Couple bypasses power company

Solar panels make electric bill a thing of the past

Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2008

Click here to enlarge this photo Photo courtesy of MIKE CLARKE and DENNIS DiBELLO Beverly Clarke stands in front of her solar-equipped house with a remote meter that allows her to monitor energy production. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

By installing 30 solar panels and taking steps to conserve energy, Gary and Beverly Clarke generate more energy than they consume. The surplus power is fed back into the grid and results in a credit on their electric bill.

On a recent afternoon, Beverly Clarke, 64, proudly showed off the changes she and her husband had made to their house. In addition to the panels, the measures range from the simple to the high-tech: ‘‘A lot of insulation,” tinted windows, a top-of-the-line heat pump and double-sided cloth window blinds, among others. At that moment, the panels were producing 2,268 watts of electricity, according to the family electric meter, which measured not only energy consumption but also production as well as the excess.

Their son, Mike Clarke, a professional energy inspector, helped with technical matters but the idea was their own, Beverly Clarke said. The Clarkes aren’t getting the full benefit of the improvements because Maryland does not require SMECO to pay for the extra power they produce. While they receive a credit, it increases faster than they can use it.

‘‘You have money in the bank but you’re never going to be able to draw it out,” explained Dennis DiBello, Mike’s employer as owner and chief inspector of American Property Consultants Inc., a St. Leonard-based business that helps clients find ways to save energy.

Still, the Clarkes are relying on the system to alleviate the worries of retirement.

‘‘We’ve always been that way,” Beverly Clark said of the decision to conserve. ‘‘My husband’s going to retire in three years. The payback on this is about seven years and then we won’t have an energy bill.” The panels, purchased from a firm in St. Mary’s County, are expected to last for 25 years, according to Mike Clarke.

DiBello recalls the privations of the 1979 energy crisis and believes ‘‘we’re kind of going through a second energy crisis.” At the same time, energy deregulation has removed incentives for commercial power companies to help their clients conserve, he said.

DiBello did have high praise for the Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative, which he said has effective programs for helping customer-members curtail their usage.

Through the PowerWise program, the cooperative offers energy conservation tips as well as — for a fee ranging from $25 to $75 depending on the home — an audit of energy use plus coupons and other support for energy-stingy products.

‘‘Certainly it’s been a hallmark of the cooperative to promote and enhance an energy conservation program for our customers,” said SMECO spokesman Tom Dennison. ‘‘We’re a not-for-profit entity and we certainly encourage our customers to make the necessary steps to conserve energy because it makes sense from an environmental standpoint and from a financial standpoint as well.”

For Beverly Clark, the system has benefits beyond energy. For one thing, panel installation has reinforced the roof, something of concern to a resident of a beach town where storms have destroyed homes in the past.

‘‘The roof will be there and the house will be gone if anything happens. The panels make it stronger. ... And it’s beautiful. When the sun hits it, it gets all kids of blues and different colors to it. It is really pretty,” Clarke said.

DiBello sees great potential for systems like the Clarkes have, which cost around $50,000.

‘‘I think it’s pretty cool. Ideally, if everybody had a couple of these on the roof, we could really do something. Unfortunately, not everyone can do something like this,” DiBello said.