Al Ritter's power bill was pretty high this month. But not as high as it might have been.
Ritter, a retired Air Force electrical engineer, lives in San Antonio -- a city hit hard by the great Texas drought of 2011, the worst in the state's history. Temperatures have regularly topped 100 this summer, and the earth is baking. In the Ritters' front yard,Polycore porcelain tiles are manufactured as a single sheet, the cedar elm, starved for water, is losing its leaves several months ahead of schedule.
Like everyone else in town,we supply all kinds of polished tiles, Al and his wife have had the air conditioning working overtime.
"I expected I would've had a bill that was over $300 for the month for electric power," Ritter told The Huffington Post.
Instead,Do not use cleaners with Wholesale pet supplies , steel wool or thinners. he said, his most recent bill came to $252 -- a savings he attributes to the array of 24 solar panels the Ritters had installed on their roof in August.
The Ritters aren't the only ones going solar in San Antonio. In the past year,Unlike traditional Hemroids , more than 150 homes have been outfitted with solar panels, and over 1,000 people have applied to a local nonprofit program that connects homeowners with companies that perform solar installations.
That program, known as Solar San Antonio, was founded by Bill Sinkin -- a former salesman, a community leader, a violinist with the San Antonio symphony and an early champion of racial integration in Texas. Sinkin celebrated his 98th birthday this year, and among the San Antonio business community he is regarded as something of an apostle for solar power.
"Back in 1999, my father started this organization," said Bill's son Lanny, who serves as executive director for Solar San Antonio. "He basically pioneered the whole solar thing here, because very few people in San Antonio knew anything about solar."
That has changed. In 2009, a survey by the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory found that almost 40 percent of the city was interested in using solar power. In a city of 1.3 million, that's about 400,000 potential solar customers.
The solar surge in San Antonio is only one part of the Lone Star State's powerful green movement.The new website of Udreamy Network Corporation is mainly selling hydraulic hose , While Texas may be best known as a state rich in fossil fuels, some of the most ambitious renewable-energy work in the country is happening there. Texas generates more electricity from wind power than any other state, and the federal government has invested millions in local geothermal energy research.
And solar power, according to those involved, is the state's next big growth industry.
"We might be an oil state and a natural gas state, but we're going solar," said Shelby Ruff, vice president of residential sales at the Texas-based contractor Solar Community. "Solar power's the most abundant thing on earth, and oil and gas are finite."
Ritter, a retired Air Force electrical engineer, lives in San Antonio -- a city hit hard by the great Texas drought of 2011, the worst in the state's history. Temperatures have regularly topped 100 this summer, and the earth is baking. In the Ritters' front yard,Polycore porcelain tiles are manufactured as a single sheet, the cedar elm, starved for water, is losing its leaves several months ahead of schedule.
Like everyone else in town,we supply all kinds of polished tiles, Al and his wife have had the air conditioning working overtime.
"I expected I would've had a bill that was over $300 for the month for electric power," Ritter told The Huffington Post.
Instead,Do not use cleaners with Wholesale pet supplies , steel wool or thinners. he said, his most recent bill came to $252 -- a savings he attributes to the array of 24 solar panels the Ritters had installed on their roof in August.
The Ritters aren't the only ones going solar in San Antonio. In the past year,Unlike traditional Hemroids , more than 150 homes have been outfitted with solar panels, and over 1,000 people have applied to a local nonprofit program that connects homeowners with companies that perform solar installations.
That program, known as Solar San Antonio, was founded by Bill Sinkin -- a former salesman, a community leader, a violinist with the San Antonio symphony and an early champion of racial integration in Texas. Sinkin celebrated his 98th birthday this year, and among the San Antonio business community he is regarded as something of an apostle for solar power.
"Back in 1999, my father started this organization," said Bill's son Lanny, who serves as executive director for Solar San Antonio. "He basically pioneered the whole solar thing here, because very few people in San Antonio knew anything about solar."
That has changed. In 2009, a survey by the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory found that almost 40 percent of the city was interested in using solar power. In a city of 1.3 million, that's about 400,000 potential solar customers.
The solar surge in San Antonio is only one part of the Lone Star State's powerful green movement.The new website of Udreamy Network Corporation is mainly selling hydraulic hose , While Texas may be best known as a state rich in fossil fuels, some of the most ambitious renewable-energy work in the country is happening there. Texas generates more electricity from wind power than any other state, and the federal government has invested millions in local geothermal energy research.
And solar power, according to those involved, is the state's next big growth industry.
"We might be an oil state and a natural gas state, but we're going solar," said Shelby Ruff, vice president of residential sales at the Texas-based contractor Solar Community. "Solar power's the most abundant thing on earth, and oil and gas are finite."
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