Solar panels help resident power up
ZELIENOPLE — As solar power technology becomes more efficient and cost effective, one man has made the switch to solar energy in the hopes of relying solely on the sun to run his home.
George Villegas is the first borough resident to power his home with solar energy.
Neighbors may notice his picturesque, brick house now features a squad of gleaming solar panels, quietly absorbing energy from the sun and transforming it into clean, affordable electricity with which to power his home.
“It's really is simple: the sun produces energy; we can harness it; we convert it into what we can use in a house,” he said. “I looked at it and I saw the need for it and why it made sense.”
In addition to the environmental impact, Villegas said the panels make financial sense, especially with tax credits available for those looking to begin installation.
“We feel that we can drastically change economically and environmentally what's happening in our community, let alone in the country and in the world,” he said. “Yes green energy is great because you're harnessing it from the sun, and that's a great part of it, but what I think is really important to people is the cost factor.”
While the system is a sizable investment — Villegas is spending tens of thousands on his — he said the panels will have paid for themselves within 10 years.
After that, the system will still have an expected 30 to 40 years of operation.
“The efficiency of solar panels has increased dramatically,” he said.
The way it works is solar panels absorb energy from the sun which is then converted from direct current to alternating current for use as electricity in the home.
If the home does not use all the energy it produces, the excess power goes back into the power grid.
When the panels are not generating electricity or the home is using more than it can generate, it draws power from the grid.
At the end of the month the power provider, in this case the borough, calculates how much power the home took in and how much it put out.
We have what they call a net metering agreement. So at the end of the month they'll see how much power they gave us, how much power we gave them and then what the bill's going to be,” Villegas said.This means there may be some months in which the provider owes him money.This setup has already changed the way Villegas and his family think about power usage.“Were producing our own energy, and we want to make sure we're producing more than we're using,” he said. “So we try to be aware of additional lights being on and those kinds of things.”Villegas also has an app on his phone that shows the power generation and usage throughout the day which allows him to know if he needs to adjust consumption accordingly.“In preparing for it, we started trying to use less energy and not be so wasteful,” he said.From start to finish, it took Villegas around two and a half months to install the system, including a few weeks working with the borough to hook the new system into the power grid.Chad Garland, borough public works director, worked with Villegas to ensure that his system could be safely hooked into the grid.“We're making sure the components he used in the event of a power outage won't put power back into the grid and harm a lineman,” he said. “Those safety mechanisms need to be in place and tested, and that's pretty simple ... His installation was turned around pretty quick from start to finish.”The borough also has three commercial units that run on solar power, Garland said.“I'll tell you that working with Zelienople Borough, they were professional, efficient, they moved along pretty quickly,” Villegas said.For anyone considering making the switch to solar, Villegas said it's all about education and understanding what goes into setting up the system.“Western Pennsylvania is perfect for solar,” he said. “I encourage people to really learn more about it.”
