Total Home ----------------------------------------------------------- Total Solar Electric Home Is Their an Economic Advantage to Converting to Solar ----------------------------------------------------------- Total Solar Electric Home © Copyright 1992 By Charlie Collins From "Ask Mr. Solar" Column Published 8/18/92 Daily Spectrum Question: Can I run my whole home on Solar electric power, and how much will it cost? Mary Davis, Springdale Utah Mr. Solar: Mary,Can I run my whole home on Solar electric power, and how much will it cost? Mary, yes you can run your whole home on solar Electric power and therefore doing your part to help improve our environment.You are lucky to live in the south western part of our country where there is ample unfiltered sunlight to make plenty of electric from solar panels and compared to areas on the east coast where there is a lot of pollution you will find that they have to have up to twice or three times the number of solar panels to receive the same amount of electricity. Also if you lived in the northern part of our country then you would also need more panels due to the shorter hours of sunlight. Consequently it is much more economical too have electric solar in your area that it is in any other part of the country. Mary, for a large solar electrical system in other parts of the country to run all the things that you have become accustomed to it would cost approximately $38,000.00 however living in the south west you can have a large system for about $22,000.00. ----------------------------------------------------------- Is their an Economic Advantage to converting to Solar © Copyright 1992 By Charlie Collins From "Ask Mr. Solar" Column Published 4/19/92 Daily Spectrum Question:Is Their an Economic Advantage to Converting to Solar Russell and Linda D., Bloomington Ut Mr. Solar: Russell, today when a person converts their home to solar electricity it is the reasonable thing to do. This is for economic, enviormental as well as becomming a self reliant person. We were discussing with a local banker the possability of a home inprovement loan for Solar Electricity. We find that you now can get a 10 year variable loan at 1% over prime . You can also get a 20 year variable rate loan at 2% over prime which would only cost you $233.00 per month for a $20,000.00 loan. They also offer a fixed rate loan at 9% for 15 to 30 years. Your monthly power bill at this time may be costing you anywhere from $100.00 to $200.00 for your power usage. By usage I mean that every month you receive a new bill, just like you were renting your home. When you use public power for 10, 20, or 50 years as you own nothing which is similar to paying rent. We feel that it is a wise investment for you to consider installing your own power system. In 20 or so years you will own your own system and will not have any more power bills. The above figures of course vary with the size system that you desire to install. They will also vary with the rate that you can get from your local lending institution. I am sure you are aware this is a excellent time to consider borrowing money because the economy is depressed and therefore interest rates are very low. We feel that until the economy starts to inprove that the prime rate will remain low. Also you should remember that your price per kilowatt hour has been increasing steadily over the past years. We feel that you will experience a large increase in the years to come. As we have stated in previous articles there is a tax credit available to Utah tax payers which will help offset the cost of your system. Therefore it is an excellent time to invest in Solar. If I were living in the city depending completely on the grid for my electricity then I would want to become self reliant for part of my power. We have a large amount of food stored and I realize that I need some form of dependable power. I feel there is the possibility of being without power due to natural tribulation such as an earthquake or or possibility a man made disaster. Therefore I would want to have a back up system that would be dependable in any situation. As you see there is both an economic as well as a self reliant reasons to convert to solar electric power at this time. There is also the advantage of your helping the enviorement by using less polluting fuel to run your home. Of course you may deside to run a part of your home on solar electricity and still continue hooked up to the power grid. We will discuss that alternative in future articles. We are planning on our first open house here at the Do It Homestead Saturday April 25th. We would be happy for you and your friends to attend so that you could learn first hand what it is like to live on and use solar electricity. If you would desire more detailed information, please send us your monthly requirements and we will be happy to give you a cost estimate for part or all of your electrical needs. -------------------------------------------------------------------- [Mr. Solar Home Page] [Catalogue] [Entire Systems] [Sale Items] ["Ask Mr. Solar"] [Articles] [Like-Minded Web Sites] [Global Network] [DO IT Homestead] MrSolar@netins.net