The Orlando Sentinel, Fla., Home Energy column

The Orlando Sentinel, Fla., Home Energy column

The Orlando Sentinel, Fla. --Dec. 23

The four hurricanes that blasted Florida in a six-week span this summer have generated interest in solar electric systems.

You didn't have to be one of the 8.8 million Florida residents who lost power during those storms -- outages that ranged from hours to a couple of weeks or more -- to appreciate how much we rely on electricity in our everyday lives.

Now everyone wants to find out more about photovoltaics -- solar electric systems, usually called just PV -- and how they can be used to power homes and prepare the home for the next big storm. Generators can do the job, but the quiet, reliable, powerful solar panels can not only help provide electricity for your home today, but they also can be there for the next time your power goes out.

PV systems, however, are still not cheap. Even though their cost has dropped more than a hundred-fold since mid-1950s, a 2-kilowatt system is going to cost $16,000 to $20,000. This size system would meet most of the needs of people living in an energy-efficient home. Figure on doubling this estimate if your home is not efficient or if you want to power everything you're using now.

Before these numbers scare you away, though, consider that there are a number of rebates and incentives available in various parts of the country to help lower these costs considerably. Check out the frequently updated, comprehensive overview of statewide incentives for all types of renewable energy at dsireusa.org.

In some parts of the country, rebates and incentives can cut the cost of a PV system by as much as 70 percent. Not every area has such generous financial help, but there are a surprisingly large number of programs available in just about every state.

Local PV contractors can give you a better estimate of the costs by accurately sizing the system you'll need, taking into account your climate, the equipment you want, where the system will be installed and other factors.

At a lower cost, smaller systems can be installed to provide backup power and to meet a part of your current electric load.

There's more good news. In many states, utility companies offer "net metering" plans. This means that when you're producing power from your solar electric system -- and all it takes is sunshine to do that -- you can sell back unused power.

Thanks to federal regulations and a growing number of utility policies, thousands of homeowners all over the country are producing their own energy from renewable energy systems, using this energy during the daytime or storing it for nighttime use, and selling what they don't need to their utility company. One added benefit is the thrill of watching your electric meter running backward.

Solar systems also help reduce environmental pollutants that come from the burning of fossil fuels, resulting in the savings of thousands of pounds of carbon dioxide and other emissions over the system's lifetime.

One survey of home appraisers concluded that the selling price of your home will increase by about 20 times the annual savings you would get from a PV system. Saving $1,000 per year, for example, means that the equity value of your home would be increased by about $20,000, which shows that renewable energy systems can pay for themselves.

Bill Young of the Florida Solar Energy Center took solar equipment to a number of disaster areas to help power everything from streetlights and traffic signals to emergency medical facilities. During inspections of this year's hurricane-ravaged sites in Florida, he found that solar panels held up quite well, even as roof parts around them blew away.

So give some thought to making an investment in your home that can provide energy every day of the year and even at times when utility power might not be available. You can find resources at fsec.ucf.edu, www.nrel.gov and www.eere.energy.gov. The latter site has information on financing options.

Ken Sheinkopf is associate director of the Florida Solar Energy Center in Cocoa, a research institute of the University of Central Florida. For more information on energy issues, visit the center's Web site at fsec.ucf.edu.

-----

The Orlando Sentinel. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.