Can a condo or apartment dweller take advantage of any solar devices for home energy useage?

Question

I live in a condo and would love to hear your thoughts about this. Being interested in cutting my power bill and using green energy is great, but how can I take advantage of that living in a condo?

Answer 1

Hi If you have any south facing window open your window shades when it is sunny out. The sun will help to warm up that apart of your apartment or condo. You can also get solar powered fans and Xmas lights. Their also small solar battery chargers for laptops. The above are just a few things that you could try. Here are some website that I have used for ideal in my home in the past. http://www.homepower.com or https://www.motherearthnews.com

Answer 2

You can buy a solar calculator.  This will allow you to perform green arithmetic.  It will work on your porch to.

Answer 3

Solar electric is a very long term payback proposition. With current costs it would likely take 20 years to recover your investment. If interest is high, it could take forever.

So a rental apartment dweller is unlikely to do this.

A condo corporation might have rules that prohibit your doing this, if not explicitly, then by interpretation. Next, it would be best if  the condo members were to decide what might be best to do, keeping in mind the needs and opportunities for the whole corporation. The corporation could then make provisions for example to use both the electrical and heat output. Heat will have close to half the value of the installation, but if there is no plan to use it, then there must be provision to dump the heat, get it away from the panels.