I am an Army Veteran of the 1st Iraq war. I am living on a veterans pension, which isn't much in this economy. I am trying to convert my home to solar power and am having difficulties. I have tried looking for grants, and if you are not representing a business or if you live in a metropolitan area, there is nothing available for you. I cannot afford the 20,000 to 30,000 dollars that it costs to purchase the equipment. We need to make the government understand that going solar isn't just for businesses. If everyone in my area were to convert to solar power, the price of our heating and electricity would go down significantly. Here in Oregon, Pacific Power buys the excess power that is created back from their customers. Also they must purchase this at the peak price, but can only sell you the power at the off peak rate. Right now 40% of our power comes from Coal, which in my humble opinion is just as bad as all of the carbon dioxide produced by vehicles. We need to make the government and "Big Business" listen and do what is necessary to convert the power grid to solar, water, and wind. Only by doing this will we really be on the way to getting off foreign oil or any oil for that matter.
There are now cars that can go 150 miles on a single charge at Hiway speeds. The Car Companies will not get involved in this because most are backed by the Oil companies. This particular car is called the Aptera and was built by an engineer in Carlsbad, California in his garage. If he can do this with his own funds then why can't the auto industry do the same?