Inflation is at an all-time high across the globe. At the time of writing this post, the inflation rate in the US and Canada are at 7.1% and 6.9% respectively, and is a long way from the targeted inflation rate of 2% for both countries.
Inflation is a silent budget killer. It causes everything to go up such as your gas, groceries, or utility bills because companies pass the increased cost of doing business to consumers. One of the ways of dealing with rising inflation is finding ways of reducing your expenses.
The price of oil is one of the significant drivers of inflation because our lives are unfortunately dependent on the use of oil. I wanted to share how I am minimizing inflation by using the power of the sun to reduce our energy costs.
The Trigger
The two major recurring expenditures in my family budget are the cost of gasoline and utility bills. I categorize these costs in the same bucket as taxes because these are forever and ever-increasing expenditures.
I have been frustrated with the high cost of the energy we need in our lives be it in our homes or to drive our cars, how power is produced and transmitted, and the pollution it creates.
Below is the typical source to final-product process of gasoline and electricity generation.
Flow of Crude Oil to Gas Stn
Electricity Generation Transmission Distribution
Do you see the patterns here?
- The fuel source such as crude oil. coal, gas or hydro are extracted/dammed from faraway places.
- Energy go through a very complex and expensive process to transform the fuel input to end user product such as gasoline or home electricity
- It uses a very centralized model of large scale generation of power at centralized facilities such as the power plants.
- The product is transported at great lengths to reach the end users. Think of the resources needed just to transport energy or gasoline and the related drip losses in its long journey.
- There is a huge environmental cost to these extractive processes that is sadly not accounted for in the product price. Ultimately all of us are paying for these environmental costs that result to extreme weather events, ecosystem degradation, climate migration, and pollution in the form of higher property insurance, food/grocery bills, health costs, societal injustice, and social unrest, just to name a few.
The Change
This led me to a quest of finding a home energy system that:
- Uses an abundant, cheap and clean fuel source to generate lower-cost energy,
- Minimizes if not eliminate by-products that harm our environment such as air pollution and carbon dioxide,
- Generates energy closer to where power is consumed and uses a decentralized model for system flexibility and resilience,
- Is environmentally aware but more importantly makes sense economically. With the environment and economics taken care of, we can focus on other things that bring joy and create a lifestyle connected to nature and community.
Rooftop solar is the energy solution I chose coupled with an electric vehicle. The Electrify Everything journey has started.
Challenges and Fails
My journey towards lower-cost clean solar energy started oddly enough with a car swap. In 2014 I traded my daily commuter for a “clean diesel” car.
From Dirty Diesel Car
To Zero Emission Electric Vehicle
Then Dieselgate happened. It turns out that the diesel car pollutes more than my previous gasoline car and the car manufacturer was hiding it through software manipulation. Every time I fill up at the gas station, my thought process was “why am I fueling my car with toxic chemical produced thousands of miles away whose smog by-product pollutes our air and have started many wars and the consequential human suffering”.
I replaced my diesel car with a full electric zero emission vehicle in 2018 and had the noble intention of powering the car with renewable energy from my home.
Ninety percent of my utility power is generated from hydro-electric which has the ability to generate electricity without the resulting carbon pollution.
But there is a catch – there is a huge environmental cost of building these capital-intensive projects. Natural and human habitats are destroyed from the creation of reservoirs of water that flood lands upstream of the dam. Hydro-electric dams require massive capital expenditure that will be eventually paid by, wait for it, utility customers, in the form of ever increasing utility rates.
I was challenged to find a home energy system that is not only environmentally aware but makes economic sense.
The Solution
Rooftop solar system generates energy right where it will be used. Its fuel source is free, clean and renewable and as a result the energy cost is lower. By investing in the solar system, I am fixing my energy cost and hedging from ever increasing utility rates because I am paying a fixed amount per KWH based on the expected output from the system. Once the cost of the project is paid for, I own the power plant and it will keep generating free energy as long as the sun rises. Isn’t this energy independence?
Having been an electrical engineer in a previous work life, I got over-ambitious that I can do a DIY rooftop solar install so I signed up for a 3-days workshop.
I learned to design my home solar system, knew the components I need and how to install it from the DIY course but also realized that:
- I have to make substantial investments in tools needed for the one time solar install.
- My wife was not comfortable with my (lack of) handy skills to mount the rooftop solar without compromising our roof. She’s absolutely right J
- More importantly a LOT of my time will be needed with the DIY route. I have to procure the solar panels, inverters, get the electrical permit, and do the actual install and many more.
It became obvious that I needed to engage with a trusted professional solar installer.
