Sensational Solar Homes: Solar Homes Roundup in Washington, DC
The news around Washington D.C. has not been altogether bright. The Nationals didn’t make the playoffs this year. The federal government is closed. The museums are closed. Imposing concrete barriers block you from parking in any lots managed by the National Park Service. A woman suffering from postpartum depression leads the police on a chase from the White House to the Capitol Building, where she is killed in her car. Despite all of the bad news and gridlock elsewhere in the city, the solar home tour celebrated its 23rd year in the metropolitan Washington DC area this past weekend. And if you missed it, you missed one of the bright spots in Washington, D.C.
Homeowners with solar home panels and solar water heating systems graciously opened their homes to visitors just to show off their solar prowess. Some of the homeowners even fed us (and our kids, thank you very much!).
We were treated to a glorious fall day in Washington, D.C. My kids and I went to a few houses on the solar tour in remarkably warm weather. One warm day does not mark any major trend for climate change. If you doubt that the weather is making a move, then please read the latest comprehensive report on climate change from the United Nations. Should we feel guilty for enjoying the warm weather in Washington, D.C.?
We toured some of the homes on the solar home tour. Every home solar system is different and presents different challenges to designers and installers–which may be one of the reasons that residential solar has not had a breakout moment that industry analysts have predicted.
The hard work is in the design. If you have ever seen a solar installation, you may have been surprised about how quick a rooftop solar system can be installed. In a matter of hours, the solar racking can be placed on the roof and then it is very quick to lay the panels on the racking. Often the electrician comes back on the following day to hook up the system to the inverter, and then the only waiting time is for the local inspector to give the O.K. to turn the system on.
These days a lot of the prep work can be done on Google maps as the installation company can see very quickly whether your roof is a good fit for solar. Hint: if you have 70 foot oaks casting a long shadow across your roof for the entire day, you may have to wait until a better solution is found to harness the ambient light.
One of the homes on the tour had big problem: the house was built 70 years ago with a slate roof—good for the style and weather protection, but bad if you want to lay a solar panel system on the roof. The roofing company advised that they would do considerable damage to the roof if they installed solar panels on the slate roof. The homeowners found a quiet part of their lot their array for a ground mount system, which you don’t find very often in the city.
The solar panels have been in their yard for three years, and, according to the homeowners, they will have paid for the solar energy system in another two years, or altogether five years from installation to payback. The homeowner reported how he worked with his neighbors to assure that they would not object to the way that the solar system looked or the height of the array. Another homeowner showed off his array, but you had to climb a latter to see the system. He had an easier time with his neighbors, who cannot even see his array.
Human psychology plays a role in the financing of these systems. When there were more incentives, there was more of a frenzy to buy solar panels. Now that many of the incentives are no longer around, the frenzy has quieted down, but the cost of the solar systems without the incentives is now much less than it was before because of the falling cost of the modules. As one homeowner told us, he originally bought his panels ten years ago at $7.00/watt. Now a better module can cost around a dollar a watt. But what is missing is that hook that you better get on the bandwagon today. There is one major incentive that will almost certainly disappear, and that is the federal income tax credit, which ends in 2016, but you still should have time to put in your solar water heater or solar energy system before the credit expires. With the craziness in Washington, D.C., you probably should think about getting your system up and running before the solar tour next year.