THE FUTURE OF SOLAR IS NOW

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ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT

A Quiet Revolution in Photovoltaic Power Has Made the Dream of Renewable Energy a Reality.

by Michael Potts

John Schaeffer, president of Real Goods of Ukiah, CA, and his wife
Nancy have just taken a great leap towards electrical independence
by installing one of the first utility-tied PV systems featuring new,
high efficiency Midway Labs modules. Midway's story.

Perhaps no other endeavor has captivated the 0minds of MOTHER readers as much as living independently, free of the indentured servitude of the electrical grid. For nearly half a century, the photovoltaic cell, generating DC power solely from the rays of the sun, has represented one of the best avenues to that independence. At long last, developments in those renewable energy systems have made it easier for us to live within our solar income while maintaining our quality of life ...and without first obtaining a degree in electrical engineering. As appliance energy-efficiency continues to improve, better appliances made more easily available to energy-conscious buyers, and new equipment for managing homegrown energy (and selling the excess to the local power company) finally taking the intimidating learning curve out of system installation, the dream of decentralized generation is now. Off-the-gridders are being joined by nations and municipalities in declaring this to be the year renewable energy becomes the people's power choice.

Can a home PV system, designed to be integrated into and complement your existing grid power (see diagram at right), ever pay for itself? Yes, if the utilities agree to pay you for the excess power you produce at the same rate that they charge you for their own power. The chart assumes modest to moderate initial system cost of $6,000, a kilowatt-hour cost of 13 cents in the first year, and a conservative annual increase of 5 percent thereafter. For example, a kilowatt-hour of electricity in 2025, the endpoint of my projection, would cost 54.3 cents. Batteries for the system will need to be replaced every 10 years at a cost of about $1,000, and results in the saw-tooths in the break-even line.

Only a tiny fraction of a percent of American homes-just over a hundred thousand-are off the electrical grid and renewably self-sufficient, but that trend is quickly changing. Programs designed to defrock the electric priesthood by demystifying electricity, once attended only by supposed environmental radicals, are now filled to near capacity by tens of thousands nationwide, who quickly learn how safe, simple, and rewarding it is to play productively in the energy game. At the same time, the stakes have never been higher: Electric rates poise on an uncertain brink, and no one predicts that they will ever fall again. The power brokers in this game of redefining our national energy resources will still be the utilities, but they will have to transcend their role as primary providers and eventually come to terms with the fact that power has to flow from where it is most naturally derived: from our south facing roofs, seasonal streams, and windy promontories where it is still free for the taking.