Becoming Green

My mom passed away at the age of 95 last May. Born in 1930, she was a child of the Great Depression. Like so many other people of her generation, frugality was of utmost importance. If we didn’t want to clean our plates at dinner we would often hear, “Think of all the starving people in India!” Cutting coupons from the newspaper and magazines was a weekly ritual. She was very frugal about our use of energy also. Electricity was very expensive so space heaters were used scarcely, usually while we were having a bath. The house thermostat was set at 65 for the most part. “If you’re cold, put on a sweater!” was a common refrain. My favorite was when we hesitated at an open door or, heaven forbid, forgot to close it completely. “Close the door! We’re not heating the out-of-doors!” These were all said lovingly and often with humor. The love and caring were understood.

This upbringing, along with a love of nature and the outdoors (thanks, Dad) laid the foundation for a deep desire to protect the planet and, as much as possible, to leave no trace. When the push was on for renewable energy, the introduction of government incentives and the plummeting cost of solar panels, I didn’t need to think twice about jumping in.

The dream was to have a totally electric house and cars and have them powered by the sun. In 2016 we had a small solar array installed on the roof with the help of federal and state tax credits as well as a generous NYSERDA grant. For awhile it covered almost all of our electric needs. But then came a fully electric car in 2021, a heat pump hot water heater and induction stove in 2023, a plug-in hybrid in 2025 and other heavy usage electric appliances along the way. After all that, the solar panels covered less than a quarter of our needs.

One of the most important wishes of my mother was to leave an inheritance to my sisters and I. With her passing, the summer of 2025 became very timely. With the small inheritance she left and the ending of federal solar energy tax credits at the end of the year, the realization of the dream came into clear focus. The race was on to design and build a large solar array by the end of the year. It was mid-September so there was no time to lose. 

I didn’t have the expertise to design it all myself so I hired a consultant/contractor to help. He was instrumental in designing the wiring and inverters to go with the panels as well as the hardware to connect everything together. I designed the structure for the arrays and the layout of the system. I, along with huge help from friends and my 2 sons, did about 95% of the work required to get it done. We cleared trees, augured holes, installed temporary supports to support the structure, trenched for the wire conduit, poured several yards of concrete (from 80 lb. bags of concrete!), placed the panels and installed protective mesh for the exposed panel wires.

As the solar construction was progressing last fall, we got rid of the last 2 of our gas appliances. We replaced the clothes dryer with an electric model and the gas furnace with a whole-house heat pump.  What a great sense of satisfaction in contacting R.G.&E. to cancel the gas service!

The project was finished on the morning of December 15 (in the snow) and the town inspector gave his blessing that afternoon. So, the project qualified for the 30% federal tax credit! With that, and proposed hikes in electric prices over the next few years, the payback for the project is probably about 5 years.  Since then, it has been a great pleasure to grab my brush and clear the panels after a snowfall the night before. By my calculations the ground mounted and rooftop arrays will cover about 90% of our electric needs. I have fondly dedicated the project to my mother.

 ~by Brad Grisley