Solar Power Heats Up

by Joseph Pereira, June 2, 2005 Tired of paying $140 a month in electric bills, Frank Corradi decided to do something about it. So last December, he had part of the roof on his four-bedroom colonial covered with solar panels. Today his suburban Cedar Grove, N.J., home is a mini power station. Not only does it produce enough electricity to run the household, it also generates about $170 in cash roughly every six weeks for Mr. Corradi under a state program that rewards developers of clean energy. “That’s a treasure sitting up there on my roof,” says the 43-year-old financial analyst. Once almost the exclusive domain of the ecologically minded, solar electricity, also known as photovoltaic power, is starting to attract pragmatists simply looking for a way to cut their electric bill. Installation costs have fallen sharply in recent years, at the same time that states have been expanding their tax breaks and rebates. Mr. Corradi’s project, which cost about $50,000, would have come at about twice that amount just a decade ago. In addition, various incentives covered more than two-thirds of his out-of-pocket costs. Incentives such as these are expanding quickly and are now available in more than 30 […]

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