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Solar Homes Open Doors to Curious Homeowners, Students

By Alex Nitkin | October 4, 2015 6:45pm
 Doug Snower (l.) and Eric Heineman. In 2011, Snower's energy company Windfree installed photovoltaic panels on Heineman's roof.
Doug Snower (l.) and Eric Heineman. In 2011, Snower's energy company Windfree installed photovoltaic panels on Heineman's roof.
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DNAinfo/Alex Nitkin

WEST RIDGE — Five years ago, Eric Heineman paid around $50 on his monthly electricity bill. These days, aside from a service fee, he only pays a dollar or two.

In 2011, Heineman — who was a senior energy adviser to former Gov. Pat Quinn — needed to replace a leaky roof on his two-story West Ridge home and decided to have a row of photovoltaic solar panels installed with no extra cost. Since then, the panels have generated nearly all his household electricity — plus power for his Nissan Leaf and a few "renewable energy credits" he can sell to power companies for extra cash — all with a two-kilowatt system, one of smallest solar rigs available.

Heineman showcased his home Saturday as part of the Illinois Solar Tour, though that's not the first time he has shown people around his setup.

As a Local School Council member of Armstrong Elementary School, whose campus is across the street, he's working on stitching solar education into students' activities and curricula. Sometimes, he said, classes take "field trips" across the street to check out his system.

Heineman's house, in the 2100 block of West Estes Avenue, was one of 11 buildings across the city opened to visitors for Saturday's Illinois Solar Tour, an open-house exhibition of solar-powered homes and businesses organized by the Illinois Solar Energy Association.

Every year, the tour gives landlords, business operators and homeowners like Heineman the chance to show off their shiny setup to anyone else curious about the costs and benefits of going solar.

Members of the Logan Square Cooperative, a residential co-op in the 3900 block of West George Street, had panels installed back in 2006 to lower their energy footprint and their gas bills. They've participated in the solar tour ever since.


Heineman's solar panels, as seen from his second-story bedroom. [DNAinfo/Alex Nitkin]

Unlike Heineman's panels, the co-op's cells are rigged up to a hydrothermal system, meaning that sunlight is directed straight to their water heater.

"It's just environmentally sound, and it was important to us that we try to reduce our reliance on natural gas while supporting the solar industry," said Jolynn Doerr, a member of the co-op. "We thought if we led by example, we might be able to convince others to look at solar as an option, too."

It's an option that, in the years since the co-op installed their panels, has looked increasingly attractive. In Illinois, as in the rest of the country, solar power has exploded as a sector of the energy industry.

Five years ago, Windfree, the solar contractor Heineman used to install his panels, was one of a handful of solar companies operating around the state. Today, there are hundreds.

Part of that, said Windfree president Doug Snower, is because the cost of making solar cells has nosedived since 2010. While Heineman's installation cost was about $4,000 in 2011 (after state rebates and tax credits, his final bill was about half that), Snower said installing a similar-sized system today would likely cost $1,000 or less.

"Environmental benefits are always going to be a big factor, but saving dollars is always the No. 1 thing people are going to care about," Snower said. "It's a good investment, especially with the tax incentives you get, and people are starting to recognize that."

With electricity savings, Snower said, single-family homes like Heineman's can expect to see a total return on investment within around 10 years, not including any property value increase due to the solar array. After the installation, Heineman said, he was able to refinance his home with a much friendlier mortgage rate.

"As far as energy use goes I don't even really think about [the solar panels] anymore, but there's a serious 'feel-good' factor in having them there," Heineman said. "If I'm an advocate for sustainable energy, I can't tell people to change their lifestyles without changing my own. So I'm putting my money where my mouth is."

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