Solar: The Cha Ching Factor

“When there’s a huge solar energy spill, it’s just called a ‘nice day’” — Anonymous

When Saudi Arabia imposed an oil embargo on the United States in 1979, then President Jimmy Carter had 32 solar panels installed on the roof of the White House as a symbol of energy independence.

They were removed just seven years later, under Ronald Reagan, and eventually ended up scattered around the United States and China.

Carter was nothing if not prescient. Aside from making us less reliant on foreign oil and being one of the most important ways we can reduce dirty energy consumption, solar is now the cheapest source of power in history.

And for Long Island, it arrives just in the nick of time. We’re what you might call, “geographically challenged” regarding climate change. Long Island is ranked fourth amongst U.S. metro regions most at risk for heat, drought and sea level rise, according to a Moody Analytics survey.

“The threat of climate change is not in the future,” says County Executive Ed Romaine. “We are experiencing it right now with more intense storms, worse and worse flooding events and extreme heat in summer. There is no silver bullet, but I believe that solar energy is one key of the puzzle.”

Even if climate change might not feel like the most pressing issue these days, going solar has a serious “cha-ching” factor. Between the skyrocketing price of electricity, tax incentives and low interest loans, you can cut your electricity costs for decades by going solar. An average system pays for itself in about seven years. Even with the most expensive systems, the price of solar electricity over 30 years averages out to 12 cents per kilowatt hour or less.

Due to industry innovation, much more efficient panels and scaling up the number of panels produced, the price of solar power has dropped much faster than even the most bullish predictions. Every time we double the number of panels installed, the price drops another 30 to 40 percent.

Another reason Long Island is especially suited for solar is that, with an average of 206 sunny days a year, we live in a very sunny part of the world. Eastern Long Island is considered the sunniest place in New York, according to a study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Suffolk County is also a good place for solar because the cost of electricity continues to shoot up. The price of it has increased by 12 percent in just this past year, and this January, delivery went up 8 percent.

“Electrical bills in Suffolk are going to get worse,” explains Lynn Arthur, Sustainability Committee co-chair for Southampton. “LIPA is changing its rate structure to what’s called, ‘Time of Day’ billing, where the rates quadruple in the afternoon when everyone is coming home — showering, cooking, doing laundry and lighting up the house. It’s like congestion pricing for houses.”

Another geographical bonus? Living in New York State. The state offers a tax credit of 25 percent of the cost of the system, for up to $5,000. Don’t procrastinate if you want to get a federal tax credit. Right now, we can claim a 30 percent credit for solar systems on our income tax. The program is approved through 2032, but nobody knows if or when it’s going away.

“Get it now while it lasts,” quips Arthur.

The remaining cost can be paid for with a low interest loan, which is usually less than an average utility bill.

When I installed solar panels on my westward facing roof in 2019, I eliminated 56 percent of my LIPA usage, saving about $1,770 a year. My lifetime carbon reduction was estimated at 372 pounds of CO2, with a savings of $53,700. The bill would have been negligible, but for two major power hogs: An EV. And my renters, who usually don’t bring their environmental ethos on vacation with them.

Some homes are more suited to solar than others. Savings depend on how much electricity you consume, the size and slope of your roof, and how many hours of sunlight you get. Orientation also matters. If you have a south-facing roof, you’re in great shape. Even with an east or west-facing roof, solar is a good bet. If your roof faces north, the panels still work, but the payback period takes longer.

Most installation companies offer online cost calculators to determine if your house is a good candidate for solar, but I would use an independent source such as solar.com or Google’s Project Sunroof, which both take about three minutes to calculate.

Your roof isn’t the only place you can harvest the sun. Solar is popping up in everything from fans and nightlights to pool heaters. I have a mini-panel that charges my phone and laptop. There are even solar panel factories that are powered by solar panels.

If you’re worried about nighttime when solar panels aren’t producing energy, which I had once thought was problematic, LIPA uses a net metering grid that “stores” excess energy that you produce during the day, then nets it back to you during the night. This works the same way between summer and winter. As the days grow longer in the spring, excess energy gets stored in the grid, and then comes back to you in the fall when the days are shorter.

And then there’s the more existential question, “What if the sun stops shining?” Having a daughter in Scotland, I’ve wondered about this myself. Although direct sunlight produces more energy, today’s new high-efficiency solar panels can convert indirect sunlight into electricity, working on cloudy days and shady rooftops.

I’ve heard a certain kind of pretzel logic that asks, “What about the panels ending up in a landfill?” Recycling methods are ramping up quickly, but even if they weren’t, look at in terms of a cost-benefit analysis. Imagine what the planet will look like in 30 years if we don’t transition to clean energy.

One thing that can’t quite be calculated is how producing your own energy makes you feel when you don’t have to rely on the grid. We can’t legally go off grid out here, but transforming your rooftop into a miniature power station makes you less vulnerable to rate increases. Or as Bonnie Raitt put it, “The sun is the last energy resource that isn’t owned yet.”

In 1979, Carter mused that, “A generation from now, this solar heater can either be a museum piece, an example of a road not taken, or it can be just a small part of one of the greatest adventures ever undertaken by the American people.”

In 2024, solar was the largest new source of US energy capacity, accounting for more than half of all new electricity on the grid. Out here on Long Island, we have the largest deployment of residential rooftop solar in New York State. Homeowners have already installed more than 85,000 solar systems in Suffolk County alone.

I have to believe that somewhere out there in the solar system, there’s a peanut farmer in a wooly cardigan looking down on this little energy revolution with a smile on his face.