The RIAA, the RIAA Lawyers, grand mothers, little girls, college students, the disabled, artists, fans and absolutely everyone -- regardless of which side of the issue you're on, all have one very important thing in common...

We all use electricity. Now, as you read this and think to yourself "well duh" about my pointing out the sky blue obvious, there are some not so obvious points to be made. Boycott RIAA has embraced a variety of slightly off topic articles over the years -- whether it's been about computers in general, Non-Music Software and Hardware and a variety of other things -- I think it's time for a "Green" topic to join in their ranks.

As the RIAA enjoys attempting to dominate music, the right wing in general might say "Screw the trees, build the shopping mall!" and the extreme left might say "Screw the shopping mall, save the trees!" where as I say "Wouldn't a lot of trees look really nice around that shopping mall?". The point being, I'm neither a fundamentalist nor a tree hugger so you're not going to find any extremist mentality in an article about power conservation that I'd write.

Over the last year I've been researching the benefits of Solar Power not only on the Internet but with the assistance of information sources such as the History Channel, Discovery Channel, etc.

Solar has become very efficient and affordable over the last few years but theres only one problem -- if you're looking to go Solar but live in the Midwest or on the East Coast, you're going to have a very hard time finding a company willing to assist you because most of that technology has been embraced primarily in the West Coast and Mountain Areas. At least, until now.

It's taken me well over a year to locate an Energy Company (not, a Electric Company -- there is a primary difference: an Electric Company charges you to receive wasteful and polluting energy where as an Energy Company helps you implement clean and self sufficient energy methods) that serves the Midwest and East Coast but my search is finally over.

I've been talking with GE Energy, having found them by way of a History Channel program where a GE Representative was interviewed about Solar Energy viability. GE Energy forwarded my inquiry to one of their affiliates, Mark Tuttle of Advanced Distributed Generation LLC. Having explained to him how hard it has been for a Chicagoan such as myself to locate means for Solar Implementation, Mark enthusiastically said "I know it can be trouble to find a local contractor to put in a solar system for you, especially smaller systems. I think we could consider installing a system for you, even though we are a state and a half away. We have done work in the past beyond Rockford IL, and even bigger projects in Denver CO. I think we are booked till September 2008, so it is kind of up to you if that is not an option for you. If your willing to do some of the leg work, like line up an electrical contractor, that you can work with, we could make this happen for you."

Needing only to know how many kWh are used on average for my home, which at current count appears to be 4,855 kWH for my household, he was able to explain to me what is needed. Aside from the benefits of creating your own free clean energy and raising the value of your home or investment property -- Solar also allows you to do something that I think is really cool for some "turn about is fair play".

When you create a surplus of energy, the surplus is shunted back into the Electric Grid of your local provider. As you sit there mesmerized watching your electric meter spinning backwards, it gives you a nice feeling that not only are you offsetting CO2 pollution by providing clean energy for your community, but your Electric Company is now obligated to do something for you that you might not be used to. Now, they're owing you money. It feels as vindicating as reading an article about the successes of an RIAA Lawsuit victim defeating the odds and winning the fight!

Mark has a bit of a different view about "overclocking" your Solar System, though. He said "As it stands, the Electrical Providers are only obligated to give you about $0.03 per kWH where as they charge their customers more than 3 times this amount, on average. I do not feel that it would be worth the money to do this, seeing as the law does not force them to pay you a more fair rate compared to the money you'd be investing in Solar Implementation".

For a home that uses anywhere from 4,000-5,000kWh he suggested a "break even" (free energy) implementation of a 4kw System. A 4kw system costs roughly $37,000 and covers a roof area of approximately 10 Feet by 30 Feet (About 20 Solar Panels). This is a coverage area of about less than one third of the roof or your average residential home (where as legacy Solar Technology was infinitely more expensive and covered far more physical area).

A 5kw Solar System (to be able to inject surplus energy into the grid and make some cash off of the local Electric Company) would cost about $48,000 and covers a roof area of approximately 13 Feet by 30 Feet (About 25 Solar Panels). Though Mark's advice is economically sound for the short run I encourage you to consider the long run.

According to The History Channel, 1 Solar Powered Home is the equivalent of removing 2,100 non-hybrid gas guzzling cars from the road. That would be like taking a small town such as Skokie, IL or Clyde, NY and turning them into a horse and buggy driven Amish Community, as far as CO2 Pollution is concerned.

This being the case, any surplus energy you might produce would be approximately like removing 500+ more cars. As you can see, it is amazing what a single home embracing Solar Energy can accomplish. Investment properties such as Apartment Buildings would require a single 5kw setup for each apartment to accomplish the same task -- but entrepreneurs should consider the benefits. Seeing as you would now become the Electric Company for your tenants renting from you, their average electric bill tends to be between $50-$60 a month (and climbing to $150+ for those incredibly hot months where a lot of air conditioning is required). Both you and your renters would benefit from being able to charge them a low flat rate (such as for example, $45/mo) now that you've become their Electric Company. It would also make it easier for you to encourage people to rent from you, seeing as finding good people willing to move in can be a struggle at times.

Also -- if for example you owned a 16 Unit Building and each of those Units (overclocked) would be like removing 2,100 cars from the road by default and another 500+ cars with the surplus -- your building would be removing the equivalent of 33,600 cars from the road (your average Chicago Neighborhood) with an additional surplus of 8,000+ (a very large town) cars equivalent. Not only would you be getting money from the surplus from your local Electric Company but your tenants would also be paying you to provide power for them. It's a win-win situation for everyone.

This technology is so amazing that if a Solar Grid one 4th the size of Nevada was built, it could provide power for the entire continent of North America. If you're interested in knowing more, watch The History Channel and you can also call Advanced Distributed Generation LLC toll free at 1-877-SOLAR4U.

Whether or not you can afford Solar at the moment, there are still a number of things you can do to reduce your power consumption (and save quite a bit of cash) that only costs a few bucks and is easy to implement. The new 25 Watt Energy Saver Bulbs produce an amazing amount of light (I use them myself) and can be purchased anywhere from $1 to $5/each (depending on the retailer).

You can also eliminate energy vampires (those devices such as VCRs, DVD Players, Printers, Cell Phone Chargers, etc) which always remain on whether your using them or not, that can unbelievably be responsible for up to 20% of your Electric Bill!

With the implementation of something called a "Green Switch" you can install outlets throughout your house that use this Green Switch as a master control shut off. Before you go to bed at night, you turn off the "Green Switch" and all of the energy vampires die. You can turn the switch back on when you wake up in the morning. If you live alone - turning the switch to the off position before going to work would also be recommended. Green Switch implementation also raises the value of your home as does any energy saving implementation. You might also be able to get a tax write-off for doing this.

If you can afford a hybrid car, any speeds 35MPH or lower use 100% electric for driving. Gas is only used for acceleration when you're hitting speeds above 35MPH. Cruising speeds use the electric, so hit that cruse control when your on the highway!

Hybrid cars have also been known to get up to 150 Miles per gallon of gasoline.

The implementation of Argon Gas Windows and insulating your attic also saves you money and decreases both your electric and natural gas bills. You can expand upon this with a green roof implementation as well. Green Roof Kits can be expensive -- but if you look on the web and pay close attention to the explanations of what does what -- there are plenty of cheaper house hold materials you can use instead, for those of you that are "Do It Yourselfers". Alternative materials that do the same things which can be purchased for far less money online or at places like Menards and Home Depot.