ATLANTA — Gov. Sonny Perdue wants all state agencies to slash 15 percent of their energy consumption by 2020. A new website called GovernorsEnergyChallenge.org lets you figure out how much you can save by going green. Channel 2 Consumer Advisor Clark Howard pulled out his calculator and decided that solar hot water in his house was worth the investment.
"It's a long way up to the roof of my house, but that's where we're headed today," said Clark. "I'm getting solar hot water!"
A solar hot water system is pretty simple, according to Clark. It uses gravity.
"You have the panels on the roof, the water comes down by gravity after it's heated up on the roof. It heats the water in a tank, which then travels into your traditional hot water tank, pre-heating it, saving you all the energy that would normally be required with natural gas or electricity," said Clark.
Clark said he really wanted to get his entire house solar so he wouldn't need the electric or gas company. But he hit a snag.
"My property has a lot of trees so the best bet for this place is solar hot water. It doesn't cost as much, but it doesn't save as much either," said Clark.
About an hour after the installers began putting panels on Clark's home, they were done.
"I'm sure you're curious what it's costing us to do this. Well, because of federal tax rebates that are available for installing solar right now, the effective cost is around $6,000 to do the install at this house. Now, if you have a smaller home, it's going to cost you less. The payback time, best I can figure, is between six and nine years to use this as a method of getting free, or nearly free, hot water," said Clark.
State tax credits for clean energy are administered by the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority.
WSBTV
