld solar panels to support their multi-modal services.
With unobstructed rights-of-way and heavy energy use, transportation agencies are suitable hosts for photovoltaic (PV) systems and consumers of the renewable electricity they produce. SolarWorld's high-performance solar panels power highway, rail and airport installations in Oregon.
Transportation industry officials in 13 countries and 27 states have requested information on a large solar park built on Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) property at the Baldock Rest Area on Interstate 5 near Wilsonville. The project went online in January 2012 and will be open to the public in the spring with an interpretive display and a sustainable community garden. The 1.75-megawatt (MW) system, known as the Baldock Solar Highway project, is operated by Portland General Electric (PGE). The Baldock installation sits atop 7 acres (~3 hectares) of formerly unused ODOT property and is composed of 6,994 SolarWorld solar panels.
Common in Europe, solar installations in highway rights-of-way were virtually unknown in this country before ODOT and PGE developed a roadside Oregon Solar Highway pilot project to help light the way for drivers at the interchange of Interstates 5 and 205 in Tualatin, north of Baldock, in 2008.
TriMet, Portland's regional public transit agency, will commission a 60-kilowatt (kW) solar installation featuring SolarWorld solar panels at the South Terminus of the MAX green and yellow light-rail lines near Portland State University in late February 2012. The system, installed by REC Solar, is the agency's first large-scale PV installation. In addition to generating more than 64,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of solar energy each year and helping to shield TriMet from rising utility rates, the graceful, curvilinear design of the installation has been hailed as public art by some local transit observers.
Portland International Airport is also home to a solar system featuring 120 SolarWorld solar panels. The 28kW ground-mount system, commissioned in December 2011, helps power a treatment facility for the airport's newly expanded de-icing storm-water collection system. The facility treats runoff containing the de-icing chemicals used on the airfield and aircraft to enhance flight safety when the weather turns cold. A Blue Sky renewable energy grant from Pacific Power helped cover the installation cost.
With unobstructed rights-of-way and heavy energy use, transportation agencies are suitable hosts for photovoltaic (PV) systems and consumers of the renewable electricity they produce. SolarWorld's high-performance solar panels power highway, rail and airport installations in Oregon.
Transportation industry officials in 13 countries and 27 states have requested information on a large solar park built on Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) property at the Baldock Rest Area on Interstate 5 near Wilsonville. The project went online in January 2012 and will be open to the public in the spring with an interpretive display and a sustainable community garden. The 1.75-megawatt (MW) system, known as the Baldock Solar Highway project, is operated by Portland General Electric (PGE). The Baldock installation sits atop 7 acres (~3 hectares) of formerly unused ODOT property and is composed of 6,994 SolarWorld solar panels.
Common in Europe, solar installations in highway rights-of-way were virtually unknown in this country before ODOT and PGE developed a roadside Oregon Solar Highway pilot project to help light the way for drivers at the interchange of Interstates 5 and 205 in Tualatin, north of Baldock, in 2008.
TriMet, Portland's regional public transit agency, will commission a 60-kilowatt (kW) solar installation featuring SolarWorld solar panels at the South Terminus of the MAX green and yellow light-rail lines near Portland State University in late February 2012. The system, installed by REC Solar, is the agency's first large-scale PV installation. In addition to generating more than 64,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of solar energy each year and helping to shield TriMet from rising utility rates, the graceful, curvilinear design of the installation has been hailed as public art by some local transit observers.
Portland International Airport is also home to a solar system featuring 120 SolarWorld solar panels. The 28kW ground-mount system, commissioned in December 2011, helps power a treatment facility for the airport's newly expanded de-icing storm-water collection system. The facility treats runoff containing the de-icing chemicals used on the airfield and aircraft to enhance flight safety when the weather turns cold. A Blue Sky renewable energy grant from Pacific Power helped cover the installation cost.
