Over time, you have most likely seen photo voltaic power right here, there, and in all places in between – nicely, virtually.
Photo voltaic power consumer Rose Hale lives in rural Knox County in Tennessee.
Hale is ready to energy his renovated hay barn with largely photo voltaic power, generally for days. He solely sends the electrical energy firm a couple of dollars a month.
“There have been some nights previous midnight that did not even contact the grid,” Hale mentioned.
In case of dangerous climate or one thing extra catastrophic, Hale likes to have the peace of thoughts that photo voltaic power brings him.
“I would like to have the ability to deal with myself within the occasion of a catastrophic breakdown,” Hale mentioned.
The Tennessee Valley has been gradual to undertake residential photo voltaic power, in comparison with areas with extra dependable sunshine.
Charles Sims, an assistant professor within the Division of Economics on the College of Tennessee, studied 3,000 folks across the Tennessee Valley to seek out out what makes them tick – when their meter goes up.
Sims says that peace of thoughts could be a level for folks in rural areas to make use of photo voltaic power at house.
“We’re seeing quite a lot of fascinating excessive willingness to pay in rural areas that I additionally did not count on,” Sims mentioned.
He found that, on common, folks across the valley are solely prepared to pay $500 for photo voltaic power at house.
However after the current energy outage, companies will not enable a “blackout date.”
“What we have discovered is that the most important driver is upfront value,” Sims continued. “So, if that value goes down, that is going to have a huge impact on folks’s adoption [of at-home solar energy].”
