Big House, Big Solar

The landlord has decided to splurge for solar from http://www.solarcity.com/. I'm all for it, but a bit concerned by how long it's been taking to work through the process. There has been form after form, and then just as it was "all set" and they had come over to confirm the set up we'd planned online, the state changed the process and we feel like we're starting all over again. They sent us this peppy "Go Solar" bumper sticker as if to keep our interest despite Arizona government doing it's best to discourage us.

One thing I've noticed is that it takes a TON of solar panels to run our home. In fact, even with a huge space on the roof, there is no way our landlord could fill it with enough panels to offset things. Well, she's certainly going to try, they'll be putting up a huge amount of panels. This is another time I wish we'd opted for buying the perfect property with trees, weather to grow our own food, a creek and a tiny home or two on the property instead of renting a gigantic home in a suburban setting. Yes, I dream of living a hobbit's life.

But part of my current attempt to simplify my life is about living in the moment. And dreaming of what may be is not doing that. The reality of the situation is that in this moment, we are living in the suburbs, in south west phoenix on the edge of Laveen, AZ surrounded by farms and ranches. It's beautiful here, and I have some wonderful neighbors. And the landlord supports our goal to live in a way that is less taxing on the world we live in, so that's a good start. Once these solar panels are installed, our electric bill will go down a bit, and we can put that little bit into savings towards our own little someday home. Plus, it's less taxing on the environment. So I guess we should chear, "Go, Solar!"

Edit: Added a graphic about solar funding in the US 6/11 that Nancy LaPlaca posted to her FB.