A couple of great articles that go hand in hand for you today and Jesus, doesn’t it just sound like the fantasy of electric cars powered by your own solar generated energy sound like it’s more and more reality by smart people every single day?  The cost of solar coming way down combined with the incredible amount of government incentives to make it happen and now cheaper electric powered cars becoming available all just make sense!

Two articles for you to read and a sign up if you want a free solar consultation from the people who have been doing all the free Home Energy assessments and handing out the energy efficient lightbulbs, electronic thermostats, water saving shower heads and smart electric power strips- Next Step Living.

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How solar power and electric cars could make suburban living awesome again

From the Washington Post:

The suburbs have had it rough in the last few years. The 2008-2009 economic collapse led to waves of foreclosures in suburbia, as home prices plummeted. More recently, census data suggest that Americans are actually shifting back closer to city centers, often giving up on the dream of a big home in suburbs (much less the far-flung “exurbs”).

It doesn’t help that suburbia has long been the poster child for unsustainable living. You have to drive farther to work, so you use a lot of gas. Meanwhile, while having a bigger home may be a plus, that home is also costlier to heat and cool. It all adds up — not just in electricity bills, but in overall greenhouse gas emissions. That’s why suburbanites, in general, tend to have bigger carbon footprints than city dwellers.

You can see as much in this amazing map from researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, showing how carbon footprints go up sharply along the east coast as you move away from city centers:

Read the entire article here at The Washington Post

Affordable Electric cars are Coming Soon Study Says

From Gizmodo

For many of us, purchasing an electric vehicle is still a pie in the sky dream. But that might be changing soon, if a new peer-reviewed study is correct that the cost of electric car batteries is falling much more quickly than we assumed.

Lithium ion batteries make up anywhere between a quarter and half the cost of electric cars today. By systematically reviewing over 80 cost estimates published between 2007 and 2014, researchers at the Stockholm Environment Institute found that the cost of Li-battery packs used by leading manufacturers like Tesla and Nissan is falling by roughly 8 % per year. That’s similar to the rate that was seen with the nickel metal hydride battery technology used in hybrids like the Toyota Prius.

What’s more, it means that battery cost is rapidly approaching a threshold that could make the average Joe think seriously about trading in his gas guzzler. According to MIT Technology Review:

for entire article click here