Did you know that Ann Arbor is one of 25 Dept. of Energy-sponsored “Solar Cities”?
Greenhouse Gas Reduction Goal: 20% below 2000 levels by 2015
Renewable Energy Goal: 20% renewable energy by 2015 (Ann Arbor Green Energy Challenge)
Project Activities
- Develop a comprehensive solar plan
- Hold informational solar workshops for consumers and installers
- Implement a community-based solar marketing campaign
- Educate youth about solar energy by including solar curricula in the city’s public schools
- Identify sites for high visibility commercial solar installations.
Project Partners
- Ann Arbor Community Development
- Ann Arbor District Library
- Ann Arbor Energy Commission
- City of Ann Arbor – Community Development
- City of Ann Arbor – Emergency Preparedness
- City of Ann Arbor – Energy Office (Project Lead)
- Clean Energy Coalition
- Downtown Development Authority
- Ecology Center
- Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association
- Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum
- Michigan Energy Office
- Michigan Public Service Commission
- Next Energy
- United Solar Ovonic
- University of Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute
- Washtenaw County
Pretty cool, eh?
Also, have you heard of The Solar Grand Plan?
It lays out a plan that, in theory, could have us producing 69% of our electricity via solar by 2050 (not including home solar use).
Pretty neat. I spent the morning looking at books about ecovillages, intentional communities, etc.
Two additional things:
– there is a job posting on A2’s website for an energy coordinator/manager/something like that- someone whose job it would be, it appears, to make this happen.
– Ypsi’s not too terribly far behind. It doesn’t have the resources to do something this grand, but they’re putting solar panels up on City Hall fairly soon. :)
(psst, the anon comment about the A2 energy manager job posting and ypsi’s solar stuff, that’s me. whoopsie.)
Solar in SE Michigan seems like it would require cheaper and more efficient solar panels in order to become viable. Wind would be a better bet.
Cheaper and more efficient solar panels are on their way. Have you seen the people who are using inkjet technology to create solar panels at an order of magnitude cheaper cost than traditional silicon vacuum-deposition solar panels? Pretty cool stuff.
Also in the news, major PC manufacturers are getting involved in solar panel construction, and that is what is needed to reduce the cost of production: scale.
I’ve seen that. When it happens, I may get interested in solar power in this area. Until then, it won’t even pay for the cost of the panels over their lifetime, so we aren’t jumping in.
I think a fairer metric is whether it will pay for the cost of the panels minus your usual electric bill. Assuming I had a house and the technology reached the point where I would be paying the same amount for my electricity, except solar and under my own control (no blackouts, I mean), I would go for it.
I do see your point, though, it is certainly a rare person who will buy into something like that at a loss.
I’m using the same metric you are, but what I’m told is that it’ll take 20-30 years to pay off current solar panels here, and the panels might not even last that long. Plus, my electrical bills are spread out into monthly payments, but if I want $30K of solar panels, I have to spend all that money now, or get a loan for it (at which point I need to figure in interest, and it also isn’t likely to be a 30-year loan, so it’s going to be a lot more expensive in the short-to-medium run).
So yes — we’d be losing money for years, which we might recoup in a couple or three decades, if we’re still living in the same house and if the panels last that long.
Well, presuming they’re still functioning, you’d roll that into the cost for the house, perhaps even see a profit on it.
From what I’m seeing right now, solar panel installation starts at $9K to $10K, depending on the size of your load. A 3,000-watt system, at least according to this retail site, can be found for 16k, not including state and national rebates.
Hmm, looks like that includes shipping but not installation, and that can be a pretty penny. *shrug* Every year, though, the price in $ per watt goes down. Within 5 years, I definitely think we’ll be seeing $1.5 to $1 per watt, which is totally competitive with utility power.