Welcome to solarpvhome.com a website that describes one family’s commitment to "Going Green and Saving Green". There are many green websites that go into detail about the advantages / disadvantages of Green Technologies. What makes this one different is that we are a real family (in Maryland) who are trying to Go Green, using real numbers and not hypothetical's. Our family is passionate about Green Technologies and Recycling.

Our motto - "Going Green should not Cost You Too Much Green".

Here are some of the devices and techniques we have installed in our home in Randallstown, Maryland
        ·       Solar PV
        ·       CFL's
        ·       Hybrid SUV       
        ·       Solar Hot Water
        ·       Solar Attic Fan
        ·       Water Restrictors
        ·       Toilet Banks
        ·       Programmable Thermostat
        ·       Auto Shut off Showerheads
        ·       Rain Barrels
        ·       Compost Bin

Here are the results of those actions….

·         Generated 14+ megawatts (MW) through the installation of a Solar PV System

·         Saved 16,000+ gallons of water through low flow showerheads, toilet banks and water restrictors

·         Diverted over 9,900+ pounds of waste from the land fills – 4,600+ pounds of yard waste recycled and 5,300+ pounds of recyclable materials

·         Save 1,750 KW per year by switching to CFLs

·         Saved over 800+ gallons of gasoline or 42+ barrels of Crude Oil by purchasing a Hybrid SUV

·         Saved 35,000+ pounds of CO2 from being release into the environment with all of our conservation techniques

In addition, we have purchase offsetting RECs so that our Carbon Foot Print for the Calendar Year 2011 is ZERO.

Within this website I will detail our experience with each one of these Green Technologies and the Cost vs. Benefit Analysis. The recommendations we make are based upon our experiences and are not a sales pitch. We are just trying to provide a real world example of how "Going Green can Save You Green".

News Updates:

*Current Maryland SREC Price - $200 November 2011 and Holding
Why has the SREC price fallen so much?
There has been a significant uptake in out-of-state facilities being registered in Maryland for the 2011 year. More supply is driving the prices of the SRECS down. However, the hope is that the current Maryland law going forward should protect the in-state solar market from being affected by these facilities. Those facilities should be ineligible for the market from 2012 onwards, so the long-term outlook for in-state solar should be secure. 

Barring any alternative interpretations of the Maryland RPS, the in-state Maryland solar market should be healthy in 2012. There are currently ~13 MW in Maryland and the state needs to have ~30 MW on average in 2011 to meet the requirement of approx 34,000 SRECs in 2011. If the state can get there on its own, then it limits the opportunity for out-of-state facilities. If Maryland falls short, their will be a market for out-of-state facilities but only in 2011.

SRECs down across all states - New Jersey down 50%, DC down 75% and PA down 90% from highs. The supply of SRECs have flooded the market. One can no longer count on a fixed SREC price when figuring returns on their solar investment. It comes down to - States have to figure out how to run these SREC programs effectively so that it encourages new setups, rewards existing ones and maintains some level of stability for buyers and sellers.

My recomendation - Hold onto your Maryland SRECs until 2012 when only in state SRECs will be allowed. You take a chance of the law changing but the price should be higher than $199.99. SRECs in Maryland have a 3-year useful life. An SREC is good for the current energy year and the two following years.  If you do not sell your SREC now, you can still sell it next year or the year after. If a utility buys your SREC now, it can apply to this year’s requirement or any of the next two years. It is possible we may see the December bump up in prices as we did in 2010. (I was able to sell 4 SRECs at $360 in December 2010 and will be holding onto my 2011 SRECs until 2012.)

NEW - Study Finds Solar Panels Increase Home Values - April 21, 2011 - NYT Jack Smith
When Bill and Suzann Leininger put solar panels on their Escondido, Calif., home a few years ago, they most likely enhanced its resale value, a new study says. All those homeowners who have been installing residential solar panels over the last decade may find it was a more practical decision than they thought. The electricity generated may have cost more than that coming from
the local power company (half of which, nationwide, comes from burning coal), but if they choose to sell their homes, the price premium they will get for the solar system should let them recoup much of their original capital investment.

That is the conclusion of three researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, who looked at home sales — both homes with photovoltaic systems and homes without — in California over an eight-and-a-half-year period ending in mid-2009. The abstract of their study states, “the analysis finds strong evidence that California homes with PV systems have sold for a premium over comparable homes without PV systems.”

The premium ranged from $3.90 to $6.40 per watt of capacity, but tended most often to be about $5.50 per watt. This, the study said, “corresponds to a home sales price premium of  approximately $17,000 for a relatively new 3,100-watt PV system (the average size of PV systems in the study).”

And the bottom line: “These average sales price premiums appear to be comparable to the investment that homeowners have made to install PV systems in California, which from 2001 through 2009 averaged approximately $5/watt.”

That would make my system at 3680 watts x $5 = $18,400 additional house value. That number is in line with the older report that states for every $1 in energy savings per year your house value goes up by $20. 

**BGE to lower Rates October 2011 to 8.9 cents per kWh. Even better would be to sign up with Castlebridge Energy at 8.35 cents per kWh for one year contract as of 12/1/2011.

** Our system reached the 10 MegaWatts milestone on February 17, 2011 just a week shy of 2 years since the system has been in place. 12 MegaWatts milestone reached on July 1, 2011.

***Maryland Cuts Back on Solar Grants Again - As of 11/1/2011 - While the prices of PV  installation continues to fall so does the Maryland State Incentive. Maryland now grants a flat $1,000 per solar installation. That is far less than has been offered in the past. 

Apparently, we are not the only ones who "Going Green and Save Green". August 5, 2010 survey shows Californians who installed solar pv systems are twice as likely to be motivated by saving money as by saving the environment 52% to 26%. 

Last Updated December 2, 2011