We had a visit from Colin Sorenson, Vermont Sales Manager for Solar Wrights, a company out of Montpelier that installs solar panels. We've been interested in having solar energy for a while now. We would really like to be able to harness that energy for our hot water heating system but that isn't feasible here in our colder climate. Apparently the solar panels produce maximum energy for only about three months; but the good news is that it will still do a good job heating our domestic hot water, and Colin said we have an ideal roof for it. (At right, that's Colin on the left, and Fred on our roof, and below, Fred on the left.)

Some time ago we explored wind energy, thinking we had an over abundance here most of the time, but after testing we really didn't have what we needed. Besides that, it's a very costly installation and payback takes years, even if you have a good wind source.

It looks like the solar payback would be about five years for us. We figure it's a start in the right direction. Next month we're having an energy audit done on the house and I'm sure we'll learn ways to conserve energy. In the meantime, technologies are developing rapidly and perhaps down the road we'll be able to raise a couple acres of tall grass that will heat our house all winter and that will also conserve on gas for mowing - of course there will be processing costs . . . but with the price of all fuels going up, including our main fuel, wood, it's going to be more important than ever to find more economical and earth-friendly energy sources.

It was interesting talking with Colin, and he sure seems to know the business very well - he's been with the company for about four years, in fact, I believe he was an original owner but said it has been growing very rapidly and was recently bought by a larger company. You can check the company out at www.solarwrights.com