SOLAR!!!

So our little town had a weekend fair with a bunch of food and local vendors selling their wares. Casually, I stopped by one of the solar power contractors to ask a few questions about the industry. A simple conversation lead to a free consultation (what could it hurt?). My impression of solar was that while there were a lot of incentives, it was still prohibitively expensive...not so. Our free consultation lasted almost 2 hours with a very knowledgeable lady from Independent Power Systems. As it turns out, the incentives are so good and so plentiful that not only we could afford to put solar panels on, we could afford to put enough on to power the entire house! And the kicker, it will cost us practically nothing! How you ask?

We are purchasing a 7.2kW system, about 32 panels. The entire cost of the system, installed, is $52,000. Xcel Energy (local power provider), is currently offering a $3.50/Watt rebate. The equates to ~$25,000. Half of, just like that. The Federal government provides a 30% tax credit, there’s another $8000. That leaves us with a $20k bill, now here is the really cool part. Boulder started a pilot program this year called the ClimateSmart Loan Program. You can read about it via the link, but the short of it is that Boulder provides a 15 year 6% loan as integrated into your property taxes! So should we move, the loan stays with the house, not us. And, the amount the our property taxes increase is equal to the amount our utility bill will decrease. And that will improved by next year and electrical rates increase! So you might be saying, who would by a house with a higher property tax then the house right next-door? Not a problem...not only do we believe the solar system will self, the cost savings of not having an electrical bill is greater than the increase in taxes.

Oh yeah, and we are doing our part for the environment. 100% off the grid.

The proud owner of a new solar power system!