I was talking with a friend, Peter, today about photovoltaic (PV) systems when I saw that he was looking at his energy output online. I have a PV system, myself. I asked him who did his, and he said he did it himself! Wow! I paid to have ours done.
I don’t think the tax credits are as good now, in Hawaii, as they were those few years ago when I had my system installed; however, I think there are still some credits. I love my system. My electric bills are much lower than they used to be and lower than the average around here. Still, it’ll take about 5-7 years from installation to pay for itself even after considering the credits. All in all, we got about half the cost of the system back in credits. Not too bad.
Peter even cut that by doing it himself! His blog talks about the project, and he told me that he’d be willing to talk to others about how he did it. Although, he also said he won’t do the work for anyone! (I don’t blame him!)
Here’s his blog: DIY Solar PV Hawaii (http://www.diypv4u.blogspot.com/)
I highly recommend getting a PV system. Reduced electric bills, being nice to the environment. There are many ways to realize this dream. You could just purchase, like I did, or DIY like Peter did, or use one of a number of other possibilities to get a system hooked up for anywhere from the $10s of thousands all the way down to nothing. Google your alternatives! Save some money today!