I just returned to Seattle from the Mediterranean, where I was pursuing the conservation of some personal energy.

Besides catching up on some rest, relaxation and the relics of the ancient world, I was impressed to see the extensive use of solar energy that is taking place in southern Europe and Egypt. Whether in the Spanish countryside near Barcelona, the urban center of Athens or the road to Giza, I kept spotting solar panels on rooftops, so I’m using THIS SPACE to share that experience.

Image: Flickr/CreativeCommons

Solar energy can be harnessed in several ways. Photovoltaic cells can produce electricity. Other systems produce hot water so you don’t need to use electricity or gas for that purpose. And passive solar systems use the sun to help warm your home and provide natural lighting.

The success I saw during my trip can be recreated in Seattle.

Wait, you’re thinking, Seattle is rain city. Oyster-gray skies. Vitamin D deficiency is rampant. The sun is a foreign object here.

Actually, Seattle gets just as much sun on an annual basis as Germany, the world leader in the use of solar energy. So Solar Works in Seattle, which is one of the reasons Seattle has been designated a Solar City by the U.S. Department of Energy.

My employer, Seattle City Light, is helping to promote the use of solar energy with workshops, tours of existing solar installations, demonstration projects and information sharing. The state of Washington is also providing significant incentives for people who install solar electricity systems at their homes.

Every kilowatt-hour of electricity produced by a residential solar panel earns an incentive payment of at least 15 cents. If the equipment was built in Washington, that incentive can go as high as 54 cents per kilowatt-hour. That’s about eight times as much as Seattle City Light charges its customers for the electricity they buy. The incentive is capped at $2,000 per year.

Additionally, the federal government provides a 30% tax credit for the cost of installing solar equipment.

The equipment is not cheap. A residential system can cost $15,000 to $25,000 to install, but the incentives speed up the payback while lowering your monthly electricity bill and avoiding the creation of greenhouse gases.

So the ONE THING you can do this week to reduce your energy consumption and shrink your carbon footprint-- while keeping a little more cash in your bank account-- is to check into the details about whether solar energy is right for you. You can find plenty of resources at City Light’s customer generation page.