COLUMN: Pining for solar panels

Louie Gilot: Let's shed some light on solar panels

Louie Gilot / Special to the Times

Posted: 04/21/2010 09:49:28 PM MDT

EL PASO -- Some people are so taken with a particular car model that they'll collect glossy magazine ads and even repeatedly visit car dealerships that carry the object of their desire. They know they can't afford it, but dreaming is free, right? That's how I feel about photovoltaic (PV) panels. Ah, beautiful, shiny, PV panels.

I'm talking, of course, about solar panels you put on the roof of your house. But at $20,000 to $35,000 a pop, I can go on dreaming. Thankfully, I have this column and therefore an excuse to indulge in all things solar. So I contacted some solar panel installers and owners in town and asked questions. It was great. They even let me touch their PV panels.


First, how solar power works for most in El Paso. Solar homes are connected to the electrical grid with a Net-Metering system. It means that the solar home is powered by the sun during the day and any extra power is sent back to the grid to be resold by the electric company. In exchange, the electric company gives the solar homeowner credits for electricity after hours, when the sun is down. A solar homeowner can expect not to pay for electricity ever again.

Here are some tips if you are thinking of going solar.

Look at your electricity consumption. You know the mileage of your car, right? How about your house? Take a good, hard look at your electric bill. The more energy you consume, the more going solar will make sense.

Work on energy efficiency first. Buy CFL bulbs and Energy Star appliances. Refurbish roof insulation and fix leaky windows. Consider getting an energy audit. If you reduce your energy need by making your home more efficient, you'll reduce the size of the solar system you need.

Look at your roof. Ideally, it should be oriented to the southeast, and there shouldn't be any obstruction (tree branches, neighbor's house) casting shadows on it. Is it black? Paint it white to reduce heat absorption and your cooling costs.

Fix your roof. No sense installing a solar system that'll last 40 years on a roof that's falling apart.

Investigate rebates and rate of return. This last one is tricky. There is a 30 percent federal tax rebate on the installation of PV system, or a $7,500 credit on a $25,000 system. But you'd have to make a decent amount of money to be able to benefit fully from this credit. Texas also exempts solar homeowners from paying taxes on the increase in property value due to the installation of a PV system. Even with those tax breaks, you're still looking at 14 to 19 years to recoup your investment, according to one installer's estimate.
Now, if you live in Las Cruces, you're looking at only half that much time. That's because Las Cruces homeowners have the added benefit of Renewable Energy Credit payments, in which El Paso Electric pays solar homeowners for every kilowatt-hour of solar electricity they produce. Utility companies also do that in Albuquerque, Carlsbad and many other cities. The only incentive available in El Paso so far has been a pilot program that ran out of money in two minutes last week and benefited only 12 projects.
Of course, there are non-financial incentives to going solar. It's clean. It's more energy-independent. And the panels are so pretty.
Earth Day is today. Celebrate the planet.
Send questions and comments on green matters to Louie Gilot on her blog, www.lagreenga.com.