It was the moment we had been waiting for — the arrival of the electric bill. That is, the first bill after the solar photovoltaic system went up on the roof.
We had 15 panels installed on our four-bedroom house in the summer.
Our electricity bill had averaged about $200 a month, even though we have no air conditioner, no second refrigerator sitting in the garage and a clothes dryer that’s used only occasionally.
The post-solar PV bill was $16.76.
That’s the minimum monthly you pay to remain hooked up to Hawaiian Electric Co. The goal of most homeowners is to "zero out" the bill (make as much electricity, or more, than you use) and pay only the minimum, plus get credit for any surplus energy produced.
It made me want to dance and sing, "Sun, sun, sun, here we come!" It goes down as the best decision we made this year.
Not long after our solar panels went up, our neighbors across the street, by coincidence, had one installed on their rooftop. And then their next-door neighbor installed solar PV.
Up the street, down the street, around the corner — if you drive around my Kailua neighborhood, you will see solar PV systems on practically every block.
We may not have used the same solar companies, but we were on the same wavelength.
And I hope more neighbors will follow suit. I wonder if it’s almost like a "keeping up with the Joneses" phenomenon.
But it’s really not about that.
Besides the economic benefits of a substantially lower electricity bill, there’s something empowering about producing your own electricity. With the help of tax credits and lower bills, your solar PV system should pay for itself in a few years, even faster if the cost of fuel goes up, which it inevitably will.
If you need more convincing, the Solar Energy Industry Association says prices for residential systems have declined substantially over the past year: The average cost for a typical 5-kilowatt residential system is $26,050 nationally.
With the drop in the price of panels, many new players came on the market, increasing competition and broadening your choices.
Let’s not forget the green benefits of moving off fossil fuel — a finite resource — to a cleaner, renewable source of energy. Seeing the sun will make you smile for more than one reason.
Most solar PV companies offer a website or app that tracks how much power your system is generating while also telling you how many pounds of carbon you offset on a daily basis.
In Hawaii more than 21,000 solar systems (mostly residential) had been installed on Oahu, Maui and Hawaii island as of Nov. 30, according to HECO spokesman Peter Rosegg, who estimates the isles are on track to double the amount of megawatts installed last year.
Given the legal battle over proposed changes in tax credits for solar PV systems, it was a good year to go solar. Let’s hope the powers that be recognize the value of keeping solar systems affordable for families.
For more information on "net energy metering," visit www.heco.com; for information on state and federal tax credits, visit www.dsireusa.org.
Nina Wu writes about environmental issues. Reach her at nwu@staradvertiser.com.
