submitted by Mark Bortman, Exact Solar, mark@exactsolar.com

Sustainability, return on investment, energy independence and reduction of greenhouse gases are all great benefits of solar energy. Here, in Bucks County, we have the luxury of being able to think about such long-range issues.

Many people around the world have more immediate needs.

Imagine living in a hut where the only source of light is a kerosene lantern.  Imagine having to spend several hours each day foraging for firewood. Solar energy helps to solve these problems, too.

In Africa and other parts of the world, billions of people live without electricity. When the sun goes down, their only source of light is kerosene lamps.  Unfortunately, accidents with these lamps burn down homes and schools.  The burning kerosene causes thick, black smoke – indoor air pollution kills more people than malaria.

Worst of all, the kerosene is expensive. 

Small, inexpensive solar panels combined with efficient light bulbs can easily and effectively solve these problems. Enter Solar-Aid (www.solar-aid.org).

This organization has an audacious goal – they aim to eradicate kerosene lanterns from Africa by the end of the decade. Using the power of the sun, they give people a boost out of poverty and an improved standard of living.

On another front, it is estimated that half of the world’s population uses an open fire as their primary source of energy for cooking. This means lots of hard (and dangerous) work scavenging for wood, dung, coal or charcoal as well as respiratory diseases (not to mention deforestation, loss of wildlife habitat and global dimming – all problems that take a back seat to getting food for your family).

Harnessing the power of the sun with a solar cooker provides an immediate, inexpensive solution. As with the solar lights, the benefits of solar cookers include health as well as economics. As it says on the Solar Cookers International website (www.solarcookers.org), “solar cooking is more than a choice – it is a blessing.”

It is relief from having to walk miles to collect wood or spend much of a meager income on fuel. It is relief from smoky cooking fires that irritate eyes and lungs.

We in the United States count on solar energy to combat climate change and protect against rising energy prices in the future. In addition, people around the world are counting on solar energy’s clean, affordable means of lighting and cooking to provide immediate and tangible relief to their most pressing problems.

submitted by Mark Bortman, Exact Solar, mark@exactsolar.com

The other day, I almost fell off my chair! I was leafing through the newspaper and noticed an ad for a big flat-screen TV.  I couldn’t believe how low the prices have become. 

A few years ago, I really wanted one – they were new and cool and flashy and a must-have for anyone who likes to be on the cutting edge of technology. But, boy, were they expensive. What a difference a few years makes.

Not surprisingly, I get a similar reaction when I talk about solar panels.

Usually the conversation starts with “I thought about solar panels a few years ago” or “I have a friend who got solar panels a few years ago.”  The key phrase is, of course, “a few years ago.”

As with many new technologies, a lot can change in just a few years. For example, a solar electric system that cost over $35,000 a few years ago would cost around $10,000 today.

Back then I never imagined that I’d be saying this – but now the cost for electricity produced by solar panels is less than what you pay PECO.  With a solar lease, you can lock in a rate that is about half of what you’re paying PECO.

In 2008, there were about 200 solar electric systems in the whole state of Pennsylvania. Now there are more than 4000. This increase in scale in Pennsylvania, along with the corresponding increases in other parts of the country and the world, has helped to gain economies and bring down the price.

Despite the growth in solar, there is still a long way to go.

Solar panels produce just a tiny fraction of the electricity we use. Most of the electricity in our state comes from burning coal, which means removing mountaintops and sending thousands of tons of carbon dioxide and other pollutants into the air.

This does not need to be the case – one day last month, solar provided 50% of the electricity used in Germany.

With solar panels less expensive than ever, it is an option to consider.  As I like to say, solar makes sense – it makes sense for the environment and it makes sense for your bank account.

submitted by Mark Bortman, Exact Solar, mark@exactsolar.com

I hate it when my printer runs out of ink. Why? Because those little ink cartridges are so expensive. This is a smart marketing plan by the manufacturers – sell the printers for cheap and make it up on the ink.

So, of course, when buying a new printer it is important to look at the overall cost of ownership. Consider not only what the printer itself costs to buy, but how much it costs to use it over its expected lifetime. Sometimes a higher upfront cost leads to big savings in the long run.

Why do I bring this up in the “green” column?

Because I think printers make an excellent analogy to the energy use in your house. Ink is a “consumable.” Once it is used, it’s gone. In your house, electricity, gas and oil are consumables, too. 

A traditional power plant is just like a printer. And, you can get power from PECO’s power plant or you can have your own power plant – solar panels.

With PECO, you have no upfront cost, but you pay for the energy each month as it requires and uses coal, nuclear, oil or gas to create its output – electricity. With solar panels, there typically is an upfront cost (but new lease options mean that isn’t necessarily the case) but there’s no ongoing consumable required. Once the solar panels are installed, they generate electricity or heat your water for free.

If you look at the amount of energy they produce over a reasonable term (say 10 or 15 years) it is easy to calculate the savings they provide that more than offsets that upfront investment. And since solar panels will last a lot longer than 15 years (most are warrantied for 25 years now), the energy they produce after that time really is free.

Solar panels are like a printer that makes its own ink!

To continue our ink analogy, since ink is expensive, there are things you can do to save money – change the way you do things so you print less, print more in black and white rather than color, or even buy less expensive ink. Well, the same is true with energy – there are many things you can do so you use less of it.

These range from inexpensive (or even no cost) things like closing the blinds on sunny summer days or lowering the temperature setting on your water heater, to true investments like adding insulation in your attic and air sealing any leaks.

Once you really get into it, you realize that printing less has environmental benefits as well as economic ones.

Of course, saving energy has tremendous environmental and economic benefits as well – a true win/win situation.