The Awakening 

Like most of us, I was apathetic to what is happening to our environment. I have a comfortable life, a busy schedule with family, work, and life. I also recycle so I should be doing "my part" , right?

In the meantime, I could see the effects of climate change from the loss of natural habitats, extinction of our fellow species, the red skies in my city from the forest fires far away, drought all around, heat domes, smog in our cities, effects of climate migration, pollution affecting our population and many more.

It became hard to deny that the path we are on is not sustainable. The writing is on the wall that global warming is upon us and human activities causes it. It is pretty evident that doing business, as usual, is not the way forward. Our government and economic systems are incapable of responding to these challenges in a timely manner.

We need all hands on deck to take this opportunity to truly make this world a better place for all of us, improve our collective health by reducing pollution,  and to leave the legacy of a livable environment to the next generation. Personal action coupled with policy changes by the government and business involvement are needed. But what can  I do....

Solar Powered Mobility

My solar energy journey oddly enough started with a car swap. In 2014 I switched to a “clean diesel” car to minimize the smog impact of my daily commute.

Then Dieselgate happened. It turns out that my diesel car pollutes more than my previous gasoline car. When filling up at the petrol station, I started to wonder why we fuel our cars with toxic chemical produced thousands of miles away whose byproduct is smog that poisons our air and has started wars resulting in tremendous human losses.

I gave up my diesel  car in 2018 and switched to a full electric zero emission vehicle. I had the noble intention of powering the car with renewable energy.

Ninety percent of my utility power is generated from hydro-electric. There is a catch though - while these dams produce enormous amounts of clean energy, they also swallow up vast swaths of natural and human habitat thus impacting water movement and fish migration. These dams require massive capital expenditure that will be eventually paid by its customers in the form of ever increasing utility rates. In other areas, power is still generated using fossil fuel.

This led me to the quest of finding out -- Why can't we generate clean energy right where it is needed that costs less than what we pay from our current utility provider? 

Glass On My Roof

I dived into solar energy generation and activated my solar system in May 2019. It is a 7.7 KW system with an annual generation of approximately 77,000 KWH that supply about 70% of my home energy.  

The glass on the roof generates renewable energy by tapping into the most abundant (and free) source of energy that nature provides. Power is distributed efficiently because it is generated right where it is needed thus removing transmission losses when power is created far-away. My neighbors also get the excess energy as surplus power is sent back to the grid through the utility company's net metering.

Due to my Pacific Northwest geographic location, solar energy production cycle starts picking up in the Spring, peaks in the Summer, simmers down through the Fall and languishes during Winter.  From a utility bill perspective, I only pay the minimal utility fixed charges from May to November every year.

The installation process was simple and seamless. In fact the hardest part was writing the cheque for the solar down payment - yeah I didn't have access to solar financing where I live. It was akin to that gut wrenching moment when putting the down payment for the first home – nerve wracking but glad that you carried on with the purchase.  Same with solar, you are buying an asset that will save you money from day one.

And the best thing of all ... I can now say that my car is powered by the sun :-)

PPS: That SUV in my driveway is gone and we are proudly 1-EV car family that is hard at work at becoming car-less. I digress :-)

Electrify Everything business was started to inform people of solar energy and help them get into it if solar energy works for their home.