Leigh Pomeroy stands in front of his 2018 Toyota Prius Prime that gets 54 miles per gallon in town and 133 on the highway.
Eco-friendly living By Grace Brandt | Photos by Marianne Carlson
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n recent years, more and more people have tried to live “eco-friendly” lives, in the hopes of preserving and even improving the world’s environment for future generations. There is a wide range of opportunities for people who are interested in sustainable living, including recycling, purchasing electric vehicles and exploring renewable energy sources. While some homeowners may worry that eco-friendly options are more costly than “normal” home expenses, there are actually opportunities in the Mankato area to “go green” for any budget.
Solar energy One way homeowners have been embracing renewable energy for decades is through solar panels and other solar energy opportunities. While initially quite costly and not all that effective, solar panels have greatly advanced in recent years to become worthwhile investments. Thanks to a 26 percent tax credit from the state of Minnesota, it now costs about $11,800 to install a 5-kilowatt system onto a home’s roof, and these panels can last upwards of 30 years. For Mankato resident Leigh Pomeroy, the interest in installing solar panels came about 10 years ago after he attended a Nobel Conference focused on energy at Gustavus Adolphus College. “It really woke me up to the issue of climate change,” he recalled. “I said, ‘I’ve got to do something about this.’” 12 •
• MAY 2020 • The Free Prese
The first steps that Pomeroy and his wife took were small: replacing old lightbulbs with LED lights and ensuring that their home was sufficiently insulated. But Pomeroy wanted to do more, so he started looking into solar panels. At the time, Minnesota offered a 30 percent tax credit for installing solar panels, so Pomeroy and his wife utilized that to install their panels in 2016. The panels only took a few days to install and produced enough energy to cover about 90 percent of the couple’s energy use. A few years later, Pomeroy had more panels installed (his energy use increased after he purchased a hybrid electric vehicle), bringing the total number of panels on his roof up to 24. According to Pomeroy, the solar panels more than cover his energy use, meaning he doesn’t pay for his electricity anymore. In fact, he receives a credit from his electricity provider, Xcel Energy, every month because of his renewable energy source. (Xcel Energy offers the Solar Rewards program, which offers about $0.07 per kilowatt hour produced by a solar system.) “I just checked my Xcel bill for this month, and it’s -$151,” he said. “I’ve got a credit coming to me for $151. So it’s paying off. When we put on more solar panels, the break-even point went further out, but I don’t care. I’m just doing it because it’s the right thing to do. It’s also nice to not to have to pay electricity bills.” In addition, his house’s value increased by about 2 percent thanks to the solar panels, and that increase was exempt from
