You know that old saw, "All politics is local"? (Credit goes to ... Tip O'Neill. Now there was a Democrat!) Well I was puzzling over how that would translate to the topic of energy... How does that plug into the notion of how I am personally responsible for the energy I use? Here's what I came up with: "All energy is personal."
It's not librul guilt, no it's my love for this planet -- I'm motivated by the dread I feel when I read about the slow-motion rape of the oceans. Not guilt, but call to action. But I'm just a regular dude, with a day job, so I can't do all that much...
So I've decided to make some moves to take responsibility for my energy. ALL ENERGY IS PERSONAL. That's my new motto.
Over the jump, I'll outline my project, including (1) what I know and (2) what I need to know. PLEASE NOTE: I'm a total beginner and on a shoestring budget. I'm sort of handy, and a computer geek, so I think I can handle this... I mean, I was trying to picture me, on my tight budget, trying to hire a contractor, and realized I'm gonna have to go the DIY route. Garage band style. I may hammer my own thumb a few times building this, but by Grandmother Earth, I'm gonna do it...
The truth is, I've always wanted to be involved in solarizing a house and watching in satisfaction as the tied-in utility meter starts to run in reverse!!! But due to the vicissitudes of my strange and wonderful life, I've never called anyplace "home" for long. Right now I'm in Washington, DC, working at a yoga studio and I'm initiating a drive to solarize the roof of the building where the yoga studio makes its home. But while I start campaigning for that, I'm going to figure out how to install a low-budget DIY solar project on the house where I rent an apartment, a brownstone/rowhouse in Columbia Heights. That can be my starter project. How can we let all that sunlight on our roof go to waste!? I'm burning with desire to make this project happen! :-)
WHAT I NEED TO LEARN MORE ABOUT:
TAX CREDITS. I understand there are excellent socialistic tax credits here at the US gov't run program called Energystar. I'll need to research whether commercial properties and private homes alike are eligible for the tax credit, or any other incentives I can find.
STARTING POINT: Figure out where the best spot for a solar panel, its size, and start discussing with my landlord.
Here's what I know: A recent acquaintance, an engineer whom I met at a wedding in sunny LA, told me he was playing around with small DIY solar, and had ordered some photovoltaic panels. We had a really great conversation about tieing into the grid, adding power into the grid, why American utilities demand that you be a "net consumer". I plan to contact him and see what steps he's taken. And because we're in a tight urban space, we can't be thinking about wind turbines or anything crazy like that... not yet... or can we? Hmmm.... (stoner side-thought LOL)
ELECTRICAL WORK. What I need to know: What kind of equipment do I need to tie into the electric meter in the basement? I think it's called an inverter, and I suspect this will be more expensive than solar panels themselves.
PERMITS. Do I need any kind of building permit to do this? How do I apply to the utility, and is this done in Washington, DC? What about electric work (which I'll definitely try to do cheaply, but using a licensed electrician as the final authority of safety).
Here's the soundtrack for my project.
I'm also going to check out some books from amazon or powells and see what kind of DIY books are out there.
Thanks to everyone for their energy policy comments and diaries lately. All energy is personal, people.
Peace.