Install Clean Energy
An appealing feature of some clean energy technologies (most notably solar, wind, and fuel cells) is that they do not necessarily have to be deployed at a large scale. Instead, they can be distributed locally to provide electricity for an individual building or customer.
Solar panels on a building can meet much of its electricity needs. A small wind turbine can generate electricity for a house, farm, or business. These sorts of distributed generation systems can be especially desirable where there is no access to electricity through power lines from a utility company or it would be expensive to hook up to external power lines. In these circumstances, a solar or wind system can be a cost-effective, clean, logical solution to the need for power. Of course, because of the significant variations in wind levels, many more sites are suited to solar than wind.
More generally, distributed generation systems are most cost-effective when the power reduces the owner’s need to purchase electricity at retail prices. In some cases, a new home buyer will find that if solar panels are installed when the house is built or purchased, the monthly electricity savings will be greater than the monthly cost of including the solar electricity system in the mortgage. A factory or community facility with a large, steady electricity need and good available wind may find that a wind turbine is financially beneficial.
But, in most cases, small wind and solar systems will not currently yield a net positive financial return. The people who install them do so because they want to do something good for society and the environment. If they plan to own the property for many years, the reduction in their electricity bills may be great enough that the net cost of the system will seem quite affordable.