Featured Member Archive

Shapeshift-Ecopods Partnership
Mad River Makes Mad Efforts to Go Green!
Off Square Theater Company
Andy Tyson
Keith Sunshine and Liz Scriven
Donna Baur

Money from the sun? We have solar panels on our barn. When the sun is out they make electricity - Kilowatt-hours. Our home either uses them or puts them onto the grid, banking them for later. On a yearly basis we make about 70% * of the electricity that we use in a year. The panels are warranted for 25 years. We bought the solar panel system, so for the next 30 (+!) years we will only need to purchase the extra power we need in any given year. If we can conserve more power (more efficient appliances, lighting computers, etc) then we might not have to purchase the little we buy right now.

When my wife and I moved in we averaged about 1,100 kWh per month for the first year. That is right at the Idaho residential average (1078 kWh/month). (check here for a wealth of energy statistics: http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/state/index.cfm ) My wife and I then did some conservation measures. We changed light bulbs, replaced an ageing refrigerator, spray foam insulated the crawl space, plugged holes, and just went down the list of normal energy efficiency improvements. We were also more conscious about turning off lights, using our wood stove and keeping our baseboard electric heat turned off. All of those things led to a 40% energy use reduction. We used 660 kWh per month that year; below the Wyoming average of 871 kWh per month, and less than half of Jackson average of 1500 kWh per month.

Then we installed a 2kW solar electric system. It makes just less than 300 kWh per month, so we are now buying around 400 kWh a month. *note we actually have two houses on the property, both on the same meter - I figure the smaller rental home uses around 250 of those kWh a month at least.

So in the end, we took 60% off our energy use from the time we moved into the home. First we did normal improvements, and then we installed a solar electric system. If we keep working at it, we should be able to reduce even more. The rental home needs some energy efficient improvements – that is the next target.

We have fixed most of our electricity costs for the long term, become less dependent on others, and reduced our impact on the world (.8 lbs of CO2 per local kWh = 100 tons of CO2 saved!) We have also saved money. Using 8,400 kWh less per year for the next 30 years is $18,000 at current electricity prices! ($600 a year!)

Green = Green.