Because your solar power system depends on absorbing sunlight, the placement of your panels is of utmost importance. Ideally, in the northern hemisphere, panels should be affixed to the south face of your house, the direction from which the sun will shine most of the day. If they are slightly to the east or west of true south, they will retain about 90% of their absorptive capability, but if the configuration of your house prevents you from orienting them more or less to the south, you should consider remodeling or choosing another energy source.It is also crucial that your panels receive full sunlight as often as possible, so you must ensure that nothing shades the panels or blocks sunlight from reaching them. Even something as thin as an electrical or telephone wire can interfere with optimum exposure. Keeping trees trimmed so they don’t shade your panels is important.

Pennsylvania energy-buffs may have noticed the term ‘net - metering’ being tossed around local news recently. In June 2006 the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, the board that governs the creation and distribution of energy in the state, decided to allow net metering in an effort to join the other 39 states nationwide that already have such regulations.

Electric customers might be surprised to learn how much their bills could be reduced by switching to energy efficient lighting.  Much of the focus of home energy conservation is spent on the large electric-hogging appliances like air conditioners and clothes dryers, but lighting should not be overlooked.  The fact that lights are often left on for long amounts of time and are frequently forgotten (that rogue light down in the basement that never gets turned off), coupled with inefficient design in overhead lights and lamps create quite an impact on your bill.So what can be done to reduce this impact? The solution to this problem can be broken down in two categories: energy efficient products and energy efficient personal habits.

Electric bills are perhaps the most confusing because usage is measured in units of kilowatt-hours or kWh, which is something that you can’t actually see or measure in the usual way like gas and water. Simply put, kWh are the amount of electricity used by 1,000 watts in one hour. Electric meters don’t specifically record kWh, the difference read between one month and the next must be multiplied by the ‘meter multiplier.’ This number, which is usually 12, converts the number that the meter reads into kWh, a number that can then be multiplied by the electric rate. This electric rate is actually the sum of several customer charges including generation, transmission and distribution. The current rate of electricity in the Pittsburgh Area (through the Duquesne Light Company) is $0.11/kWh, but this rate is subject to change as the utility company petitions the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) for a rate increase.

Everyone gets them. Those pesky reminders that gas, electric and water are not provided free by the ‘Utility Fairy,’ but are rather commodities for which we must pay. Utility bills are the necessary result of the ease with which we turn on our TVs, wash dishes and stay warm on cold nights. They also serve as monthly updates on our daily lives, how high or low the thermostat was set, how long the lawn sprinklers were left on and when the new freezer was installed. With the right information anyone who gets a utility bill can assess their own usage, understand where their money is being spent and consider ways of subtly changing their habits to lower both usage and bill amount.