Sun State is Solar State

BROOKSVILLE - Lisa and Lauren Daughrity remember a time when they used to hang their clothes to air dry instead of using the dryer and always had to monitor how much they ran the air-conditioning.

Now thanks to Lisa's husband Bill, she and daughter Lauren, 16, can beat the Florida heat with a cool house and enjoy having dry clothes in an hour.

Bill Daughrity, a retired computer programmer and landlord, decided he wanted his family to enjoy luxuries like air-conditioning and dryers while also cutting down on his electric bill, so instead of just turning off lights when leaving a room or keeping the air-conditioning at a constant 78 degrees, Daughrity took it a step further and installed solar panels in his yard.

"It's great. Now I can run the dryer and the AC freely," Lisa Daughrity said.

After spending last summer researching the advantages of solar panels on the Internet, Bill Daughrity bought 44 panels and various supplies to install them, such as grid-tied inverters and steel, from around the country.

Daughrity filed for a permit that allowed him to install the panels himself and spent two months mounting the panels on a 30 degree tilt in order to get the maximum amount of power throughout the year.

Together, the panels generate 4,000 watts, each running at 205 watts, more than enough for Daughrity to power his house.

Energy from the sun goes through the panels to the grid-tied inverters that convert the energy to run the air-conditioning, refrigerator, televisions and other electric appliances. Any excess energy generated goes back through the inverters and back onto the power lines.

On a cloudy day, the panels produce less power, but Daughrity said he uses the excess energy that the panels produce on sunny days.

"Right now I'm producing more than I use," said Daughrity, who lives northeast of Brooksville off Danmar Avenue.

When there is a power outage, the solar panels will still convert energy but the inverters will automatically shutdown out of safety to electricians who may be checking the power lines.

Daughrity installed a switch that will disconnect his inverters from the main power lines so he can still power his house while not running the risk of hurting someone.

"This would be good for power outages if you want to keep running the refrigerator and so on," he said.

Daughrity said the total cost for purchasing and installing the panels himself was about $32,000. However, the federal government gave Daughrity 30 percent back of what he spent on the panels. Also, the state doesn't tax on environmental purchases like solar panels.

So he spent about $22,000 out of pocket.

"There are incentives to go green," he said. "I have a lot of money invested in this. It will pay off in about 12 years."

Daughrity said a bad economy and high electric bills was his incentive to install the solar panels.

During the winter, his electric bill went as high as $250 a month. Now Daughrity has gotten his bill down to as low as $27 a month.

"It saves us a lot of money that can go towards other things," he said.

Although installing solar panels and inverters is costly, Daughrity said even a few panels can make a difference.

"Anything anybody can do to help offset the fuel we burn has got to help," he said.

Daughrity said he bought 24 Kyocera and 20 Evergreen solar panels from Sun Electric in Miami and miscellaneous equipment from Sunny Boy Inverters, Northern Arizona Sun and Wind and Tampa Steel.

For questions about solar energy, Daugrity can be reached at wldinvestment@bellsouth.net.