One typical rainy autumn night, a notification popped up in my social media for a rooftop solar presentation in town that week. I almost bailed on this event because I wasn’t excited to bike commute after work to the community hall on a dark, cold and wet night. I’m glad I went and that’s how I got introduced to the Powur platform.
I got quotes from other solar companies as part of due diligence. I decided to go with Powur because their proposal is a tad better than the competitors but more importantly I was blown away by Powur ‘s vision, mission and culture. They walk the talk and that resonated with me.
Glass on the Roof
Glass on the Roof
My rooftop solar system was activated in May 2019. It is a 7.7 KW system with an estimated annual generation 77,000 KWH to supply 60-70 % of my home energy needs.
The roof is generating renewable energy by tapping into the most abundant source of energy that nature provides. Power is distributed efficiently because it is generated right where it is needed. Compare this to the existing model where power is created thousands of miles away and the resulting drip losses from transmission and distribution. Excess energy production is credited back to me by the utility company through a net metering system. My neighbors get the excess energy since surplus power is sent back to the grid and like water, energy flows along the easiest path.
Due to my Pacific Northwest geographic location, solar energy production cycle starts picking up in the spring, flourishes 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 around May through November.
The installation process was simple and seamless. In fact the hardest part was writing the cheque for the solar down payment. It was akin to that gut wrenching moment when I wrote the down payment for my first home – nerve wracking at that moment but I am glad that I carried on with the purchase. Same with solar, you are buying an asset that saves you money from day one.
Almost 30,000 KWH generated from Spring 2019 through January 2022. At $0.13/KWH, this translates to about $3,900 going to the family coffer instead of the utility company. Keep in mind that there are a lot of other locations that have better sun output and more financial incentives for solar generation.
Did you noticed that gas guzzling SUV in the picture above? The pandemic made us realized that we only need one car so we kept the small and nimble zero emission electric car and sold the SUV. I am on a journey to minimize the use of the car through alternative transportation such as a bike but that’s for another blog post. Sorry I digressed.
And the best thing of all … I can now say that my car and my home are powered by the sun 🙂 I have ZERO gasoline bill, very low utility bill, increased home value and have energy independence.
Go Forth And Solar Multiply 🙂
Welcome to Powur
I am very happy with my decision to go solar in spite of the fact that I did not have the ideal solar environment from a location perspective:
- Where I live isn’t as sunny as say California, Texas or Florida so I have less solar irradiance, pardon the nerd talk, compared to sunnier areas.
- I didn’t have access at the time of solar system contract signing to today’s slew of financial options such as loans, purchase power contracts and rebates other than direct purchase at the time of contract signing
And yet things “sunnily” worked out for me.
I believe that solar energy is one of the best tools to cut our home energy cost, become energy independent and significantly reduce carbon pollution. It just makes economic and environmental sense to switch some or all of our home energy source to solar if your home qualifies for it.
In the United States, there are approximately 130 million (M) homes that are still connected to utility companies that produces energy using expensive fossil fuel sources such as coal and gas. About 90M of these homes are eligible for a zero down solar to switch from fossil fuel to renewable, clean energy but only 3M homes have taken advantage of zero down solar.
I have added solar energy consulting to my work portfolio to educate as many homeowners to the benefits of solar energy and to help them determine if it makes economic sense for them. This way we can be part of the solution to stop emitting crap into our climate and start switching to renewable energy. Every job is a climate job.
I will be using Powur , a cloud-based solar sales and fulfillment platform, to provide the easiest (financially, logistically, and operationally) way for US homeowners in these states to switch to lower-cost clean energy. In my opinion, Powur‘s vision, mission, and values are the best and most transparent in the solar industry.
Last but not the least, I believe that business can be an unstoppable force for good. Profit is needed to sustain a business and should also be used for a better planet and society. Ten percent of net profits from solar consulting will be re-invested with partner organizations that promote access to education for girls/women and nature conservancy. Not only will you get a significantly better and lower cost home energy system but you will also help elevate people and our planet.
Summary and Invitation
Today’s inflation affects us through higher costs of everything. However, my purchase decisions in 2018 and 2019 softened the inflation pinch A LOT because my costs to fuel the car and power the home are locked-in, allowing me to skirt these two big cost-of-living expenses.
I invite you to be open to the possibility of saving big on your energy bill by generating clean energy using rooftop solar.
- Your home is located in one of the Powur coverage areas in the US*,
- Show you a way to lock-in your energy cost ,
- Save thousands of dollars in energy bills over the next 20 years,
- Help reduce your carbon footprint,
- And wait for this… do so with ZERO out-of-pocket cost
Every home is different and solar energy will not make sense for some homes. The consultation will give you the facts so you have the correct information to decide if solar suits your home. You can click the button below to get started.
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