The newspaper profiled on August 27 one company, the Big O Tire Shop, which made the decision to adopt solar power. The shop's owner, Bruce Cherry, reported that going solar helped reduce his monthly electric bill from $1,500 to just $29.
"The [solar] industry is reaching the point where the costs have come down enough that it does save people money," California Public Utilities Commission analyst Damon Franz said to the Times.
Not only is Cherry enjoying immediate savings, but he may even come out ahead at the end of the year, when PG&E tabulates his business' total energy use and his solar array's aggregate production. If he sent more power back to the grid than he consumed, he could get reimbursed for the difference.
And, thanks to state rebates, the cost of his array fell from $300,000 to just $120,000.
Not every state has solar incentives as generous as California's, but for businesses large and small, looking into solar power can be smart. As Bruce Cherry discovered, solar energy can provide substantial cost savings.
