The New Normal

A funny thing seems to be happening all around us in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Our neighborhoods and businesses seem to be sprouting more and more solar power arrays on their roofs.  Neighbors are driving EV's and plug-in hybrids.  The morning and evening freeway commute has Leafs, Volts, Plug-In Prius's, Tesla Model S's, driving quietly and cleanly, mostly in the commute lanes.

When I go to various Silicon Valley corporations for my work, I see special parking areas for EV and plug-in hybrid charging stations, and these spots are normally in use.  Same with parking garages, airports, government buildings, and downtown streets.

These things started happening in the late '90's in California, but waned.  This time, the wheels are literally in motion and seemingly unstoppable.

Solar panel costs have been cut in half, many homes and businesses are leasing their PV arrays for less than their utility bill used to cost.  EV's can be leased for the same payment as the monthly cost of gas for a typical commute.  Car companies like Tesla, Chevy, and Nissan are building their EV's and plug-in hybrids in the US.

Sure, we're just at the beginning of this new paradigm, it will be slow and difficult to get people to open their minds to changing the status quo.  These big kinds of shifts often are.  But changing it is.  Going forward, most cars sold will be hybrids.  Many new construction projects will include solar power arrays.  There are already more people employed in the solar power industry than the coal industry.

I'm proud that my wife and I have had an effect on some of our neighbors and friends who have gone solar and bought EV's.  This is how revolutions happen!  This is the new normal!

Change Starts At Home

Here we go again, fuel prices are over $4.00 per gallon, due to arbitrary world market speculative pricing. Every day, our country spends a BILLION dollars on foreign oil. We have seemingly no control over gasoline prices, heating costs and electricity rates. We're stuck in a cyclic rut, at the mercy of big oil, big utilities and foreign countries who don't like us.

What if we could change the status quo? Wouldn't that be worth considering? The definition of insanity is repeating the same actions and expecting a different result. Isn't that what we are doing when it comes to our energy usage? Why not try something different? Yes, change is scary, but if you look around, you'll see neighbors who have made a change. Neighbors that have installed solar power on their roofs, even some who are driving electric cars. We have two neighbors who went solar in part due to our efforts promoting solar in our neighborhood. Our street has two Nissan Leaf EV's. Friends of ours bought a Nissan Leaf in part due to our doing it first.

Sure, many people will tell you that "solar power isn't practical", "EV's aren't a viable transportation solution", "solar is expensive"(PV panel costs have gone down about 50% in the past few years, zero dollar down leases are very popular), "EV's are too expensive and run on coal"(Nissan Leaf costs the same as an average ICE car after incentives, and can be leased for not much more than the monthly cost of gas, California uses coal for a small percentage of its power, solar is clean), "range is limited"(current EV's have enough range for the majority of people for normal daily driving). There are always exceptions that prove the rule.

Here's what we have proven to ourselves:

Solar power works, it's clean, almost maintenance free, lasts for 30 years, saves money everyday and our neighbors get to use our clean power as well.

EV's, even these early models, work for most people. We have over 10,000 miles of clean, FREE solar fueled miles. Our EV is our primary car for my wife's commute and for our evening and weekend driving. Maintenance costs less. In a few years, EV prices will be lower, range will be higher. Every mile is smog free.

A single year of solar power and EV driving saves us $4,000.00 in gas and electricity!

Yes, change is scary, but so is NOT making a change. We really can't afford the status quo. With solar and EV's, YOU have the Power!

Solar Year 4--This Time PG&E Owes Us!

Our annual "True-Up" period with PG&E just occured, and for the first time in four years since going solar, we ended up being -$8.54 for electricity usage for the entire year! Not bad for people who used to pay $2664.00 per year just for our electric power. This milestone occurred even while charging our Nissan Leaf EV every night since late April!

So, in addition to our lights, electric appliances, computers, printers, LCD TV's, home theater projection system with multi-channel sound, battery chargers, garage door opener, electric barbecue, and electric boat, we have driven 6,000 miles in our EV for FREE! That's a savings of $1000.00 in gasoline, compared to the internal combustion engine car we traded in for the Leaf, in a little over 5 months of EV ownership!

The combination of solar power and electric vehicle commuting saves us around $400 per month. The PV array has cost us nothing in maintenance, and we expect the EV to have very low maintenance costs compared to ICE cars.

The best part of all is that these savings come while lowering our carbon footprint substantially at our home and on the road. Just being more aware of how we use power and how we drive has literally paid dividends and will continue to do so for many years to come.

EV + PV = the Way Forward!

On April 26 we took delivery of a Nissan Leaf electric vehicle! This is one of the main reasons we went solar in 2007--our hope was for electric cars and solar power to be a symbiotic relationship.

