Solar Solution

Jen's cousin and his wife recently had some photovoltaic solar panels installed on the roof of their garage. Being the materialistic prick that I am, I want some too, but bigger. (that's a joke). Yes I would like them, but for many, many different reasons.

First her cousin lives in north Jersey. Their panel array is about 12'x14'. In October their panels created 300kWh. Our available roof area is at least 40'x16'. That's almost four times the size. Is it feasible to say in October we could have created nearly 1200kWh of power? We currently average 933kWh/month. In October we'd be putting power back to the grid.

The second and probably coolest thing about her cousin's deal is he lives in Jersey (yeah it's like the only cool thing - kidding). The state of New Jersey paid for 65% of the bill. On top of that, the federal gov't paid $2k. That's not a bad deal. Actually it's such a good deal, Home Depot takes care of it all for you. It's almost as easy as ordering paint.

So what's stopping us? We live in Pennsylvania. The state pays squat for residential renewable energy initiatives. From the little research I've done so far, our best bet is to apply for a grant. If anyone has any other info, please share. Another option of course is to wait. Wait till pv solar technology becomes more widely accepted and used, then the prices will come down. But sixty degree days in December makes me feel like it's too late to wait.