Sun shines bright on energy independence

Déjà vu. It is the spring of 2008 all over again. The cost of a barrel of crude oil is breaking through a $100 ceiling and gasoline prices are once again rocketing toward $4 a gallon. Since January 2011, the United States has been importing 60 percent of the crude oil it uses every day from sources outside our country. This is better than the 70 percent ratio that the U.S. was importing to meet its daily needs in 2008, but still a long way to go before becoming energy independent.

The state of Nevada imports 99 percent of its oil and gasoline requirements from outside the state. While Nevada's governor and legislature struggle with historic budget deficits, what can local families in Nevada do to ensure their own energy independence?

The 2008 oil supply shock wave and resulting recession did have an effect on the automotive industry, pushing it to embrace new Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards over the next five years as well as begin to integrate alternative fuel drivetrains into production vehicles.

Within just the last two years, the automotive industry has rolled out its own wave of compact and subcompact vehicles that use less fuel but still retain a lot of amenities for their price. At the same time, alternative-fuel vehicle platforms began evolving from hybrid gasoline/electric production cars like the Toyota Prius to plug-in hybrid electric vehicles like the Chevrolet Volt to pure battery-electric vehicles like the Nissan LEAF, Mitsubishi i-MiEV and Ford Focus Electric. Within the next two years, consumers will be able to choose from about 20 different automotive platforms that will use an electric plug to refuel their battery packs and speed them along Nevada highways.

Can Nevadans make the switch from 80 comfortable years of gasoline-powered transportation to adopt more electric-powered platforms?

Car owners in the neighboring states of Arizona, California and Oregon are already beginning to purchase plug-in electric cars, including the Volt and LEAF. When they arrive in Nevada, will they have a place to plug in?

The cities of Las Vegas and North Las Vegas are taking action. In Las Vegas, there will be six recharging sites established throughout the city that will obtain some of their electric power from solar panels mounted on the top of carports, providing both shade and electrons for recharging electric-powered cars during the day. North Las Vegas is installing four recharging stations, with plans to expand this capability through the help of federal government funding.

For Nevada families looking at their energy future, a symbiotic combination of home-based solar panels and electric-powered transportation can provide long-term dividends for the next 30 years.

The average home consumes about 1.3 kilowatts of electric power each day. Investing in both a 2.5-kilowatt rooftop, solar-panel system and a plug-in electric car can bring a reasonable return on investment that will decrease both the overall costs of household energy consumption and transportation, while hedging against rising oil prices by having more than one source of fuel for transportation needs.

The initial cost to install a 2.5-kilowatt solar-panel system in a home is about $6 per watt or about $15,000. There is a federal tax credit of 30 percent that is now available to families for residential solar installations through 2016. This would reduce the overall cost to about $10,500.

With this system, homeowners can produce a certain amount of their own electricity every day when the sun shines, which for Southern Nevadans is about 300 days each year. When tied to the NV Energy grid through a program called net-metering, the electricity produced by the home solar system is purchased from the customer by the utility in the form of credits on the customer's monthly bill. These credits then be used against future electricity purchases from the grid, including during peak summer months when air conditioning usage increases.

NV Energy also provides special "Time of Use" discount rates to plug-in electric vehicle owners in Southern Nevada who recharge their cars during the night.

Hybrid or battery-powered electric cars with plug-in capabilities currently cost from $25,000 to $42,000, but these prices should come down with higher production volumes and improving electric drivetrain technologies during the next five years. The final price also will depend on the continued availability of federal tax credits of $7,500 for battery-powered vehicles. Leasing a plug-in electric car can give customers the option to trade up for better performance as battery and electric car technology continues to improve over time.

Another important consideration, when choosing between a plug-in hybrid electric or a pure battery-powered electric car, are the daily range requirements for travel between recharging points to effectively meet a family's transportation needs.

Although up-front investment costs may be higher than a traditional gasoline-powered car at this time, annual fuel and maintenance costs for an electric-powered car should be significantly less, especially if gasoline prices continue to rise during the next three decades. By locking in the price of electric fuel derived from a solar-powered refueling station on the roof, homeowners should see a relative decrease in their combined home energy and transportation costs with each successive year.

For more information about residential solar power installations, visit the website of the local chapter of the American Solar Energy Society at www.solarnv.org. For more information about electric cars, visit the local chapter of the Electric Auto Association at www.lveva.org.

Stan Hanel has worked in the electronics industry for more than 30 years and is a long-time member of the Electric Auto Association and the Las Vegas Electric Vehicle Association. Hanel writes and edits for EAA's "Current Events" and LVEVA's "Watts Happening" newsletters. Contact him at stanhanel@aol.com.