I am concerned about climate change and we have had 52 solar panels and a heat pump installed recently. We have a 2,500-square-foot house. We did this installation hoping to do a small amount of good but without expecting it to have much impact. I have been truly amazed at the numbers our monitoring system shows. Our entire system has been running since July of 2018 so less than a year. In that time the monitoring system tells me that we have saved emitting more than 10 tons of carbon dioxide and that our efforts have been equivalent to planting about 542 trees.
I know these panels cover almost all our electricity costs, and with the heat pump, we have burned about half the oil we used the year before. The tax credit we received for the solar panel installation resulted in us recouping one-third of the cost of the project.
I understand that what this country needs is to place a price on carbon as have many other countries in the world, including Canada. If we are going to avoid increasing climate disasters, we need to have a Carbon Fee and Dividend enacted. There is such a bill in the U.S. Congress right now. In the meantime, please consider taking a good look at solar systems, whether your own or a community system.
They are becoming affordable and very effective.
Nancy Hasenfus
Brunswick
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