2012年2月15日星期三
Chinese solar panels exemplify trade problems
The recent visit by China's Vice President Xi Jinping highlighted the many inequities in international trade resulting from cheap manufacturing there. CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker reports that to get an idea of what American companies are up against, take a look at the solar panel industry. The Chinese are gaining market share there by leaps and bounds.
Business is heating up for Randy Bishop, owner of Verengo Solar Plus, one of the top residential solar panel installers in California.
"We have added 400 jobs. We expect to add 400 this year as well. These are great jobs that are going to stay here in the U.S.," Bishop said.
Fueling the growth are inexpensive solar panels from China, significantly cheaper than ones made in the United States.
"For a house, it would be probably be on the order of $3-to-5 thousand more expensive to go with U.S. panels. Customers more than nine times out of 10 vote with their wallet" and buy the Chinese panels, Bishop said.
While installers might welcome the Chinese imports, American panel makers claim the Chinese are unfairly dumping panels on the U.S., killing good U.S. manufacturing jobs.
Last year the biggest U.S. panel maker closed a plant near L.A.; 100 jobs were lost. A dozen American manufacturers have gone bankrupt, closed down or downsized.
"Just a few years ago, Chinese products were less than 10 percent of the U.S. market. Today they average about half of the U.S. market," said Tim Brightbill, an attorney representing seven American manufacturers.
Brightbill's clients are suing to have the U.S. Commerce Department to slap import taxes on Chinese panels. They say the Chinese solar industry is propped up by huge government subsidies -- a violation of international trade rules.
"The Department of Commerce estimates that China grants more than $30 billion in subsidies to its industries and all U.S. subsidies amount to $1 billion," Brightbill said.
John Baumstark, president of Suniva, says a trade war with China helps nobody. The Georgia panel maker is expanding his plant. He says he has faith in American ingenuity.
"Cost is an important component, but it's not everything. Suniva has managed to grow by continuing to innovate each and every year," Baumstark said.
"We would significantly slow our growth if solar panel costs got more expensive," Randy Bishop the solar panel installer said.
Bishop agrees a trade war could be a disaster, just as record numbers of Americans are turning to the sun for energy. A Commerce Department decision to levy new taxes on Chinese panels is expected this summer.
Business is heating up for Randy Bishop, owner of Verengo Solar Plus, one of the top residential solar panel installers in California.
"We have added 400 jobs. We expect to add 400 this year as well. These are great jobs that are going to stay here in the U.S.," Bishop said.
Fueling the growth are inexpensive solar panels from China, significantly cheaper than ones made in the United States.
"For a house, it would be probably be on the order of $3-to-5 thousand more expensive to go with U.S. panels. Customers more than nine times out of 10 vote with their wallet" and buy the Chinese panels, Bishop said.
While installers might welcome the Chinese imports, American panel makers claim the Chinese are unfairly dumping panels on the U.S., killing good U.S. manufacturing jobs.
Last year the biggest U.S. panel maker closed a plant near L.A.; 100 jobs were lost. A dozen American manufacturers have gone bankrupt, closed down or downsized.
"Just a few years ago, Chinese products were less than 10 percent of the U.S. market. Today they average about half of the U.S. market," said Tim Brightbill, an attorney representing seven American manufacturers.
Brightbill's clients are suing to have the U.S. Commerce Department to slap import taxes on Chinese panels. They say the Chinese solar industry is propped up by huge government subsidies -- a violation of international trade rules.
"The Department of Commerce estimates that China grants more than $30 billion in subsidies to its industries and all U.S. subsidies amount to $1 billion," Brightbill said.
John Baumstark, president of Suniva, says a trade war with China helps nobody. The Georgia panel maker is expanding his plant. He says he has faith in American ingenuity.
"Cost is an important component, but it's not everything. Suniva has managed to grow by continuing to innovate each and every year," Baumstark said.
"We would significantly slow our growth if solar panel costs got more expensive," Randy Bishop the solar panel installer said.
