Imagine having a home that pays for itself
Imagine this scenario for a moment. Instead of you receiving a $300 bill each month for your electricity usage, you send the electric company an invoice for the electricity they are purchasing from you. And, just to make it more fun, you tell them that late charges will be assessed if you don’t receive payment within 30 days.
Science fiction? Fantasy? Maybe not. As the cost of energy-efficient equipment falls and more and more homes are powered by solar panels and wind turbines, there could come a day when you live in a home that actually produces more electricity than it uses.
Net-zero homes, featuring energy-efficient appliances, highly insulated doors and windows, and water recycling systems, are a step in this direction. They used to belong only to the very wealthy. But with the cost of a complete home solar system dropping by about 50 percent over the past five years, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, more people are giving them a serious look.
Today, the cost of a net-zero home is about $40,000 to $45,000 more than a conventional home. Just a few years ago, it was about $100,000 more. Not only do these homeowners not have to worry about an electricity bill each month, they are eligible for tax incentives and rebates, depending on laws within that particular state.
In addition to releasing no carbon emissions, these net-zero homes save approximately 100,000 gallons of water each year through recycling. The air quality is better in these homes as well, so people save on medical costs. And because they last longer than conventional homes, their resale value stays higher for a longer period of time. Finally, these homes are more disaster-resistant than the average home.
If money were no object, would you be interested in owning a net-zero home? What do you think are the biggest advantages or possible downsides to such a home? Please chime in on this subject.
I want to know how many of the panels you show us how to make would I need to power 1500 watts a month
Frank I would like to address your fans here for a moment, if I may. Three years I was looking on the internet at something on YouTube when I came across your advertisement to Power4Patroits.com. I watched and listened to your ideas of creating my own electrical power to augment my power consumption.
The idea intrigued me. I looked at the plans, investigated the details needed to have my power supplied by myself and used for my needs. I discovered that my local power company had a program that would allow me to “Go off the Grid” even when I live within city limits. Needless to say I took the plans provided me from your Power4Patriots and made my own solar panels. I had the panels installed on the roof of my home and inspected my a licensed electrician and power company representative (It was part of their requirement, to ensure that the power that went into the power companies grid was up to their standards and safe for my home and community consumption.)
For for the first year my electric consumption came down to me owing the power company $1.00 or less. After one year of my solar panels in operation, I paid the power company $10.43. That is a fantastic deal considering that I would have paid the power company close to $1500.00 that year in which two-thirds of this payment was for air-condition. I live in Southern California where the annual temperature is in mid to high 90’s. Several weeks the temperature was above 105 degrees. We may be short on water; but, never on sunshine and heat.
This is the second year where the local electric company sent me a bill. This time they paid me $5.97, enough for a #1 at McDonald’s. It isn’t that I am about to become rich or anything like that, but at lease I won’t be heading toward the poor house either. My point is this and I want to stress this to your readers: What happens or doesn’t happen is up to you and you alone. You can become a bobble head and move your head in agreement or disagreement, unless you get up and do something about your condition, one way or the other, you will never know what it is like to be free of the power company’s grip. I broke free and just in time too. The power company just increased their rates and re-created a new tier system. All of my neighbors would talk about me and my family when we first put in our custom made solar panels, usually with a big ass grin on their faces. Now they just hang their heads. I offered to point them in the right direction but I guess their pride is in the way. I’ve had neighbors from streets away stop by and ask questions and a few of them even put their own solar panels up.
The ball is in your court. Break free, be free, take pride in your own self-sufficiency from the power monster companies, take pride in ownership of your own power producing solar panels. Earn what it means to be an American.
Thanks Frank for sharing your ideas and blogs with me and the others.
Frank, I am an Alabama resident and am able to produce my electric consumption in full 7 months out of the year. However, the fees Alabama Power is allowed to charge and the taxes applied make it impossible to have a net-zero home in this state. In addition to my needs I would have to sell 1000 or more KWH per month to break even at the rate the utility pays for my energy. I am convinced that the Alabama Public Service Commission has no interest alternative power.
Gene, it is up to you and others in Alabama to put laws in effect to your advantage. Increase the money that the power company pays people that generate their own power and put it back into the power grid. Make the Public Service Commission to become more responsive to your needs. Make them your champion when dealing with the power company. Otherwise, go off the grid and survive on your own power production.
I started the War Horse Ranch with the intention of creating just such a community environment for veterans. The idea has been to create enough homes and structures to.support 8 veterans for mental health & susbtance abise treatment. We want to teach each veteran how to design, create & build their own renewable energy sources.
Just such a net-zero home would not only prove to be cost effective, it seems to reason it would also be effective in treatment efficacy of the veterans. Add to this, various alternatives to treatment, and it’s a win-win for everyone.
I would love to learn.more about building such environments for our soldiers & veterans. War Horse Ranch will be for the veteran, his/her family as well as assisting with reintegration and animal rescue.
Visit our website at http://www.war-horse-ranch.com for our.goals, ambitions and needs. We want to be a part of a greater community to help our heroes return.home, long after their deployments end.
TERRY R PARKER, FOUNDER
War Horse Ranch, LLC