Home   Contact Us   Donate!   Become a Solar Advocate!   Solar Community Outreach   Arizona Goes Solar!   Solar PR   

3rd Step: Produce
Free Electricity with Solar Power

(Click here for the last step)

Click here to find an Solar Installation Company

---

The final step in making Arizona the greenest state in the nation is to zero out home and business electricity usage completely with a solar electric photovoltaic (PV) system, which use the sun's energy to produce free clean, green electricity.

The good news is that the Arizona Corporation Commission has set some very aggressive goals for moving Arizona toward this goal with the passage of the Renewable Energy Standard (RES), which requires 15% of all energy to be generated by renewable energy power plants by the year 2025. As a result, we have more than $185 million waiting for consumers and businesses in 2009 alone via utility companies' incentive programs to help them pay for energy efficient upgrades and solar power systems.

In addition to incentives, Arizona also has one of the most aggressive net metering systems, which allows customers to produce up to 125% of their annual electricity usage and sell the excess electricity back to the utility company.

The results have been impressive. In Arizona's largest utility service territory, APS' solar customer installation rates jumped more than 70% in 2008. But there is tremendous room for more growth. An APS Valuation Study confirmed that more than 262 million square feet of roof space is still available and waiting for solar panel deployment within its service territory.

The best way to determine whether or not your home or business is a good choice for a solar installation is to use Google Earth to look up your building's address. If your roof is flat, it is a very good candidate for solar. If the tilted roof faces south, then you also have a very good potential solar rooftop.

The second criteria is to look for are things like pipes, AC units, utility poles or trees that might cast a shadow on any part of your roof during the day. Last, but not least, is the condition of your roof. If it is in need of any repairs, most solar installation companies move on to the next location for insurance reasons.

If you run a business, the same procedure applies. One added benefit that most businesses have are parking lots. The nice thing about solar panels is that the provide shade. As long as you install solar panels on top of a car port structure, you can use solar incentive programs to pay for the installation of solar/parking garage structures.

Solar covered parking spots are a great way for shopping malls, movie theaters, and franchise fast food restaurants to increase retail foot traffic because people love to park in the shade if it is available. How many businesses or apartments complexes have covered parking? How many have solar panel installed?

The amount of roof space needed to roof-mount a solar system is based on the size or generating capacity of the system. A general rule of thumb is that 100 square feet of roof space is required for every kilowatt of electric capacity.

The number of kilowatts required depends on the energy usage and how much of your energy use you want to offset. Most people will not be able to afford zeroing out their home's total energy bill. However, a cost-effective strategy is for homeowners to add one string of solar panels every year until they zero out their home's energy usage.

According to the "Appraisal Journal," for every dollar your annual electric bill decreases due to your solar power system, your property's value will increase $20.

Solar is a great investment for the environment regardless of the size of the system installed. You never know when incentive programs will vanish. If you procrastinate, you run the risk of missing out on incentive programs that are available right now, but may not last until you are ready to make a purchase decision.

---

5 Steps to Create an Energy Efficient Solar Home in Arizona

Step 1: Energy Efficiency

Step 2: Solar Thermal Hot Water

Step 3: Zero Out with Solar Power

Step 4: Call a Solar Installation Company for a Free Quote

Step 5: Research Solar Products