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Ed Yeates ReportingThe power of the sun, once considered a novelty, is nearing a turning point. A diverse group of student contractors churned up a garden spot in front of a major Utah building today to show off the wave of the future.
Eight solar panels will now convert sunlight into electricity that will go directly back into the grid at the Utah Department of Natural Resources. Let's go back a few hours.
Twenty-seven student contractors, so to speak, from here, other states, even Puerto Rico and England were all tromping through a garden. They're part of what is called Solar Energy International, an educational group that installs the solar panels for demonstration projects.
Philip Powlick, DNR Energy Program Manager: "If you think about electricity prices, we're slowly going up and the solar prices are slowly coming down. At some point, the curves are going to interact."
While these panels will produce only 1250 watts, not much compared to the energy needs of the three story 175-thousand square foot building, they do demonstrate where single family homes are going.
Jay Peltz, Instructor, Solar Energy International: "Within five years, we're going to start to see solar panels as a very cost effective way that makes pure economic sense, and they'll be installed purely as an economic benefit."
At a house, mixed in with the garden or built into the design of the roof, solar panels feed not into batteries, but directly into the power grid.
Jay Peltz: "During the day, you might not be home, the power is going to run your meter backwards. And then you use that power at night. Essentially, the utility banks it for you and you get to use it later on."
In Utah, Jay Peltz says solar power produces its energy exactly when utilities need it the most, during peak summer loading. Those utilities wouldn't have to buy extremely expensive electricity on the spot market and they could sell their surplus for a lucrative price. A win-win game for both utility and consumer.
Compared to panels 20 years ago, these are just a fraction of the price. And five years from now they'll be even cheaper.
