5 Ways to Cheaper, Cleaner Energy at Home

The Group of 8 may have failed to set specific goals for greenhouse gas reduction. T. Boone Pickens may have put his plans for the world’s largest windmill farm on hold. But there are plenty of cost-effective ways for you to make the switch to renewable energy sources at home, without waiting for governments or billionaires to take the first step.

The largest source of industrial air pollution in the U.S. today is electricity generation, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. So reducing the amount of electricity you use has a big environmental impact. It can also be a wise investment: New renewable-energy projects require cash upfront for a utility or a homeowner, but sunshine and many of the world’s other energy-producing resources will always be free.

For example, if you spend the money now to install solar panels on your roof, you’ll be saving later. “In a way, you’re purchasing your energy now at a lower rate” and protecting yourself from an increasing utility bill, says Dona Stankus, the building programs manager for the North Carolina Solar Center. If oil prices rise again as the global economy picks back up, the cost of electricity from conventional sources will rise, but those solar panels will still be generating free juice.

Your first step should be to make your home as energy efficient as possible, particularly if you’re planning to invest in an energy-generating system. “If you’re not changing your consumption, the investment is going into the wrong place,” says Bomee Jung, a spokeswoman for GreenHomeNYC, a volunteer organization that connects building owners with green building services and materials firms. The Department of Energy’s Energy Savers web site provides information on how to reduce your electricity use – the easiest and most cost-effective way to go green.

The next step is passive solar: strategically using your home’s exposure to the sun to reduce heating and cooling costs. Consider insulated shades for your windows that would allow you to block out daytime heat during the summer or cold night air during the winter. A trellis to block a window facing south in the summer is another inexpensive way to cut air-conditioning costs, says Stankus. For eastern and western exposures, Stankus suggests applying low-E film to your windows – an easy installation you could do yourself.

About 25% of the nation’s utilities currently offer a green-pricing program – for about $5 or $10 a month you can buy renewable energy certificates (or RECs) as part of your electric bill. If your utility doesn’t offer such a program, you can buy the RECs directly online from a provider like Community Energy or Renewable Choice Energy.

Producers of renewable energy like wind farms sell the power they produce directly to utility companies. “When this megawatt hour is produced from the wind farm, that wind farm can sell the megawatt hour one place and the REC to a totally different place,” says Jeff Swenerton, the communications director for the Center for Resource Solutions, a nonprofit think tank that develops policy and market strategies to advance sustainable energy.

This system allows producers to recover the higher start-up costs of a new renewable-energy project. The Center for Resource Solutions runs a certification program for RECs called Green-e, which checks that these credits are supporting recently built operations. Consumers can consider their purchase a small investment in developing more alternative energy capacity in the U.S.

If you want to go a step further and have some extra cash on hand, now may be the time to invest in the technology to generate renewable electricity at home, particularly with federal and state tax credits currently cutting anywhere from 30% to 50% off the cost of installing some systems.

Check out these 5 cost-effective ways you can use renewable energy in your home.