Solar Energy Helps One Student’s Family

Cope With Rising Costs

By Eliza Hallabeck

Gabriel Sim had just started driving and commuting to school at Fairfield Preparatory High School, making the daily commute from Newtown to Fairfield, and back, when he decided he was fed up with rising gas prices.

So he said he sat down for dinner with his parents one night to discuss what he could do about saving money, and his parents turned the conversation into how the family could save money on the monthly payments for their house. Solar panels were brought up as one alternative to paying the electricity bills, and, Gabriel said, he started doing research.

On October 11, Gabriel and his parents welcomed representatives from Akeena, a solar panel installation company, to Edmond Town Hall. Gabriel said he and his family invited the company to share the benefits of solar energy with other Newtown residents, but, he said, three people from the town attended.

“Regardless of how many people showed up,” said Gabriel, “I think solar energy is doable. And it is a good investment to make.”

Gabriel said he looked on the Internet to find a company to help them install solar panels, because it can be a dangerous thing to try to do alone.

“We found this company, and we feel it is the most reputable,” said Gabriel. “We want someone who knows how to fix it if something goes wrong.”

Now is the time to look into installing solar panels on public and private homes, according to Gabriel, because there are federal and state rebates that will be applied to buildings with solar panels installed after January 1. The state rebates are limited, according to Gabriel.

The presentation at Edmond Town Hall had the representatives from Akeena showing actual panels to the Newtown residents who participated along with the Sims, and the representatives described the process people who are interested in getting solar panels installed need to go through, said Gabriel.

Gabriel said each roof is different, and the company would need to evaluate if a roof is capable of having panels before they can talk to the owners about the installation process.

Even though Gabriel said he still has to pay the high costs for gasoline, helping his family install solar panels will cut back on their overall monthly spending.

“I think that America has to change,” said Gabriel. “America can not be dependent on foreign oil for their energy. There’s a lot of instability in the Middle East, and the Middle East is where we are getting most of our gas.”