Solar panels to power houses in new developments

While I certainly don't intend for this blog to turn into my amateur suggestions on how to save electricity or gas, an article regarding one Washington family's attempt to save on their personal electricity bill demonstrates that even houses bought in this market could be equipped to ease some of the strain on the electric grid.

According to the article, for a cost of approximately $25,000, one family installed a series of solar panels on their property to help reduce the cost of their monthly electric bill. Now, the article makes them out to be sort of psycho when it comes to saving electricity, but their cost savings do indicate that the results would be significant, particularly over a long period of time.

If Delaware were to provide some sort of tax incentives for developers to integrate this sort of technology into new developments, and also similar tax credits for citizens who install this equipment, I think it could help drive down energy costs across the board and would ultimately be received positively. The real advantage to this sort of system implemented on the state level is that it would provide a new technology sector to develop, which would in turn put people to work and incentivize our high school students to think more seriously about careers in engineering.

In the short term, obviously the technology is cost prohibitive. In the long term, however, it may be something to consider. That is, the target market for this sort of solar technology is people buying houses they expect to live in for ten plus years. It would certainly not depreciate the house's value.

I'd be interested in hearing about the success or failures of this sort of system from others who have applied this type of technology to their own homes. If it's worth it, perhaps the government should investigate it a bit to see how good (or bad) the greater potential benefit may be.

Tags: installing solar panels on houses, personal solar power