What is renewable solar energy and can I afford it? There is a lot of talk on this subject, but not enough information for the public to make an informed decision as to whether this technology will benefit them.

We at Lifestyles over 50 have presented a number of articles on green energy over the last year. Several articles were by Steve Domitrecz, a Bethlehem resident, who has made a concerted effort to be part of the green energy movement. He has done it by installing water purifying systems, solar panels for his swimming pool and other techniques. Recently he made a huge jump into green energy. He put solar panels on to his roof.

I wanted to know what this involved and what it might cost so I visited Steve to watch the progress and final result of his solar panel project. I must admit I was quite surprised by how clean and simple the panels looked. His home has a south facing roof and it was covered in panels, but when you look at the roof from street level you hardly notice the panels at all – they blend in quite nicely. The additional electrical equipment that was installed for the capture of new energy is located at the side of the house. It was nondescript and non-intrusive.

Intrigued by the design and installation I contacted the installer (Andrew Ciasulli) from Sonic Solar Energy in Wind Gap. Andrew is a young entrepreneur who saw the opportunities in solar energy. With a mechanical engineering degree from Drexel, an interest in renewable energy and a background in building contracting he established his company to install solar panels.

Andrew combines the installation of roofing panels with a sophisticated software program to optimize a home’s energy program. He will create a three dimensional layout of a home and decides how to best maximize the energy from the panels.

While this was interesting to me, the obvious question was “how much does this cost”. The answer is “not as much as you might think”. The reason for this is that the federal and state governments have programs to significantly mitigate the cost. To keep it simple and short for this article I will give the highlights of the programs.

The PA Sunshine Rebate program will rebate a portion of the homeowner’s cost up to a maximum of $22,500. There is a federal tax credit of 30% of the installation cost (with no limit to the system size). You can carry forward this credit for several years. Lastly and most intriguing is the Alternative Energy Credit. This allows a homeowner’s excess energy to be sold back to the energy companies. That is a nice bonus.

What this all means is that you can recover your investment in solar energy very quickly. An average payback period can be in the 5-8 year range. Andrew explains all this and has a printout that will show you specifically how your solar energy plan will work for you.

If you would like further information on how you can benefit from renewable energy contact Andrew at Sonic Solar Energy, 610-751-1306, http://www.sonicsolarenergy.com, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it