Energy and Environment Solar Self-Reliance
(Page 4 of 6)
NAPV installs PV panels and offers monthly maintenance
service. The employees also teach conservation and
efficiency. Dave Silversmith, the NAPV project manager,
says, “I teach people how to use electricity from the
solar panels efficiently, what kinds of appliances they can
run and how to conserve electricity.” He also
translates solar terminology into Navajo and explains
concepts that are still new to people there.
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NAPV also helps clients procure financing for solar panels.
A Department of Energy grant supported the initial project
and early capital costs. Now, the organization is hammering
out new arrangements that will help finance future
projects.
Initially, test families signed up for a plan that required
paying $50 per month for 10 years toward the purchase of
their solar-power units (this fee also included repair and
maintenance service). Additional grants that permit smaller
monthly payments for similar projects that support 20 or 30
systems may be awarded.
Another possible plan that would finance home PV systems
and fund a solar panel factory on the Navajo Reservation,
where unemployment hovers between 50 and 75 percent, would
require a down payment of $1,000 to $2,000 from each of
20,000 potential Navajo subscribers and 10 years of $150
monthly payments from those with average annual incomes of
at least $6,000.
A Solar Future
What the Hopi and Navajo have done is common sense for the
rest of us as well: Use less, produce what you can on your
own, and be cognizant of the implications of each action on
others. This is more than a spiritual and cultural decision
— it is a necessary economic one as well. Imported
fossil fuels are nonrenewable and damaging to the
environment.
The push for energy alternatives, self-reliance and
efficiency is growing in communities across the country.
Today, in the era of energy-utility deregulation, many
Native American tribes are considering developing their own
utilities, pooling their consumers to secure lower rates,
and moving towards alternative energy sources. A 1998
handbook called Native Power, produced at the University of
California, Berkeley, has been particularly influential,
showcasing alternative energy projects on various
reservations and in Native Americans’ homes, and
outlining possible energy efficiency and self-reliance
measures for tribes.
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