Keith Key said most people have an image of a typical solar power customer.
“Most of the people I talk to think they live out in the country, eat tofu and are bare-footed,” Key said. “They’re off the grid, you know, and they’re the only people interested in that.”
That’s not the case these days, Key said. Key, with Mississippi Solar, LLC, visited the Starkville Rotary Club to talk about the growth of solar power in Mississippi and across the United States.
As solar power has grown in popularity and the technology has improved, Key said, its customer base has diversified from businesses like poultry farms to everyday people and big state entities like Mississippi State University. Its uses are growing to suit more specialized needs, such as carport covers with solar panels to provide power for charging electric vehicles.
Solar power has seen growth not only because it’s an environmentally friendly way to produce power, but because it can help save money. Key said solar panels installed on a house or business come with an inverter. Depending on the building’s power draw at the time, that inverter can either take the power and put it on the grid, for which the owner receives some money through a contract with the area’s power provider — the Tennessee Valley Authority, in local cases — or direct it into the building to fit its power needs.
“I would say about one out of four of my customers are interested in the environment, which is fine,” Key said. “But most of my customers, 75 percent or so, are interested in saving money. That’s fine too. I’m all for both.”
Key said solar panel installations this year come with a 30-percent tax credit this year. He said businesses can get a 25-percent grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for rural applications, which would apply to Starkville.
Depending on the incentives used for installation, Key said, it takes about eight years for a 10-kilowatt solar panels system — what he said is a pretty typical commercial application — to pay itself off. After that, with the exception of expected maintenance roughly 25 years after installation, he said, they’re easy to keep up and can generate more than it costs to install them.
Solar power makes up about 3 percent of U.S. power generation, Key said. Most of that has started in the West and is moving east.
“The 3 percent is national but the majority of that is west of Texas and coming here,” he said. “The reason for that is California and Nevada and those places pay a lot more for power than we do, so therefore they save more. Over there, it’s a bigger percentage. Here, it’s less than 1 percent.”
Key said different parts of the country are better suited to different types of renewable power generation. For example, he said, the South isn’t well suited for wind farms because the winds are too unpredictable, compared to areas like the Great Plains. However, he said the South has a lot of potential for solar power.
“This part of the country averages about five hours a day for generation,” he said. “That includes days like (Monday) where you’re getting sun just about all day and the rainy days — it averages about five hours.”
Solar panels have grown more efficient over time. Fifteen years ago, Key said, an average solar module could produce about 200 watts and power three lightbulbs. Today, an average module produces about 300 watts.
More importantly, he said, advances in more efficient technologies like LED light bulbs have allowed the increased solar production to go farther.
“Now it powers 32 light bulbs,” he said. “The reason it can power so many more is everybody’s going to LEDs. …The fact that more people are doing more efficient things and the modules are getting more efficient leads to more sales.”
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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