Bishop agrees a trade war could be a disaster, just as record numbers of Americans are turning to the sun for energy. A Commerce Department decision to levy new taxes on Chinese panels is expected this summer.
2012年2月14日星期二
Village in race to install solar panels
A VILLAGE hall is hoping to beat a Government deadline regarding the installation of solar panels on its roof.
Sadberge Village Hall Association Committee plans to put up 15 solar panels by March 3, when the Government's so-called "feed-in tariff" - or the rate offered for energy per kilowatt - is cut.
At present, it offers 43.3p per kilowatt an hour for anyone producing their own energy. After March 3, that will be cut to 21p.
AlastairMackenzie, amember of Sadberge Climate Change Group, which has push-ed for the panels, said: "If we get the 43.3p tariff, it will take seven to eight years to work back the 9,000 cost of the panels. However, it would take twice asmuch time if the tariffis 21p."
The 9,000 will be taken from the village hall contingency fund.
Mr Mackenzie believes the panels were a good investment for the village.He said: "The village hall is a really important part of our community, especially for the elderly.
By installing the panels, it will lower the heating bill and relieve the financial pressures."
Joan Vickers, chairwoman of SVHAC, said: "Our utility bills are on the rise all the time. This will mean money coming into the village hall for the next 25 years."
Planning permission has been sought from the borough council. If granted, the panels will be installed by Barrier Energy, a company based in Shildon.
SVHAC has also applied for funding from the Banks Community Fund and has a provisional agreement with them for 5,000 to replace the old windows in the cafe section of the hall with double-glazed ones.
The fund was set up by Banks Renewables, which is building six wind turbines on Moorhouse Farm at Barmpton, near Darlington.
The two initiatives, as well as a previous project which installed solar panels on houses in the village, is part of Sadberge Climate Working Group's renewable energy project.
It was formed in 2008 to meet with the parish plan objective to make the village more environmentally responsible.
Sadberge Village Hall Association Committee plans to put up 15 solar panels by March 3, when the Government's so-called "feed-in tariff" - or the rate offered for energy per kilowatt - is cut.
At present, it offers 43.3p per kilowatt an hour for anyone producing their own energy. After March 3, that will be cut to 21p.
AlastairMackenzie, amember of Sadberge Climate Change Group, which has push-ed for the panels, said: "If we get the 43.3p tariff, it will take seven to eight years to work back the 9,000 cost of the panels. However, it would take twice asmuch time if the tariffis 21p."
The 9,000 will be taken from the village hall contingency fund.
Mr Mackenzie believes the panels were a good investment for the village.He said: "The village hall is a really important part of our community, especially for the elderly.
By installing the panels, it will lower the heating bill and relieve the financial pressures."
Joan Vickers, chairwoman of SVHAC, said: "Our utility bills are on the rise all the time. This will mean money coming into the village hall for the next 25 years."
Planning permission has been sought from the borough council. If granted, the panels will be installed by Barrier Energy, a company based in Shildon.
SVHAC has also applied for funding from the Banks Community Fund and has a provisional agreement with them for 5,000 to replace the old windows in the cafe section of the hall with double-glazed ones.
The fund was set up by Banks Renewables, which is building six wind turbines on Moorhouse Farm at Barmpton, near Darlington.
The two initiatives, as well as a previous project which installed solar panels on houses in the village, is part of Sadberge Climate Working Group's renewable energy project.
It was formed in 2008 to meet with the parish plan objective to make the village more environmentally responsible.
2012年2月13日星期一
Solar panels could double as a roof
Researchers in Australia are developing a solar roof system that uses wasted energy to warm air and water.
What distinguishes the project from other systems, the researchers say, is that the solar cells are integrated into the structural makeup of a building. So instead of being attached to a roof, the system actually becomes the roof, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.
The system evolved from a "low carbon living" project to investigate future energy efficiency initiatives while evaluating the effectiveness of current methods of generating solar power, said the researchers from the University of New South Wales.
