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Monday, April 16, 2012

Green Homes: Scalable Self-Sufficiency?

While visiting family in Idaho I noticed an interesting curiosity at the end of my parent's street.  One of their neighbors has a conspicuous wind turbine dominating the landscape of their back yard.  As I roamed around the neighborhood, I noticed another unique feature.  The owner had built solar panels into the south exterior wall of his home.


When discussing the uniqueness of this home with my parents, they indicated that the whole neighborhood has a culture of self-sufficiency.  For instance, most of the homeowners in the subdivision also cultivate honey bees and large gardens.   

I tried to do some research online but I couldn't come up easily with a price tag for all this equipment.  As far as the energy use goes, I am curious if the turbine and solar panels simply reduce the bill or if they actually put electricity back into the grid.  The home is sizable so it would be interesting to find out.  Also, given the cost, would this be affordable to the average homeowner?


The other caveat would be concerns about zoning.  Putting a turbine on your property makes sense when you have 2.5 acres like this homeowner.  However, smaller lots would likely bump into zoning issues related to proximity and height restrictions.

So, the question for the green energy do-it-yourself marketplace is what kind of products are available to an urban homeowner looking to subsidize their power bill?  And, are the cost-benefits the same as a larger scale array like in the neighbor's home on my parent's block?        

It would be interesting to find out.

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