August 11, 2005
Traveler Watchman
Mike Giglio
Business
You don’t see this very often — a homeowner reading her electric meter in the middle of a hot summer and dancing with joy. While most people cringe at the thought of their electric bill in the summer months, when air conditioners and appliances work overtime, Marie Domenici of Mattituck doesn’t worry. That’s because her meter moves in a different direction when the sun burns hottest.
“When my meter runs backwards, I’m out there doing the happy dance,” she says.
In October 2003, Domenici and her husband had solar panels installed on their roof. Since then, they’ve seen their electric bill drop by over $1,000 a year, from $1,817 to $688.89 every 12 months. The electric bill for June came in at just $5.01, even with the central air, trash compactor, washer, dryer, and all other appliances running. “It’s a tremendous, wise investment,” Domenici says.
The investment is one an increasing number of homeowners have begun to make in recent years. Gary Minnick of Go Solar Inc. in Riverhead, the company that installed Domenici’s panels, says this will be his second-biggest year, after 2002. “I can’t print my catalogs fast enough.”
Though Minnick says his customers “definitely drive a Prius” (or would like to), solar tax breaks and rebates and volatile fossil fuel prices have combined with environmental sensitivity to spark a sharp increase in solar panel installations. Over 500 Long Island homes now have the panels, according to Gordian Raacke, executive director of Renewable Energy LI, which advocates energy efficiency and conservation. “In the last couple of years things have really picked up on the solar energy front,” he says. Raacke attributes this growth to the shrinking costs of solar panels, in addition to the high electric rates on the island.
LIPA’s Solar Pioneer Program has helped to bring down these costs. As a part of the company’s clean energy initiative, the program gives rebates to customers who buy solar systems. For example, the company refunded $22,500 of the $36,000 the Domenicis paid for their system. As further incentive, tax breaks provided by the government help to “sweeten the pot,” says Michael Lowndes of LIPA. State tax credits gave the Domenicis another $3,250, leaving their total out-of-pocket costs at $10,250. Marie estimates they will make this money back in six and a half years; in the past it took 30 or 40 years, according to Lowndes.
The pot will get even sweeter with legislation proposed by County Executive Steve Levy, which will make Suffolk County one of the first to offer a sales tax exemption on solar energy systems. Levy filed the legislation on August 1 after Governor George Pataki signed a bill granting exemption from the state portion of that tax. “We are hopeful this type of financial incentive will go a long way towards encouraging our homeowners to use the cleanest and most renewable source of energy known to man — the sun,” Levy said in a press release.
As oil prices continue to rise and solar prices continue to fall, an increasing number of homeowners might find themselves dancing in the heat.