"Australia has this perception that we are blessed with limitless energy but by the time we have filtered it through the system and into buildings in the form of electricity, there is enormous waste. So we are gathering the data to make informed decisions about that,'' associate professor Alistair Sproul told the Herald.
If solar panels are extra-durable, the researchers say, they can serve as roofing material.
While solar cells on top of panels typically generate a significant amount of waste heat as a by-product, the researchers devised a way to harness it instead with an insulated space behind the panel, heating the air to 25 degrees Celsius.
''We want to take the building performance to the next level,'' said research leader Professor Deo Prasad.
'In the past we have had separate experts working on solar panels, on energy efficiency, water efficiency but what we are looking at now is total integration from the start.''
The researchers are investigating the possibility of manufacturing the system in Australia and said a number of firms are monitoring their research with that in mind.
''A lot of lower-tech forms of photovoltaics seem to be finding their way into countries where there are cheaper labor costs, so we want to concentrate on developing these high-tech, high-end forms,'' Prasad said.
Australia relies on coal to generate 80 percent of its electricity.
Last year, roof-mounted solar panels in Australia for the first time competed favorably against peak-priced electricity from coal-fired power stations, Asian Scientist magazine reports. Solar photovoltaic panels cost around $1.07, compared to $3.75 per watt a few years ago.
Separately, the future of southwest Queensland's proposed Solar Dawn $1.2 billion solar thermal plant appeared uncertain after it failed to meet a Dec. 15 deadline to compete financing but last week the government granted a six-month extension to its contract.
What distinguishes the project from other systems, the researchers say, is that the solar cells are integrated into the structural makeup of a building. So instead of being attached to a roof, the system actually becomes the roof, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.
The system evolved from a "low carbon living" project to investigate future energy efficiency initiatives while evaluating the effectiveness of current methods of generating solar power, said the researchers from the University of New South Wales.
"Australia has this perception that we are blessed with limitless energy but by the time we have filtered it through the system and into buildings in the form of electricity, there is enormous waste. So we are gathering the data to make informed decisions about that,'' associate professor Alistair Sproul told the Herald.
If solar panels are extra-durable, the researchers say, they can serve as roofing material.
While solar cells on top of panels typically generate a significant amount of waste heat as a by-product, the researchers devised a way to harness it instead with an insulated space behind the panel, heating the air to 25 degrees Celsius.
''We want to take the building performance to the next level,'' said research leader Professor Deo Prasad.
'In the past we have had separate experts working on solar panels, on energy efficiency, water efficiency but what we are looking at now is total integration from the start.''
The researchers are investigating the possibility of manufacturing the system in Australia and said a number of firms are monitoring their research with that in mind.
''A lot of lower-tech forms of photovoltaics seem to be finding their way into countries where there are cheaper labor costs, so we want to concentrate on developing these high-tech, high-end forms,'' Prasad said.
Australia relies on coal to generate 80 percent of its electricity.
Last year, roof-mounted solar panels in Australia for the first time competed favorably against peak-priced electricity from coal-fired power stations, Asian Scientist magazine reports. Solar photovoltaic panels cost around $1.07, compared to $3.75 per watt a few years ago.
Separately, the future of southwest Queensland's proposed Solar Dawn $1.2 billion solar thermal plant appeared uncertain after it failed to meet a Dec. 15 deadline to compete financing but last week the government granted a six-month extension to its contract.
2012年2月12日星期日
'Solar future looks really bright'
The costs and benefits of solar panels was one of the many topics explored during this year's 4th annual "Energy and You - Individual Choices ... Global Impact" workshop seminar at Wilson College.
As a renewable energy consultant with Mountain View Solar and Wind - and someone with a background in real estate - Michelle Liefke spoke about the real estate value of solar panels.
In her work, Liefke said she comes across four different types of buyers when it comes to solar panels - investors, libertarians, environmentalists and jet setters - each with different goals and purposes for their choice to go solar.
