The Go Solar California program looks pretty cool and starts January 1, 2007. It's an incentive program for people to get solar panels installed for their existing homes (but also for new homes and buildings).
California has made a bold decision… to place 3,000 megawatts of new, solar produced electricity systems on rooftops by 2017. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's goal is to put solar systems on a million California roofs.
Apparently only 0.3% of our energy comes from solar panels. It's nice to see this incentive program.
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Great article in the SF Chronicle last January about installing solar panels for your home in the Bay Area. They recommend Borrego Solar and I looked up Sky Power Systems and they looked pretty good.
We've noticed a lot of solar panels on homes while on vacation in Hawaii but also in our neighborhood. Most of the new complex/developments are being constructed in a "green way" with radiant heating, energy efficient windows, reclaimed wood from trail tracks in China or Brazil (that one is funny), bamboo or cork flooring, and solar panels which is great. Several houses nearby also have solar panels installed too.
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Here's another article about installing solar panels yourself in a step-by-step.
It sounds like the cost of installing a solar panel for our small house will be in the $15,000 (w/ rebate?) to $24,000. Given that our monthly electricity bills are under $50, it's about a 25-40 year break even point. $5,000 – $10,000 total installation costs is what it would need to get down to in order for it to be in the ballpark of real consideration.