Community Corner
North Potomac, Gaithersburg, Germantown Homes Featured in Solar Tour
The 21st annual Metropolitan D.C. Tour of Solar Homes features four in the area.
The Virginia Solar Council, Potomac Region Solar Energy Association, and the American Solar Energy Society team up this weekend for the 21st annual Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Tour of Solar Homes. Of the 50 solar powered home participating in the tour, four are nearby in Gaithersburg, North Potomac, and Germantown.
The solar homes in the region make it easy to see how the homeowners have made solar power work for them and are open for tours and questions 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days.
The North Potomac home—open Sunday—has solar panels on the roof, and is tied to the grid with battery back up for power outages.
The Gaithersburg and Germantown homes are open on Saturday. All have solar panels, some are tied to the grid and some are grid-independent. One of the properties has two cottages with geothermal heating and cooling. Another has a solar water heater.
In addition to the homes close to us, there are plenty more further afield in Maryland, D.C., and Virginia. A visit to these homes gives you an idea of the variety of systems and how they can fit into your lifestyle.
Solar systems are becoming more flexible. The panels are typically placed on your roof and are usually tied to the electrical grid, although they can be grid-free.
Grid-tied systems allow homeowners to get their electricity from their power service provider when there is no sun. On sunny days, when the solar panels produce more energy than is consumed by the home, the service provider will instead pay you. Homeowners can also enjoy a solar hot water system, which requires panels on the roof as well, but doesn’t tie into your electrical system. This, of course, can be combined with a grid-tied system.
For whatever system is selected, the Federal government offers a 30 percent tax credit for solar systems—with no cap. The state of Maryland offers grants up to $10,000 for solar power and a tax credit of about 1 cent per kilowatt hour of energy your panels produce.
Montgomery County offers a property tax credit of 50 percent of your solar system purchase price, up to $5000.