Solar works great but much of the energy produced is lost during the peak demand time of day. Solar panels on your house are busy from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM pumping out free clean electricity. Utility companies are straining at 3 – 7 to provide enough community power without having to go outside their network and purchase power at a loss. Well now help is on the way for homes and cars using computer battery technology. [continue reading…]
Whenever I vote these days, I feel a little like Charlie Brown must feel when Lucy tells him to go ahead and kick the football and then she pulls it away. From about 2008 until the spring of 2010, thousands of homeowners in 23 states were able to go solar because of a unique long-term low-interest financing program called PACE. [continue reading…]
One of the many services the Sierra Club routinely performs is to survey local and government solar installers permit fees to determine if they are excessive. In February the Sierra Club took a look at local municipalities in San Luis Obispo County (Central coast area of California) and discovered huge disparities between local government home and business solar permitting fees. [continue reading…]
A recent report was released by an Iowa State University research showing solar having a significant jobs impact. We think that Iowa is not only soon to be know for its tall corn and presidential politics but also as a leader in renewable energy. Wind as well as solar is really getting a foothold in the Hawkeye state creating jobs and reducing our dependence on foreign oil. [continue reading…]
Traveling this week to a meet with a group of solar installers near Tehachapi California, you cannot help noticing the hundreds of large and small wind turbines turning as you ascend the grade in the Sierra Mountains. The sheer number of large wind turbines is impressive enough, but when you get off the main highway, it is very cool to see many small home wind turbines cranking out power. [continue reading…]
California utility giant SCE has flipped the switch and turn on its super solar park adding five million watts of solar panel energy to its electrical generation capacity. The addition of solar photovoltaic plant to its Central Valley power grid was a step forward for a utility company at one time doing all it could to fight renewable energy. [continue reading…]
Imagine a readily available source of energy that could produce electricity for our homes and businesses, right where Iowan’s live and work. Iowa Solar Panel energy could be the next new engine of job creation for Iowans, provided they seize the opportunities in front of them. [continue reading…]
Home solar panel installation by homeowners who have purchased solar kits from our company is becoming an everyday occurrence. With the growing popularity of solar panel micro-inverters, home solar kits are cheap, fast and easier to install than you might think.
If you can replace a window, paint a room or repair a blown off shingle with some instructions and a few tools you likely already have around the house, you can install the majority of your own home solar panel kit saving you a boatload of money. [continue reading…]
Solar energy is scalable and versatile, but did you know it can also improves the marketability of your home? When a potential home buyer is calculating the potential mortgage payment as a percent of their income, there is increased monthly household cash flow available if the house is equipped with solar.
Utility bills can account for $200 – $300 per month in many home budgets. How would you like to have a monthly utility bill of say $20 and not have to worry about rising energy costs? [continue reading…]
In this corner, all the way from China, you have the reigning champion, Voltaic portable solar backpack weighing in at a stout 4.5 lbs.
In the other corner, you have the American made challenger, Eclipse Solar Backpack weighing in at a trim 3.1 lbs. Everyone knows the rules for this solar backpack match up? Let the solar backpack smack down begin. [continue reading…]
Karen Erickson and her husband Ryan dreamed of living away from the hustle and bustle of the city life. With an extraordinary commitment to solar power and energy-efficient lifestyle, the couple is now living their dream lives, off-grid free from the noise of the city. [continue reading…]
In some remote areas, sometimes you’re only choice, short of a noisy generator, but to install a big off-grid solar and battery kit because power is not available to you. Up until now, off-grid solar kits have amounted to less than 3% of the solar systems installed primarily because the payback was generally not considered a good investment. [continue reading…]