NewsclipAlternative energy grows Framingham resident Kenneth Lombardo’s $14,000 Sharp solar power system would have paid for itself in about seven years. But with a grant from the Westborough-based Renewable Energy Trust and an expected federal income tax credit, Lombardo said the system, which as an electrician he installed himself in March, has already paid for itself. The solar power system is designed to last at least 20 years. "My electric bills were close to $200 a month, about $195 or so, but my last bill was $35," Lombardo said. "I feel really good about it. I wish I had a bigger roof so I could put more of them up there. I’d do it again in a heartbeat." Lombardo got his solar panels along with 14 of his fellow electricians as part of an effort by the union, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. They applied for a grant from the Renewable Energy Trust. Lombardo received $11,000 toward his solar panels, which cover about an 11-by-24-foot section of his roof. The Renewable Energy Trust has been handing out more grants than expected since April 2005 when the renewable-energy development arm of the state-funded Massachusetts Technology Collaborative started the program, according to its director, Warren Leon. "There’s clearly greatly increasing interest... over the last year because of the rising costs of energy and greater concerns about our nation’s supply of fossil fuels," Leon said. "Basically, we’ve been getting between 30 and 40 applications a month lately." The Renewable Energy Trust, which usually covers between 35 percent and 50 percent of the cost of installing an alternative energy system for residents and businesses, depending on the project, has made 380 awards in the range of $5,000 to $10,000 each, he said. Programs similar to the Renewable Energy Trust’s are spreading across the United States, and they are stimulating interest in solar power and other forms of alternative energy, according to Nick Lenssen, an analyst with Energy Insights, part of Framingham-based research firm IDC. A recent survey by Energy Insights found that about 47 percent of Americans surveyed said they were interested in on-site electricity generation equipment, and most of them were interested in solar power, Lenssen said. The survey also said 51 percent of Americans are interested in backup power generators in the next two years. The top three reasons given for both findings were "worries about outages or blackouts," "saving money on energy bills" and "independence from (the) electric utility." Leon said the motivation for the majority of Massachusetts residents installing solar panels "is reducing costs and making our society less dependent on imported fuels." With some Massachusetts utilities paying residents for contributing excess power to the grid, interest in the systems will only rise, he said. Leon said there’s also interest in backup power generators for when the grid goes down, but his agency doesn’t have a grant program for gasoline generators. Jim Dunn, director of the Westborough-based Center for Technology Commercialization, or CTC Inc., said he was hoping to install a wind turbine to generate electricity on his 7.5-acre property in Millbury. Dunn said he also has a backup gas generator wired to his house, "so the whole house can transfer over to the generator if there’s an outage." Dunn said he’s experienced a few one-week outages due to snowstorms in the past, and at least one short outage each week in the winter time. He also uses the generator to power his trailer, he said. |
