Green Living: Solar Power

Author: Ashley

22 Jul

It’s Tuesday again, and that means we are going green. Just a reminder that this series has been inspired by David Bach’s latest book, Go Green, Live Rich. And you can enter to win this book by leaving a comment on Green Living days.

Solar Power

Phoenix has 320 days of sunshine a year. Why everything isn’t solar powered here, I don’t know? When we got our hot tub I looked very briefly into having it solar powered but really, I didn’t know where to begin. There isn’t a ton of info about how to go about getting solar power for your home. What I found seemed awkward and expensive. So it’s hooked up to electricity. But David Bach listed this website, www.findsolar.com, in the book and it’s so helpful. If I had known about this site a year ago I would probably have a solar powered hot tub right now.

The site asks for your state, county, and electric company. Then you choose what you want to power with solar. If I choose the Spa/ Pool heating option it calculates that it will cost me $1,066, after tax rebates. Yeah, it calculates state and federal tax rebates too! Which when you consider I paid over $800 to have it hooked up to electricity that seems like a really good deal.

But the website doesn’t end it’s helpfulness there. You can also find companies that install solar power systems, complete with customer reviews.

Before I left, I also played around with what it would cost to have my whole house solar powered. Wouldn’t that be amazing! No electric bills! Unfortunately, it’s not such a great deal as powering the hot tub. To produce 100% of the power for my home it would cost just over $87,000. Which at 6.5% for 30 years is a payment of $550. I currently pay $168 a month for electricity. So as cool as it would be, I won’t be switching my home to solar any time soon.

But I get the distinct feeling that we are on the cusp of big breakthroughs in this industry. Almost $120 billion are invested right now in renewable energy projects. The instant solar (or wind) power becomes more cost effective it’s really going to take off. I think it will go the way of the computer, the technology will become cheaper and more powerful year after year. So it might not be long before seeing solar panels on the roof is a common occurrence.

So what do you think? At what point would you be willing to get solar? Do you think I’m wrong in assuming solar power will ever take off? How much would it cost you to install enough solar power to power your whole house? Leave a comment and enter to win David Bach’s book! ***Contest has ended***

13 Responses for "Green Living: Solar Power"

J. Money July 22nd, 2008 at 1:09 pm 1
Oooh cool! I love David Bach, so perhaps i’ll be a lucky winner As for the solar thing, as sexy as that sounds I really can’t see myself splurging for it anytime in the near future. If i ever build a home from scratch though, or come into a lot of money, it’ll def. be on the list!
Livingalmostlarge July 22nd, 2008 at 4:58 pm 2
Me, I want to win. I would go to solar when we move into our permenant home. Meaning we stay there at least 10-20 years. Why? Time to recoup the costs. It will take a long time even with government subsidies.
Lindsay Kinkade July 23rd, 2008 at 10:59 am 3
Going green and saving money can be the same thing. I just finished Bach’s “Smart Couples Finish Rich” and am so excited to find out about the Green book.

My husband and I put solar electric panels on our house in New England, YES, cloudy, crazy New England. We got a state grant to help us pay the up front costs and we constantly re-calculate how long until they pay themselves off. Right now, local electricity costs are going up nearly 20%. At first we thought it would take ten years for the panels to pay for themselves. The timeline is getting shorter and shorter, all while over half of our power is coming from the roof. And we also get payments from a local green credit reseller. Even though we use all the energy they create, we are garnering ‘credits’ that companies buy.

Also, we have a rented apartment in the house. When we were looking for a tenant this past spring, we had so many calls because the house uses ‘green power’ that we couldn’t call everyone back. And we had raised the rent price! Alternative energy has lots of different kinds of value. It’s scary to invest at first, but worth the payoff if you calculate correctly.

Best of luck to everyone!
reeva July 23rd, 2008 at 5:29 pm 4
I’ll be honest, I dont know that i could afford the installation of a solar power system. I try as much as I can now to limit my electrical usage and use as much natural light as possible.

I think its a great option for those who can really afford it but right now most everyone I know is in a financial pinch.

Great giveaway. I hope i’m the lucky winner
emily July 24th, 2008 at 2:42 pm 5
i’ve heard great things about this book. I also want to thank you for getting that site (www.findsolar.com) out there, I’d never heard of it either! It’s just too bad that people do not even know about incentives that exist for them to use!! i don’t really need this book because im still young and not a home-owner. hopefully solar will be more abundant and not a hidden option by the time i’m looking into electricity options…

by the way, thanks for getting our badge!!
Carnivals of the Week and Roundup | LivingAlmostLarge July 25th, 2008 at 4:02 am 6
[...] writes about Green Living:Solar Power, again leave a comment to win the David Bach [...]
Melaniesd July 25th, 2008 at 8:02 pm 7
I’m very interested in adding solar power to my home. It’s still very expensive though and I need to pay off debts as a first priority.
I currently have my power bill set up on budget so the power company averages our bill for the year. This is our 4th year in our home and each year the bil has decreased. This year it dropped from $70/mth to $63 - that’s $84 for the year! We got rid of an old energy-sucking fridge and all of our bulbs are CLFs.

I’m really interested in wind turbines. I live in Nova Scotia on the Atlantic Coast. We get a lot of wind, it’s certainly something we can harvest.
Zombie Money July 27th, 2008 at 5:51 am 8
When I get a house, Solar Panels would be something I’d def be interested in
Carnival of Personal Finance #163 - “Quotable Quotes” July 28th, 2008 at 4:43 am 9
[...] Ashley from Wide Open Wallet shares Green Living: Solar Power. [...]
Nicki July 30th, 2008 at 9:26 pm 10
I definitely agree that solar power will take off, as well as wind power. I am not a homeowner yet, but when we do buy, solar power will be a part of our home. Perhaps it won’t be the whole house ($$$), but I am hoping we can modify gradually, and within our budget.

And on a slightly different note, this is now my new favorite site! I’m just catching up on the last few posts, and there is so much great information to take in!
Frank August 15th, 2008 at 4:12 pm 11
Everyone is talking PV … how about Solar domestic hot water … you can install for under 4k … get a co-op together … willing to share my contacts for the common good … get rid of the DINOFUEL monster … once installed there is nothing better then the independance of self produced hot water
Angie August 19th, 2008 at 11:28 am 12
I would like to get solar power on our house. Tucson is almost as sunny as Phoenix! At this point, we have to focus on paying down our house though. We couldn’t justify cash flowing those kind of payments when we are upside down on our house as it is. (Bought at top of market; 4 foreclosures on our street; our house has gone down 30% in 2 years!)
Erminia November 17th, 2008 at 7:15 am 13
It’s a pretty cool info on this site.

Thanks,
Erminia