Solar Power for Sale

According to an article written by Erin Schneider, of E Magazine.com, it appears that Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Representative Steven Cohen (D-TN) are sponsoring a bill that will help place solar panels on 10 million houses over the next 10 years. The bill is properly named, “10 Million Solar Panels and 10 Million Gallons of Solar Hot Water Act of 2010.” The main question yet to be answered is, “Can this be done?”

Solar power is not a new concept. Commercial industries have been using solar power for years to help reduce the high cost of energy usage, keeping their electricity bills low. Solar power in the residential setting barely exists. There are a small number of homes sporting solar panels on their roofs and normally these homes are owned by individuals with more money to spend greener technology. Solar panels simply cost too much for the average middle class citizens. One kilowatt of energy, the average amount of energy a home uses in a day, is produced for every 100 sq/ft of “activated” solar panel. According to the Solar Power Authority, the average home could be sustained by a 100 sq/ft solar panel display if the sun was out 24 hours a day with perfect clear visibility. Of course the sun doesn’t stay out 24 hours a day, and even when the sun is out it is not perfectly clear every day. Rather, the Solar Power Authority predicts that on average, a typical solar panel display, in order to power an average home, would need to be between 500 and 800 sq/ft, depending on the area’s amount of annual sunshine. The current price for a complete installation of a solar power display/array runs about $7 to $9 per potential watt. So, at the lowest end, a 500 sq/ft array, which is the low average needed to power one house, and has the potential to produce 5 kWh of energy, would cost $35,000 dollars to install. $35,000 is considered by many to be just too much money to devote to help better his or her environment. This system does have the potential to reduce the user’s power bill to zero or below, but with the monthly power bill averaging $73 per month it would take a long time to cover the initial start up cost.

So why are members of congress pushing to pass a bill that will seemingly cost Americans between $35,000 and $56,000 dollars, whether it takes 500sq/ft of solar panels to power your home or 800sq/ft of solar panels to power your home? Right now the main reason prices are so high to install solar paneling on one’s home is simply due to the fact that there are too few producers of residential solar panels. When there are fewer companies the price stays high because of the lack of competition. The new bill will create a higher demand, the largest on Earth, in hopes of having the effect of drawing either more residential solar panel businesses or causing solar panel companies that produce mainly to commercial industries to gear their efforts toward residential buyers as well. Hopefully with an increased number of manufactures in the marketplace the price or purchasing and installing solar panels will decrease. The bill will also help offset the high costs of purchasing and installing solar panels by adding in rebates to users.

This would be a huge step toward a cleaner environment. If successful 10 million homes will be using clean solar power and not need dirtier forms of energy, such as coal, to power everyday necessities. Also, if successful, this bill could open a market for cheaper solar paneling causing more and more Americans, along with citizens around the world, to choose solar power over coal power.

Joshua S. Wyatt, Legal Intern