Home solar payback is the million dollar question for solar energy systems. Unfortunately for solar installers, it’s not always an easy question to answer, as several variables affect the solution. It can be said that in general, it takes 10-20 years for an average-sized system to pay for itself in energy savings. In some cases, such as systems embedded into a mortgage, a system can be profitable from the get-go. In others, it can take more than 20 years.

Rebates and Incentives

Rebates and tax incentives are the number-one driver of shortened payback periods for home solar power panels. In fact, incentives are currently powering the entire solar industry as it works toward grid parity. Until 2016, the federal tax credit for home solar systems stands at 30 percent of up front costs. That’s available to every homeowner in the United States. Other incentives, including state tax credits and utility rebates, vary widely. (more…)

Popularity: 3% [?]

Photo Credit: One

There’s a new game in the development industry: eco-cities. Cities that are built sustainably with electric car charging stations, 100% renewable energy, greenways, green, green and more green if you’re thinking of what it will probably cost to live there.  Of course, who can complain about a new developer acquiring what was a ranch and actually doing something non-Floridian with it?

Enough of the devil’s advocate.  This new city, designed by Kitson and Partners, is to be built on 18,000 acres in SW Florida just east of Fort Meyers.  The original purchase tract of the Babcock Ranch was 91,000 acres, but thanks to the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, over 80% of that land has been preserved to remain as a much needed watershed and recreational area.

This new development looks very nice in theory and digital concept renditions.  However, what is the likelihood of the whole thing coming together?  Time.com says that most of it is already secured since Kitson and Partners have acquired the land to build on, even with the bulk of the land left to conservancy.  Of the 18,000 remaining acres, only half will be used by Kitson and Partners for the actual building. The rest will be a greenway. (more…)

Popularity: 2% [?]

How fame & fortune fashion residential solar power

Celebrities are some of the most avid proponents of alternative fuels, electric vehicles, green building products and energy-conservative lifestyles. Many celebrities will lend their voices to a nature documentary or endorse a green product, but there are those that rise above and beyond the everyday enviro-celeb. There are those that use their wealth and fame as tools to alter their lifestyles and work to convince us to alter ours.

Let’s take a look at the Coolest Eco-Friendly Celebs:

Ed Begley Jr.

Ed Begley Jr. literally epitomizes green Hollywood. Those who would list environmentally conscious celebrities as bandwagon riders would stutter at Ed Begley’s name. Here is an actor who rode his bicycle to award shows before “going green” was even a catchphrase and has been driving electric vehicles for nearly 40 years. Since the first Earth Day in 1970, Begley has dedicated himself and his family to green living practices, as many of you might have seen on his show, Living With Ed, alongside wife Rachelle Carson Begley.

Here are a few of EBJ’s earth-loving lifestyle changes:

• Self-sufficient 1,585 square foot home in southern California powered by solar panels.
• Invested in a wind turbine in the CA desert that offsets any grid energy needed by his home. (more…)

Popularity: 4% [?]