The Roanoker - September / October 2018 - 58

roughly a quarter of his annual energy use. "Solar is a simple way to
offset our energy consumption with an essentially endless, pollutionfree energy source."
Homeowners like Bailey-with an engineering background, a deep
commitment to sustainability and a healthy savings account-have
typically been the region's top clean-energy customers. Virginia's
first solar group effort began with a collection of highly educated,
committed solar hopefuls in Blacksburg in 2014.
But that may be about to change.
With improved technology making solar less expensive, more
efficient and more adaptable, federal incentives slated to shrink
starting in 2020, concern that tariffs may cause prices to rise in
the future and with more awareness, more support, more installers,
there has never been a better time for homeowners to give solar a try.
58

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2015

"Prices have dropped
dramatically in the last five years,"
says Rick Brown, an electrical
engineer who opened his Floydbased installation company,
SolShine Energy Alternatives,
in 2010. That means the panels
pay for themselves faster, he says.
"After that, all the energy you're
producing is free. It also increases
the value of your home. It's a
win-win."

WHAT 'S CHANGED

Ten years ago, a mid-sized solar
system installed in Virginia might
have cost $25,000, which would
take roughly 20 years to pay for
itself in energy savings. Panels
are guaranteed to last 25 years,
meaning a homeowner would
potentially have only five years of
free energy.
Today, with installations in
Virginia 53 percent lower than
they were in 2013, according
to the Solar Energy Industries
Association, a homeowner could
pay for the investment in 10 years
or less, resulting in at least 15
years of free power.
Additionally, developments
in inverter technology mean the
energy captured by each panel
can be processed separately; if
one panel is cast into shade it
no longer acts as a drain on the
entire system. This improves the
performance of panels, even in
less-than-optimal conditions.
Another advancement in the
solar realm is the amount of
information and support available
to those interested in alternative
energy. Solar United Neighbors
is an advocacy group that began
in the Washington, D.C. area in
2007, and has now expanded to
eight states, including Virginia.
Their website offers an easy-tounderstand explainer on how
solar works, a checklist to see if
solar is right for homeowners and
TheRoanoker.com

COURTESY OF SOLAR CONNEXION

TH E H OME S IS S U E

F

OR RUSSELL BAILEY, WHEN A team of
contractors carried nine solar panels up a tall
ladder to a triangular-shaped corner of his
roof, it was a dream come true.
He'd been pondering clean power for
decades and actively working toward installing
a solar system for more than nine years by
the time his photovoltaic system was up and
operational. To make it happen, he removed a
chimney, re-routed his furnace and hot water
heater exhausts, immersed himself in reams of
research and assured his installer that he was
more concerned with generating his own energy than how quickly
his panels would pay for themselves.
"I just wanted to offset what we could," Bailey says, his excitement
still palpable two years after putting panels on his South Roanoke
home. An app on his phone tracks the energy his system brings in-
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