Solar Photovoltaics

Solar photovoltaic panels provide free, clean energy from the sun. Integrating solar panels with conservation options can produce a good return on your green energy investment.

The Time For Solar PV Is Now

Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems are changing the way that energy is produced, all around the worldwide. That is because:

The cost of solar PV energy is declining rapidly.
Solar energy is clean and renewable. It can help clean up America's built environments.
Solar PV can be a good business investment when combined with conservation and appropriate tax treatment.
Solar PV can decrease America's dependence on imported oil.

Solar PV Can Provide Unlimited Power

Solar photovoltaics (PV) California's Center for Sustainable Energy estimates that a solar PV facility that occupied 100 square miles (which could be easily accommodated in Arizona or Nevada) could supply 100% of the United States current electrical demand (which is about 800 gigawatts). As a practical matter, this capacity could easily be distributed throughout utility system installations and smaller commercial and residential installations, nationwide.

Solar PV Is Affordable

There is a widely held belief that solar PV is not affordable. This belief results from comparisons of PV installed cost per watt with the cost per watt of utility supplied power. In some areas of the U.S., this conclusion is valid. But, it is highly misleading because there is far more to the PV affordability story.

First, combining solar PV with energy conservation (in an integrated green energy project), reduces overall project cost. Combining this approach with rebates, tax incentives, a peak-shaving strategy and surplus energy income can produce a satisfactory ROI (return on investment).
Second, an integrated solar PV and energy conservation roadmap can eliminate commercial energy waste that is draining profits. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that 4.2 million commercial buildings, nationwide, waste 30% of the energy that their owners and tenants pay for. That energy waste subtracted $60.7 billion from business profits during 2007.
Third, solar PV-powered electric vehicles could reduce America's dependence on oil imported from unfriendly countries (which would also increase business profits because oil prices have increased 300% since 2003). The U.S. imported 1.5 billion barrels from “dangerous or unstable” countries during 2008; and to protect America's access to oil, the U.S. spent $1.3 trillion on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan from 2001 - 2011.
Fourth, solar PV can reduce the need for electricity produced by coal–fired power plants. Coal fires one-half of all U.S. electrical power plants.

When a solar photovoltaic installation is one component of an integrated green energy investment, the result can be a very small energy bill that is very good for the environment.