Our hopes have come true! The Leaf EV serves as my wife's commuter car, taking her 27 miles round trip daily, as well as weekend use and daily errands. The Leaf has now been driven over 2000 miles and charged every night at midnight via the car's timer. We could charge during the day using solar power, since my wife's job is part time, but with PG&E paying us 33 cents per Kwh at peak time for solar production in the spring and summer months and off-peak power cost of 11 cents per Kwh, we charge at night, typically requiring just a couple of hours.

We have received our PG&E electric statement for May and June, with the costs being $-34.30 and $-36.03, respectively. It is clear that driving an EV daily has not had much impact on our electric costs at this time of year. In the winter months, I expect to pay around $20 per month to charge our Leaf. When all the months electric costs are combined, I expect the cost of driving the Leaf to be around $100 or so for the year. Compare this to the over $2500 per year it used to cost in gas for my wife to drive her previous car!

Over eight years, the life of the Leaf battery warranty, we will have saved $20,000 in gas costs, if prices remain where they are currently(unlikely). The question mark will be what the cost of a new battery pack will be in eight years for the Leaf? I would expect costs to be lower than today and capacity to be higher. I further expect maintenance on the Leaf to be lower than an internal combustion engine car.

I've heard every reason why solar power and electric cars supposedly don't make sense-- meanwhile our PV array and EV are doing exactly what I'd hoped for, cleanly and quietly! Just say no to the status quo!!

Three Years of Solar, No Sacrifices!

Yesterday marked our third "true-up" period with PG&E. That's three years of solar power, and it's time to pay PG&E for the last year of power consumption. We owe $68.00!! That's for the year, even less than the year before or before that. A long way from the $2600 per year we used to pay before solar! We don't do anything out of the ordinary except not use our clothes dryer or dishwasher during peak times in the summer. We do try to turn off lights that aren't needed. No real sacrificing to speak of, no maintenance of any kind, no having to think about it. Just clean, silent, pure power coming from our roof daily.

Last month we ordered our Nissan Leaf electric car and look forward to having our solar power system provide power for it next year. Normal driving patterns will require no sacrifice either with an electric car with 100 mile range. Solar power for the home and car isn't a far fetched concept or dream, it will soon be our reality. After rebates and incentives, both a residential solar power system and an electric car like the Nissan Leaf cost somewhere in the low $20,000 range each. Leasing can be an affordable option as well with both. These aren't technologies meant for the rich, they are well within the grasp of normal families.

The sun CAN power our transportation and living needs! We aim to keep proving it next year.

Driving with the Sun

Today we reserved a Nissan Leaf electric car for delivery by the end of the year, hopefully. Owning an electric car is one of the reasons we went solar in the first place. We hope to power our electric car like we do our electric boat, with the help of solar!

Solar power and electric vehicles(EV's) are truly a sustainable way to guarantee freedom of mobility without worrying about polluting, high fuel prices or high maintenance costs. Being green and self-sufficient is a good feeling--and that feeling will only get better when our solar system helps to provide up to 100 miles of clean driving pleasure in our Leaf.

Even if most of the EV charging is done at night during non-peak times, the solar system is still making an impact by keeping the electric consumption costs way down. Last year we only paid $159 for our power consumption. Adding an EV should cost no more than $2.75 for a full charge. If charged during daylight hours, it could be free with our PV array providing the charging power, assuming a sunny day.

Imagine, no need to send money to the middle east for dirty, depleting fossil fuel. No more gas stations, oil changes, tune ups, smog checks, oil leaks, no tailpipe! Solar power proves that the cost of freedom doesn't require wars over oil or unhealthy air from coal or oil--lives saved, a good feeling indeed.

Solar Power and the New Localized Economy

The era of cheap energy is coming to a close. Due to higher and higher fuel costs, it will no longer make sense to mine iron ore from South America and ship it to Japan in order to mill steel and then ship it to the U.S, versus using steel made in our country. Nor will it make sense to ship refrigerated food from China, or fruits and vegetables from other far flung parts of the world for our consumption. Oil prices, even if from domestic or Canadian sources, reflect world market costs and pressures, making the geographic location of the oil wells irrelevant.

The future will be more about a localized economy, not cheap products from China that used to be viable due to cheap fuel, nor electricity that is carried over a grid from hundreds or thousands of miles away, even if sourced from cheap coal--the reality of pollution from coal and huge container ships is that they harm our environment and our health, making them anything but cheap or efficient. A localized economy will mean new, alternative energy sources, locally grown food, a return to domestic manufacturing and jobs that left our shores.

Solar power is a great example in a new, localized economy. Clean, renewable power, sourced from domestic solar panels, will be located right where the power is needed most--on top of large factories and warehouses and on the roofs of our homes. We will have the option of driving electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles that will be charged from our local, homegrown power source. Solar power fits the model of the new way forward, just as manufacturing, farming and distribution on a localized level will be the most efficient approach in a world of expensive, dirty and dwindling non-renewable energy sources. Solar power is the right way for today and tomorrow, for us and for our children.