Solar Fest in San Antonio

Yesterday was the solar fest in San Antonio.  While I was there I was able to see several very interesting things and learn a fair amount in the short stay.

First of all, this was not the stereotypical hippy "buy solar or die a gas guzzling SUV-driving capitalists" type of place.   As we walked into the park, we were greeting by a row of car that were converted into pure electric and I think there might have even been a hardcore electric-gas hybrid truck.  I have to note that one of the cars was even a DeLorean!  "Back to the Future" Baby!!  Live music was powered completely by the sun, and a solar pump to charge up that electric bike of yours that you rode in on. 

While there I was able to see how easy it is to green up both your home, car, office and everything in between.  There were booths on transporting natural light from outside of the home into your home, solar panels, wind energy, vespa's (for those of you who want great mileage but not the hassle of recharging),  among many other great things.

For those of you with kids, they were able to play catch with all of the different mascots running around, they included a sun, fox, and smoothie (from the smoothie king stand) all of the while the adults listened to the music watching the kids play.  They also had face painting and a Radio Disney stage available. 

The expo showed, I believe, a great insight into all things that were renewable and sustainable living.  They had talks from local companies, HEB, CPS, and others talking about what they were doing to help and show how you can afford to purchase the units.

For example, a 4kW system would cost you around $32,000 to $40,000 but after all of the tax credits and CPS credits it'll end up about half of the cost or about $18,500.  And a nice note is that CPS among other companies is trying to make sure you can add it to your mortgage.  No, this may not be something you do to your house if you plan on moving soon, but for those who have a home and really plan on staying there, this is a great investment into retirement!  Imagine owning your home without any mortgage and having solar on top meaning your bills really would be almost nothing with just your basic phone, water and gas.  Simply Amazing.

From what I read there was expected over 4 thousand people attending and a great success.  And for those of you who live in Texas or other sunshine states and own a home, I can't stress it enough how great an investment solar is, both financially and sustainably, for you.