By Duane St. Clair

Dublin history teacher Matthew Stowell is cutting what he sees as a successful new path into home energy savings, although his radical move has been slow to catch on.

Many within the Dublin community know Stowell had 24 solar panels installed on the roof of his Indian Run home in December 2007, making him the first in the city to do so. His home was on non-profit Green Energy of Ohio’s solar tour last fall, and he will volunteer to be on this year’s tour Oct. 3-4.

An enthusiast about saving the environment, Stowell has shared information about the project with his middle school students, one of its benefits.

He also measures the success of his effort in more obvious ways, such as a lower energy bill every month.

“In general, it’s better than predicted,” Stowell says. “(I used) the best solar panels I could get at the time.” They’re expected to last up to 50 years.

Stowell’s system feeds unused electricity from his panels back into the AEP grid, for which he’s paid at a wholesale rate.

“It makes me a little power plant,” he says.

He is billed regular homeowner rates for AEP power he uses. Last calendar year, his system generated 7,254 kilowatt hours of energy, while he used 6,816. This year, he had a $77 credit through June.

Stowell will build up more credit during the long summer days when the panels are generating much more than he uses. He’ll use his credits during the winter, when energy use goes up as the amount of sunlight decreases. At the same time, this has reduced the demand for AEP’s coal-generated power, Stowell points out, which makes his solar panel project a tiny step forward in improving the environment,.

Throughout the years, he has taken many similar steps to save energy in the 1,900 square-foot, two-story home he has owned since 2001. They all augment the panels’ effectiveness. He has added new windows, increased attic insulation, installed energy-efficient appliances, upgraded the hot water tank, put in low flow shower heads and sink aerators, switched to a programmable thermostat and uses low energy lights, including CFL (compact fluorescent) bulbs and LED (light-emitting diodes) lights.

He says the solar panels also add to the value of his home, at an estimated $20 for every $1 saved on energy.

“Let’s say I have saved $700. That should increase the value by $14,000,” Stowell says.

To finance the $37,500 installation, Stowell received a $17,500 grant through a program administered by the Ohio Department of Development and financed by publicly-owned utilities, such as AEP. He also qualified for a $2,000 federal tax credit. He paid the rest.

He acted in mid-2007 because he feared the tax credit would go away permanently after it expired that year. Instead, a better deal is available: the tax credit now is for up to 30 percent of the cost.

Stowell says he’s probably not done. He’s looking into installing panels for a water heater system on the remaining roof space. Solar power would keep it at 80 degrees in a large, well-insulated tank and the water would be further heated less expensively as it’s used, he explains.

His project has had “an educational benefit” as he has shared it with his students.

“The kids are really preparing (for the future),” he says. “Some of the kids on the Student Council want to do solar now.”

Thus far, Stowell remains the only Dublin resident to have installed solar panels on his home, even though the regulations surrounding such a project are fairly light. Dublin requires only a permit for electrical work, and there are no building regulations about solar power, although the city might want to approve the weight of solar panels in relation to the roof where they’ll be installed, says Jeffrey Tyler, the city’s director of building standards.

Even so, Stowell says he is encouraged by the country’s gradual return to passive energy production and use. He points out that most solar panels and wind turbines are foreign-built but that their production could be done in the U.S. as demand increases.

Stowell remains enthusiastic about his home’s energy-saving potential, which he says goes beyond dollar savings.

“Once installed, I became really conscience of my energy use. It kind of puts you back in touch with nature,” he says. “People are losing touch with nature.”

Duane St. Clair is a contributing editor for Dublin Life.

BONUS: For more information about Matthew Stowell’s solar-powered home, visit www.wideopenwest.com/~stowell/Solar%20Story.html.

Visit www.GreenEnergyOhio.org for information about the Ohio Solar Tour and renewable energy programs.