Homeowner Going Green

Homeowner saves money by going green

Sarah Campbell / Salisbury Post: Ken Clifton, a professor at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, explains how micro-inverters turn direct current into alternating current, which is used to deliver power to his home. Clifton makes about 80 percent of the electricity at his home through the solar panels, evacuated tubes that heat water and biomass to power the furnace.

February 08, 2011 - Ken Clifton has already generated enough solar energy to power more than 3,600 light bulbs or 1,200 computers for a day.

By powering about 80 percent of his home with solar energy, he believes he has also offset his carbon footprint by about 2,000 pounds, the equivalent of planting 24 trees and saving 106 gallons of gas.

And, that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

It’s only been about three months since Clifton, a computer-technology instructor at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, installed his first solar array at his home on Hartman Road, but he says the results have been phenomenal.

“It works so well I decided to install another one,” he said. “We are pretty close to a zero carbon footprint.” {continued}