Family gets 80 percent of the energy for their home from solar panels

Tag : solar power home

The biggest change came when Redmond put solar panels on the roofof his 1925 bungalow in the suburbs of Washington, which he shareswith his wife, Margaret McGilvray, and the couple's two young sons.
The system, which still allows the family to use energy from thetraditional power grid when the sun is not shining, uses what isknown as net-metering. No electricity is stored in the house.Energy produced in excess of what is needed is fed back to thepower grid, effectively making the Redmonds' electric meter runbackward.
Twelve panels on the roof feed power to a device in the basementcalled an inverter.
The solar power system cost $23,000 after a $2,000 tax credit.Redmond estimates that the system will pay for itself in 10 to 15years.
"As we know, our power rates are going up." He said"So it probably will take less because that number is based onwhat we're paying right now.
"About 80 percent of our power is used with the solarpanels." Redmond says.
To get that kind of benefit, though, the family greatly cut theamount of energy they use.
"We've made a real effort to reduce how much electricity weneed to use in the first place, which is much less expensive to dothan to produce energy that you're wasting inside of yourhome."
The biggest lifestyle change is as low-tech as the solar panels arehigh-tech -- the family uses a clothesline to dry its laundry. Take a closer look at the Redmonds' money-saving strategies »
"It's ok just to simply hang your lines ... and not use yourdryer," says Redmond, who cut his electric bill by 15 to 20percent by ditching the dryer. "That to me would be the veryfirst thing anybody should do in terms of conserving electricityfor their home."
Redmond cooks using a solar oven, a small appliance that uses fourreflectors, to heat food in Redmond's front yard. The device usesonly solar power and leaves no carbon footprint.
Richmond says he can heat food to about 350 degrees in his solaroven, but the stove's manufacture says it can heat food up to 400degrees.
On the days when the sun is not shining, the family uses theirtraditional oven powered from electricity provided by the powergrid.
The family also uses a small array of solar panels to charge iPodsand cell phones. Whenever possible, Redmond runs errands on anelectric bicycle that pulls a small trailer. Every little bit helpskeep their power bill low.
Redmond works from home as a photographer, and McGilvraytelecommutes as a consultant for IBM. The couple decided that sincethey spend a lot of time in their 1,400-square-foot home, and notmuch time on the road, their best option for saving energy was thesolar panels.
"We had several years of back and forth consternation. Shouldwe buy the Prius? Should we get the solar panels?" Redmondsaid. "What we decided is, opposed to spending that sameamount of money on a hybrid, let's offset what we're using for ourhome and business from our roof. ... This would make much moredifference in how we live."
For Redmond, it's not just about the money.
"It was more about what we thought was important for ourselvesand the decisions we're making for our family," he said.