Sneak peek: Street of Dreams Greenest Home

from kgw.com

Imagine this, never having to pay a power bill again. Sound like a dream? Well, it’s a reality for the owners of one brand new Happy Valley home.The home is one of five houses featured in this year’s Northwest Natural Street of Dreams.

Crews with Elemental Energy put up 68 solar panels to form what will be one of the largest residential solar installations in Oregon. They are using a drone to help document their work.

“It gives you a real good perspective that you can’t quite get from the ground,” said John Grieser, the owner of the company.

Once completed, it will be Northwest Natural Street of Dreams’ greenest home to date.

Even though it will be full of all the latest high tech gadgets and appliances, homeowner Carl Waide will never have to pay a power bill.

“I’ve always wanted to build eco-friendly,” said Waide. “With technology and the way that solar has grown and evolved we’re able to one hundred percent offset this entire house’s electric consumption over the course of the whole year.”

The panels will also charge Waide’s electric car.

“They can drive 12,000 miles a year with their electric car and have it completely fueled by the energy coming off the solar panels,” Grieser said.

The up-front cost of the solar panels is about $40,000 or $22,000 after federal and state tax credits. Considering it will save about $3,000 dollars a year in energy, the system will pay for itself in just over seven years. So what may be a dream home for many will someday be a reality as more and more homes go solar.

“In the last 18 months, the United States as a whole has installed more solar panels than the previous 30 years combined,” Grieser said.

Continue Reading at kgw.com…