With the hot days of summer coming to an end, you may be ready to toss your costly electric bills from July and August in the trash, but holding on to them for one more week could save you a bundle next summer. Rumson-based solar energy company GeoGenix is coming to town, and they want to show you how much you could save by having solar panels installed on your roof.
Representatives of GeoGenix will be at the Conference Center at Mercer County Community College on Wednesday, September 29, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. for a Community Solar Forum. This free event will feature a presentation on the financial and environmental benefits of converting to solar energy followed by individual consultations.
Though the environmental impact of converting to solar is already well known, people are not always aware of how affordable solar can be, and GeoGenix’s presentation will aim to explain the possible savings. In addition to state and federal tax credits, for example, a community rebate will be available for the West Windsor/Plainsboro area. This rebate grows the more popular solar becomes, because of efficiencies realized by doing multiple installations in the same geographical region.
Solar seems like a no-brainer: the environmental and financial return on investment is huge, and further savings are possible on one-time installation costs with GeoGenix’s community rebate. But it wasn’t always this way. When Manick Rajendran, a resident of the Crossings at Grover’s Mill in Plainsboro, asked permission of his homeowners association to install solar panels on his roof in 2006, it immediately rejected his request, citing the unsightliness of the panels and their probable negative impact on home values in the area (U.S. 1, October 4, 2006).
Motivated by his own environmental awareness and his two sons’ enthusiasm for the project, Rajendran pursued the issue further. He gave a presentation on homes with solar panels, polled students on the idea, compared the values of homes with and without solar panels, and consulted with real estate agents on the panels’ impact on housing prices. The homeowners association did not give in until Rajendran threatened to sue, and once it did Rajendran had his solar panels installed by GeoGenix.
The impact of Rajendran’s victory was not just evident in his greatly reduced electric bills, which went from around $250 to zero in a year. His case set a precedent for homeowners associations, leading to an increase in solar installations in housing developments. It is now illegal for a homeowners association to prohibit solar panels, and since 2006 GeoGenix has installed solar panels on more than a dozen West Windsor and Plainsboro homes.
Solar Forum, GeoGenix, Mercer College, Conference Center, West Windsor, 732-535-4674. www.geogenix.com/wwp. Presentation and consultations about solar energy. Bring a recent electric bill with you. Refreshments. Register. 6:30 p.m.
