by Wally Steele

Created on: April 24, 2009   Last Updated: April 26, 2009

I live in South Dakota, not the mecca for solar power energy, yet I live in a home powered by solar power. My wife and I have been personally very successful in harnessing the power from the sun in a state not necessarily known for excessive sunshine. Sure we have to be careful on those periods of time where the sun barely makes an appearance, but it is truly worth it and truthfully doesn't happen that often. We may have to wait an extra day to use the dishwasher or washing machine, but it is only a small inconvenience for the benefits we experience. As we utilize our solar power, we not only feel that we are making a difference in the environment, but financially we have reaped the benefits as well. It has not taken us very long to see our system give us big pay-backs. No longer do I worry about the end of month utility bill, and the upfront costs are now in the past as well. We did gain from the tax benefit as well, but what a difference it would have made to have been supplemented by our government in the initial cost as well.

So it would seem to me that this should be promoted by the government. Some of the stimulus funds should be used to install solar panels on individual homes and businesses. Not only would it benefit the individual home owner in utility savings but provide for a whole new set of jobs for those who would install the solar power. It would help clean up the environment in the process as well. I am not talking about all of us becoming totally solar powered but to supplement our energy use and contribute extra energy to the grid users. It would not take a whole rebuild of the utility grid system as many of the other sources would.

We are moving toward wind power in the eastern part of our state but this is limited because the grid is not in place. Solar power could be utilized individually and tied directly into the grid that already exists. As I look at this, it is a win, win situation, jobs, environmentally clean energy, and savings for the individual home owner. It would be nice to see some of those tax dollars actually benefit the individual tax payer in utility savings. It is a non-polluting energy source, unlike coal. It would not be terribly expensive to accomplish this. The items necessary for solar power are also not difficult to use or hard to maintain. I am speaking from experience in a location where this year we had over 85 inches of snow.

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