"It's appealing to use in many different ways," she said. "Understanding who you are will help you understand the next person who might be purchasing your home." Nancy Lindenmeyer, Fayetteville, agreed, stating she and her husband were a mix of the first three in their decision to install solar panels on their home.
They wanted to reduce their electric bill as well as be energy efficient and independent, Lindenmeyer said.
"We just liked that," she said. "We wanted to do out part."
There are many values of solar panels and the energy they produce which include reducing or eliminating your electric bill, reducing dependence on fossil fuels, providing a highly durable form of energy production and being a product with one of the best return on investment, Liefke said.
"The solar future looks really bright for our area," she said.
At Mountain View, in 2009 a five kilowatt system cost $42,000 but its net cost after state and federal incentives was $18,200, Liefke said. Today that same system costs $26,000 with a net cost of $18,200.
In addition, an April 2011 study by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that homes in California that had a six kilowatt solar system saw a $33,000 increase in the value of the home, she said.
From 2009 to 2010, solar integration has doubled and it has increased eight times since 2006, Liefke said.
In 2010, Pennsylvania was ranked sixth in terms of grid-connected capacity installed, which Liefke attributes to a healthy Sunshine grant act, since Pennsylvania wasn't even on the list a few years ago.
Although many of the top ranking states, such as California, New Mexico and Nevada, are ones that are extremely hot, Liefke advised that heat has nothing to do with solar production. It's the amount of energy absorbed from the sun at any given time that does.
Judy Bricker, Waynesboro, compared this to the fact that you can still get sunburned in the winter even though it's not hot out because the sun is still producing energy.
Bricker said she and her family took a lot of things into consideration - such as when they would realize their investment, what if they moved shortly after installing, the aesthetics of solar panels - before deciding to install them on their home.
"They're not tacky," she said. "They're showing people that I do care."
As a renewable energy consultant with Mountain View Solar and Wind - and someone with a background in real estate - Michelle Liefke spoke about the real estate value of solar panels.
In her work, Liefke said she comes across four different types of buyers when it comes to solar panels - investors, libertarians, environmentalists and jet setters - each with different goals and purposes for their choice to go solar.
"It's appealing to use in many different ways," she said. "Understanding who you are will help you understand the next person who might be purchasing your home." Nancy Lindenmeyer, Fayetteville, agreed, stating she and her husband were a mix of the first three in their decision to install solar panels on their home.
They wanted to reduce their electric bill as well as be energy efficient and independent, Lindenmeyer said.
"We just liked that," she said. "We wanted to do out part."
There are many values of solar panels and the energy they produce which include reducing or eliminating your electric bill, reducing dependence on fossil fuels, providing a highly durable form of energy production and being a product with one of the best return on investment, Liefke said.
"The solar future looks really bright for our area," she said.
At Mountain View, in 2009 a five kilowatt system cost $42,000 but its net cost after state and federal incentives was $18,200, Liefke said. Today that same system costs $26,000 with a net cost of $18,200.
In addition, an April 2011 study by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that homes in California that had a six kilowatt solar system saw a $33,000 increase in the value of the home, she said.
From 2009 to 2010, solar integration has doubled and it has increased eight times since 2006, Liefke said.
In 2010, Pennsylvania was ranked sixth in terms of grid-connected capacity installed, which Liefke attributes to a healthy Sunshine grant act, since Pennsylvania wasn't even on the list a few years ago.
Although many of the top ranking states, such as California, New Mexico and Nevada, are ones that are extremely hot, Liefke advised that heat has nothing to do with solar production. It's the amount of energy absorbed from the sun at any given time that does.
Judy Bricker, Waynesboro, compared this to the fact that you can still get sunburned in the winter even though it's not hot out because the sun is still producing energy.
Bricker said she and her family took a lot of things into consideration - such as when they would realize their investment, what if they moved shortly after installing, the aesthetics of solar panels - before deciding to install them on their home.
"They're not tacky," she said. "They're showing people that I do care."
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