Homeless Shelter Get's Some Sunny Days From Solar Panels

The Harmony House of Huntington, W.Va.is the beneficiary of the largest solar panel project in not just Huntington, but the whole neighboring area.

Harmony House is a shelter supporting the homeless.  It now is harnessing the power of the sun to illuminate some significant savings and keeping the lights on for years to come.

Corey Meade, Harmony House resident, said, "I believe God brought me here for a reason," 

Harmony House's services have given him a roof above his head since March after nearly a year of being homeless.

"This actually is my first apartment and I'm 31," said Corey Meade.

However, immediately over his head, it's a touch more noisy than common as teams install 115 solar panels. When finished, it will produce 40 kilowatts of power at its peak. It's anticipated to yield almost 50,000-kilowatt hours a year, creating an expected savings of $3,000 to $5,000 a year.

"Every dime that we produce and we save, it's going to go right back into our programs," said Bill Rosenberger, administrator of development for the Harmony House. "I think that's the special thing. The other thing is that this pretty forward thinking. We're doing something that nobody else is doing."

This plan was devised and supervised by Solar Holler. CEO Dan Conant said there are just 800 solar panel arrays on houses or businesses in the whole state of West Virginia. But investment is building, and in places like Ohio, it's improving exponentially.

Plans such as this are shifting toward being more affordable. Conant said the price of the panels themselves had dropped 99 percent over the last four years. The typical homeowner will break even in a decade, then receive savings for the next 20 to 30 years.

Other Solar Offers

Solar Holler even offers funding to buyers to keep costs in series with their current energy bills.

"Making the financing easy and accessible and affordable for folks are truly making this something that's not just environmentally friendly, but something that is good to people's wallets," Conant said.

For Harmony House, it all develops free, thanks to an unknown person who has donated $65,000 which includes hookup charges to the power grid.

The proposed savings for Harmony House is $130,000 over 25 years, which is the duration of the warranty. Each time rates go upward, that figure does too, helping power the help for people like Meade.

People Think Solar Is Cool

"I think it's a pretty cool thing," Meade said.

The solar panels should be supporting power the Harmony House by next September. Currently, utility bills are approximately $1,200 a month.

The panels work better on clear sunny days but still produce electricity under a layer of snow as long as there's some sunshine reaching through.

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