A few yr in the past, Mangilao resident Doug Bowling switched his dwelling to solar energy and hasn’t regarded again since.
Doug Bowling exhibits how he makes use of Photo voltaic Edge, the app that screens and controls the usage of solar energy on this dwelling.
“I’ve at all times been serious about photo voltaic, at all times been serious about generator backup,” Bowling mentioned.
He makes use of the corporate Era Renewable Inc., and has loved constantly cheaper electrical energy payments and constant energy even throughout an island-wide outage.
“The set up will take a very long time, as a result of there are a lot of permits and processes that they must undergo. So, I feel we began the method in August, and we did not get it till November. They got here in, the set up was useful {and professional}. They needed to drill a gap, get into our electrical packing containers.
“After I first received it, I assumed we had the ability to energy the entire home, however that is not true. So after we received it, we talked about it they usually mentioned we tightened up the necessities. So we have our further fridge, our kitchen fridge, the kitchen shops – we’ve got energy there.
“The shops in the lounge, we’ve got lights and even our leisure middle is on, and the primary AC, which is like 36k, so it cools the entire lounge … after which the washer, a request from my spouse,” mentioned Bowling.
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He recollects how his household as soon as got here dwelling throughout an island-wide blackout to search out that their TV was nonetheless on.
“We sat down to observe it, and the ability got here shortly after that. However we do not have to fret about our fridge, our microwave is working … so I feel we are able to act in case of an emergency,” he mentioned.
Bowling famous that although electrical energy charges have risen for the reason that summer time, she hasn’t seen any change in her household’s payments.
“Our electrical energy invoice stays the identical, as a result of we pay our firm the identical quantity each month. It will increase by 2% per yr throughout our lease, however nonetheless, what we pay now, simply taking a look at our utilization, is lower than what we’d pay at GPA. We nonetheless pay GPA, say, $15 a month to hook as much as the grid, however our electrical energy invoice is lower than it was,” Bowling mentioned.
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He additionally observed that since making the change to photo voltaic, his dwelling’s electrical energy utilization has been low, although there have been no modifications to the home.
“We hold our ACs on on a regular basis, run our washer and dryer on a regular basis. However our utilization is lower than it was beneath the GPA meter.
“It is not a lot, and all the things is sweet,” Bowling added.
He was impressed with how the electrical energy invoice did not change, regardless of his household’s utilization.
“I calculated how a lot, the gas surcharge alone is greater than our electrical energy invoice. However our electrical energy invoice didn’t improve. I’ve heard of individuals turning their air conditioners on and off, which we should not be doing. We do not have to decrease the temperature, we hold it on the similar temperature on a regular basis,” he mentioned.
Due to the solar energy setup, Bowling observed different enhancements as properly.
“It produces numerous energy, far more than we use … most likely about 40% of what it generates goes again to the grid,” he mentioned.
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The solar energy system contains three batteries positioned exterior the household’s storage, and an array of photovoltaic panels on the roof of the home, which accumulate energy from the solar.
Since putting in the system, the household has not needed to contact or change something, and the system works wirelessly.
“There’s an app that goes with it, so we are able to monitor the utilization. We will do it every day, weekly, month-to-month — see how a lot we’re utilizing, even evaluating it to what we put in, what we use and the way a lot we get. Now that we’ve got a yr, we are able to examine to what we used final yr,” mentioned Bowling.
