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April 1, 2010

Energy

Lease solar panels says Mike Holmes

HGTV Holmes on Homes star, Mike Holmes says homeowners with a sunny roof should lease solar panels, both to futureproof their technology and to feed any surplus into the grid.

““I’ve got a few acres in the country near Torronto, behind my house. Since I’m a contractor, not a farmer, I lease the land to a local guy who grows crops and grazes his animals,” the celebrity home contractor  told Canwest. “The land could lie fallow – which is not necessarily a bad thing – or it could be put to use. Which do you think is the better idea?

There are millions of square feet of roofs in the country lying fallow, in a manner of speaking. What if that space was turned over to solar farmers who, just like the farmer leasing the field, are able to lease solar panels to the householder to put those roofs to good use?

“Ideally, we’d like to move away from centralized production for power. Part of the cost of energy production is not just generating it, through hydro or coal, but getting it out to the millions of homeowners who need it. If we can reduce distribution costs, we’ll increase our energy efficiency. Moving to local micro-generation is more sustainable and has a significant environmental impact. We take the pressure off the existing grid and reduce emissions.

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