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I was looking out one of my back windows and could view my neighbor’s outside HVAC unit and its fan just flying. Their house is smaller (maybe 400 sq. ft. or so) and they have three young boys. Both are two story houses. But we have solar. Besides generating electricity, the solar panels also block the sun from warming up our attic space and help keep our house cooler.
But those weren’t necessarily what I was thinking about, in that moment. I was thinking about the difference in our power bill. We pay about $15 a month for the privilege of staying connected to the power grid. Now, we’re still paying off the cost of the solar panels, but that’s a static cost, it doesn’t fluctuate depending on the weather. I would have preferred to have been able to add battery storage/backup, but even with incentives it wouldn’t pay off at our age. So I was thinking about the family of five paying more for their electricity than we do. That’s quite a chunk of money coming out of their monthly income.
We also drive an EV and to fully charge our car barely makes a blip. My neighbor has two ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) vehicles which require even more of their limited resources. Both parents work and do other odd things to stretch their budget. It’s a shame that everyone doesn’t have solar panels on their house and drives an EV. Instead too many have to pay BIG POWER and BIG OIL before they can even pay for food, medicine and other necessities beyond power and fuel. One day, maybe. One day.
We continue to be paywall-free. We continue to be supported by our readers, not billionaires or corporations. But we need to bring in more revenue. We are leaning on our community more than ever to help make ends meet.
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