I’m in love with the idea of alternate energy sources not because of eco-guilt but because I hate the idea of America being dependent on other nations for oil. On a personal level I like the idea of not being dependent on the utility companies. I once had to go without power for 5 days due to an icestorm and it really sucked. Power outages happen to just about everyone occasionally- be it because of mother nature or an overloaded grid. By all accounts, our electricity infrastructure is in pretty sorry shape. It also seems the natural gas prices are on a continual climb. The average gas bill this coming winter is expected to increase 10%! Going off-grid seems like a no brainer when energy prices keep rising and supply looks sketchy.

How Practical Is a Solar Home?
It’s no secret converting a house to solar is an expensive proposition. Every year I hear about new solar technologies that will make solar electricty a practical alternative but the cost never seems to come down. I’ve moved 7 times in the past 17 years, it’s highly unlikely I’ll stay in any house long enough to recoup the $20-30k solar conversion cost. At this time in my life, at this stage of the technology, a solar home just isn’t practical for me.

The Other Solar Route
After reading this article on corporate adoption of solar technology, the soundest solar investment seems to be in the stocks of companies that supply corporate solar initiatives. The advances made by manufacturers and installers of corporate solar technologies will eventually benefit us all and their stocks appear to be appreciating at a very rapid pace. I’ll do a little more research but it sounds like a win/win situation to me.

So for now, solar energy in my day-to-day life will be limited to a few solar powered lights and maybe even a solar powered water heater. That and I’ll take the time to praise the corporations that are adopting solar technologies and encourage others to start.