Solar as Alternative? June 30, 2008
Posted by Steve in : The City, Methods & Strategies, Adaptive Reuse, Tech Tips, Energy Efficiency, Entrepreneuring, Sustainability , add a commentI am beginning to look into solar options but I live in Illinois (never really known as the land of the uninterrupted sun) so I wanted to find out how to calculate whether an investment in solar makes sense in Chicago. I learned that the total solar energy available to the earth is approximately 3850 zettajoules (ZJ) per year, while worldwide energy consumption was 0.471 ZJ in 2004, according to the US Department of Energy. Even if you aren’t a solar panel installer, you can tell that there’s way more solar energy available than the world will ever need.
Doing my homework, I found FindSolar.com, a Web site sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, the American Solar Energy Society, and the Solar Electric Power Association.
To get started, select your state and county, power company, and the type of system you’re interested in-whether it’s electric, hot water, spa/pool heating, or space heating/cooling-as well as your average utility expenditure. The online calculator then determines the average cost of a solar-electric system based on the data you’ve provided, plus any state or local rebates you qualify for. If you’re ready to start pumping out those rays, you can contact solar installers and distributors in the site’s directory for quotes or additional info.
