SEEDS Area Third in State in PV Installations

SEEDS-trained installers add solar panels to the roof of Turano Insurance in Honesdale!

Now, for some number crunching – which usually just makes us numb-er but this time is really exciting!

Martin Young went to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory site (http://openpv.nrel.gov) and worked out that our little corner of North East Pennsylvania is 3rd in the whole Commonwealth in number of solar photo voltaic installations.

It’s a fun site with several interactive maps. One map shows a history of solar installations: you’ll see lots of action in California and New Jersey and nothing in PA at first. Then when the state rebate program begins in 2009, PA begins to light up so that now it is 3rd in number of installations in the country with 2444, we’re still far behind California’s 56,653, but ahead of New York, and Arizona, no less.

Another map rates installs and costs by zip code. And get this, the average cost per kW installed, nationally is $7.13; for Pennsylvania $6.82; for Honesdale it’s $6.28! And that’s before rebates and tax credits. Panel costs have decreased over the past two years, accounting for some of the cost differences; but we also believe we’re paying less because local contractors have been number crunching, getting the best prices for panels, and passing that on to their neighbors.