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.

Sign Up For Free Solar Consultation Here-

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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

Utilities fight rise in home solar power

By Joby Warrick

Three years ago, the nation’s top utility executives gathered at a Colorado resort to hear warnings about a grave new threat to operators of America’s electric grid: not superstorms or cyberattacks, but rooftop solar panels.

If demand for residential solar continued to soar, traditional utilities could soon face serious problems, from declining retail sales and a loss of customers to ‘‘potential obsolescence,’’ according to a presentation prepared for the group. ‘‘Industry must prepare an action plan to address the challenges,’’ it said.

The warning, delivered to a private meeting of the utility industry’s main trade association, became a call to arms for electricity providers in nearly every corner of the nation.

Three years later, the industry and its fossil-fuel supporters are waging a determined campaign to stop a home-solar insurgency that is rattling the boardrooms of the country’s government-regulated electric monopolies.

Wow, solar has come that far that the Electric companies are fearing them as making them potentially obsolete.  I had no idea when Brian O’Connor signed up and qualified for Solar at his house that he told me that it’s actually going to pay him to have solar panels installed.

In my mind solar went from not to long ago something that rich environmentalists did to feel good about themselves to now a viable financial alternative that makes sense not only for the environment but also for the pocketbook and for the common man.

Sign up for a Free Solar Evaluation Here-

Check out what East Gloucester’s Brian O’connor’s Solar Energy advisor had to say in our interview a couple months ago-

Hi Joey,

Just a quick follow on Brian and Diane O’Connor’s Solar evaluation.

Brian and Diane’s home has qualified and they have decided to put rooftop solar on their home in Gloucester.  (Only 15% of homes in MA are eligible.)

Because of their home’s orientation to the sun and other factors, their entire cost will be covered by various federal, state and utility incentives.  In fact they will actually be making money over and above their cost.  And getting 90% of their electricity for free.

If anyone else would like to find out if their home qualifies, I just need their contact information and our techs will initially rate the home via satellite.  If it qualifies, we can up with a time for us to talk about how it all works. (About 90 mins.)

I am in the process of working with several other Gloucester residents and will keep you posted on their progress.

Many thanks for your continued support,

Kevin Prickett
Solar Advisor

Sign up for a Free Solar Evaluation Here-