$45K To Go Off The Grid

Darrell Dickey spent a total of $45,000 to put solar panels on the roof of his garage, and buy an all-electric Toyota RAV4 EV. He took out a home improvement loan to pay for the solar panels... $70 per month, which replaced his $90 per month electric bill. Add to that his $100 monthly gasoline bill going to zero, and he saves a net $120 per month. When the loan is paid off in a couple of years, it will be close to $200 per month in his pocket.

It's always been obvious to me that the reason America (and the rest of the world) will "go green" is because of economics, and only secondarily out of a desire to save the environment. The amazing thing is — as this article proves — most people could make the change today, and wind up with more money than they started with.

I'm willing to make a friendly bet that within the next 5 years, 10% of all households in America (and Europe) will be running both solar power and electric (or hybrid) vehicles, just like the Dickey family... and within 10 years, that number will be up to 50% or higher.

So: How much do you spend on electricity and gasoline per month? With the knowledge that you could start saving all of that money as soon as tomorrow, how long is it going to be before you decide to make the change?