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Have Your Neighbors Gone Solar Yet?

It’s not an uncommon occurrence: First, you see a home improvement sign on the lawn down the block, noting, “Vinyl Siding Completed by ABC Home Improvements.” Just a few weeks later, their neighbor’s lawn sports a similar sign — and very similar vinyl siding, except in white instead of beige. Now, the people across the street from them are getting a new roof — and you can see from the lawn sign that ABC Home Improvements has been busy.

Maybe it’s the suburban mentality, that whole “keeping up with the Joneses” thing. Or maybe it’s the fact that once one home gets improvements done, nearby homeowners start to think their house looks a bit shabby and starts calling around for estimates. Or maybe it’s because, deep down, we’re all still tribal creatures and members of a community, who, on a subliminal level, want to be like each other.

Maybe you live in a town, or even a gated community with a homeowners’ association, where the perception is still that solar panels look “ugly” mounted on a suburban rooftop. Or maybe you’re in a more progressive community, and instead of those signs advertising vinyl siding, top solar installers are mounting lawn signs on poles to advertise their latest solar PV array installation.

Join the Solar Community: 200,000 Strong and Growing
If you live in a community where solar is catching on, we’re not surprised. According to Solar Developments, an online solar energy equipment supplier, more than 200,000 U.S. homes currently have some sort of solar PV technology, while 10,000 are entirely powered by solar energy.

How to Be a Solar Energy Trailblazer
Let’s say solar energy installations haven’t caught on in your neighborhood yet. Now’s the time to be on the cutting edge and start a new solar PV trend in your town.

Forget about keeping up with the Joneses. When your neighbors see your electric bills (about one-half less than theirs, on average), you’ll be the family everyone wants to beat in the great solar race. Of course, not every home is a perfect fit for solar energy, and savings can vary widely.

Why not get a free savings report from EcoOutfitters.net to see just how much money your household could save with a solar PV array? Then, when your neighbors ask about your new solar installation (or if they say something like, “What are those odd-looking things on your roof?”) you can point them straight to EcoOutfitters.net and start a neighborhood-wide trend of saving the planet (and saving money), one rooftop at a time.

Post Written by DawnAllcot
A full-time freelance writer, Dawn frequently covers energy efficiency, green living, and topics like LED lighting and whole home control systems for a number of blogs and technology trade magazines. Dawn is proud to live in New York as the state vies to beat out New Jersey as the East coast top dog of solar energy and is waiting for the Solar Renewable Energy Certificate legislation to pass before installing solar panels on her Long Island home.