Quote:
Originally Posted by HooverDam
What Id like to see is it phased in on different building types. All new governmental buildings (city, state, county and federal) should have to have solar panels (as well as solar hot water and gray water systems). Next all buildings over a certain size (say anything the side of a large grocery store on up), then apartment/condo complexes and then eventually all new single family homes. Maybe its something you could phase in over the next 10-15 years, but Im not expert so maybe thats too slow or too fast of a time table.
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Agreed on all points, although your timetable's too fast. I like it, but being politically realistic it might take 10-15 years of talking about it before a timetable even begins, and I don't think anything like this is being seriously discussed at an official level.
The 2 points I want to emphasize are gray water and apartment/condo complexes. Solar is important here, but water conservation may be even more important. Gray water systems aren't as glamorous as solar panels, but they are something really easy and really effective, and all new buildings with any type of landscaping should have them.
Second, condo and apartment complexes are overlooked in a lot of solar discussions. Between roofs and covered parking, condo and apartment complexes have a lot of large flat spaces that would be perfect for solar. They get overlooked though because short-term tennants obviously aren't going to install them, and they don't save the complex any money because the complex isn't paying the power bill. Sure, it could be a selling point for the complex, but a lot of people shopping for apartments (condos are a bit of a different story) aren't thinking about the utility bills when they're shopping for apartments. You could get away with it on some apartments around ASU where students are particularly environmentally concious/parents are paying the bill, but most apartment hunters are looking for the cheapest possible price.
If you were to put solar panels on a multi-story building like an apartment complex, how do you divide the power/savings? Do you just take the amount of power/money generated by the panels minus maintenance costs and divide it evenly among the residents at the end of the month?