Home Solar Power or Changing Habits: Which One Has the Largest Home Energy Savings?

For many, the idea of buying solar panels as a way to generate electricity and reduce energy bills seems pretty straightforward. But upon deeper reflection, and experience, it’s not so simple.

But first let’s start with the great news – our suburban family of four just received its April electricity bill. It was 11 dollars, that’s right 11 dollars – how did we do it?

Well let’s start back last year where our family used 603 KWH during the month of April – just below the national average for a family of four. Fast forward to April 2010 and we see that we used only 303KWH. So we saved 300KWH just by changing our behavior.

We started by simply paying attention to our lights, TVs, appliances, and heating (which is forced air so it needs electricity). It wasn’t hard at all, but the savings were huge.

Now, the solar panels that we purchased generated 263KWH, nearly half of our previous year’s electricity use. The chart below explains the supply and demands of energy.

So, think of getting to zero bills as a big squeeze. On one end is the behavior change moving towards zero, and on the other is the power generation through solar panels which is generating power and moves the family towards a zero bill.

Now, I can spend huge amounts of money and buy a gigantic solar array and get to zero. Or I can live in a cave and get to zero – neither is desirable. Think of it as supply and demand. We reduce demand by changing behavior and increase supply by purchasing solar panels.

So, if you want to cut your electric bills in half without spending any money, pay attention to your behavior and maintain the momentum. It’s easy to turn the lights on/off once in a while. It’s another thing to make it a habit – something that you do automatically. It can be contagious as the wife and kids have started following suit.