Originally posted at TheBeeNews.com
Read the original post here.

By Elizabeth Ussher Groff
The Bee, Nov 5, 2008

Solar-powered homes are still relatively rare in Portland. But if you look around in Inner Southeast, you will see more and more photovoltaic and hot water heating panels popping up here and there on rooftops – even on the roof of Woodstock’s Fire Station 25 on S.E. 52nd Avenue.

In January of this year, Fred and Joan Coates had a dozen panels installed on their home in Westmoreland. The idea originated with their son, Nelson, who is researching organic solar cells as a physics PhD candidate at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

After family discussions with Nelson, Joan called Energy Trust of Oregon, which provided a list of contractors, and information about Energy Trust rebates of up to $10,000 – as well as a $2,000 federal tax credit, and a $6,000 State of Oregon income tax credit.

The Coates contacted Andrew Koyaanisqatsi, owner of Solar Energy Solutions, and he visited their home to assess their solar potential. After getting more information, they felt the time was right to make the financial commitment. They also made clear that their decision was based on environmental concern, and a desire to support existing solar technology.

“We are working towards minimizing our impact on the planet by reducing our footprint” says Joan.

While the economic payback is not immediate, their utility bills are now half what they were before the solar installation, and the investment in the technology for their home will increase in value over time. And, in the meantime, each day they get another kind of daily payback.

“It’s wonderful,” Joan says enthusiastically. “We go out and look at the electric meter fairly often when we’re home, and we feel good about seeing the meter spin in reverse, which means we are putting electricity back into the grid. It’s thrilling.”

A short distance east, Woodstock residents Fred Wurster and Shelly Clevidence also recently began powering their home and heating their hot water with solar energy.

“A year after we moved in 2004 we had a guy look at our house for solar, but he said we had a dormer, and too much shade from the neighbor’s trees, so we put it off,” says Wurster.

However, Wurster, a hydrologist with the National Fish and Wildlife Service, couldn’t shake the idea of conserving natural resources. When a friend installed solar panels to heat hot water, he revisited the idea.

Solar Energy Solutions pointed out that, contrary to what they were told, Fred and Shelly did in fact have an excellent solar exposure – which, along with their relatively new roof, would make a photovoltaic and solar hot water heating system quite do-able.

“After we got the quote, it took a while to commit,” says Wurster. “Shelly was on board with solar hot water, but concerned about the cost for the photovoltaics. Now that it is up there, she likes it.”

Their fifteen solar panels produced more energy than their family of four used during the month of September, sending the surplus back into the grid.

“If we have a gray day, partly cloudy, we still have plenty of hot water and a good amount of electricity,” reports Wurster.

Wurster’s motives are based in a deep environmental concern and commitment. “You have to do it for reasons other than economic. There is a big psychological benefit, just knowing the panels are up there producing clean energy.”

And, he says, their Woodstock neighbors think their solar system is cool.

Remembering how his family was the first on the block to have a computer decades ago, Wurster is hopeful that his own young family will now inspire others to explore solar energy, just as his childhood family inspired neighbors to buy a computer.

“For every technological innovation, someone gets it rolling and it plants a seed, and makes it more do-able for others. If our place does that, that’s great,” Wurster concludes.

Originally posted at TheBeeNews.com
Read the original post here.