Decreasing Our Family’s
Ecological Footprint
By Allison Stamatis, Ph.D.
Faculty, Department of Life Sciences
Weatherford College
We are all responsible for our local environment.
I am incredibly proud to live in Parker County,
and I take immense pride in our beautiful trees,
prairies, and pastures. I have to remind myself
not to take these things for granted, and I try
to serve as a positive role model for my three
daughters and the numerous students that I have
taught at Weatherford College. As a biology
professor and environmental scientist, taking
small steps to decrease my environmental impact
is often at the forefront of my mind. We should
all strive to take small steps each day to reduce
our impact on the environment, which is termed
our ecological footprint. The earth’s most
sustainable and renewable source of energy is the
energy from the sun.
The addition of solar panels to our family’s
home last summer was one step towards
decreasing our ecological footprint, saving money
on our utility bill, and becoming more energy
independent. We decided to initially install 10
solar panels on our rooftop, but the addition of
a micro-inverter to each panel will allow us to
easily add panels to our system in subsequent
JUNE 2016
PA R K E R C O U N T Y T O D AY
years. With only these 10 panels, we easily save at least 30% on
our electric bill each month! The technological innovations of
solar photovoltaic cells and panels are increasing at a rapid pace.
As the demand for solar panel installation goes up each year at an
exponential rate, the prices for consumers will continue to go down.
Our family was also able to take advantage of the 30% residential
renewable energy federal tax credit, which remarkably reduced our
overall costs. This federal tax credit is set to expire at the end of
2016, so take advantage of it now if this is something that yo u have
been planning for!
If the installation of solar panels on your home (or business!) is
something that you see as cost-prohibitive in the immediate future,
there are other aspects of the energy from the sun that you can
take advantage of. Solar photovoltaic cells work on the premise of
“active” solar energy collection, but “passive” solar takes advantage
of the sun’s rays without the need of technology. In the winter,
there is more sunlight on the south side of buildings for everyone
that lives north of the Equator. When considering new construction
projects or remodeling, large windows on the south side of buildings
maximizes this heat from the sun in the winter; awnings, overhangs,
or blinds may be utilized in the summer to reduce this heat when
you’re trying to keep your home cooler. There are also smaller solar
installations that can be used to power your home’s water heater,
a swimming pool heater, automatic gate openers, and outdoor
lighting.
The advantages of solar technology are numerous: they are
quiet, safe, contain no moving parts, use no fuels, and require little
maintenance. Once solar panels have been installed, there is no
production of greenhouse gases or air pollution, which is something
that is important to our entire global community. When each of us
takes small steps to reduce our ecological footprint, there is more of
our native Parker County ecosystem left for each of us to enjoy and
take pride in.
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