[enRGplaya]

I recently got a small solar installation for my hot water heater, and it was not easy. Have any of you heard of the headaches homeowner's associations can cause trying to stop solar power in the neighborhood? I had to fight my community association for four months to just have a few solar panels on my property. It was crazy.
So with these and other problems, how do we get more people to go solar?

One idea I recently read about is how realtors are starting to use solar power as an incentive to real estate contracts, as nothing else is working. Adam Edward Rothwell, an attorney and renewable energy expert, talks about this on his website solarpowerandrealestate.com

Do any of you know any other new ways we might be able to get people to use solar?

[horselover]

By decreasing the initial cost of it, and showing the benefits of solar, that could help bring more people into the fray.

[enRGplaya]

Thanks for your response. I too love horses.
But I think the problem is more than financial- I think a lot of people are just overwhelmed by the idea of putting a substantial alternative energy installation on their property. It's a very big commitment that understandably has the potential to be overwhelming.

[atula]

Actually someone has to just sit and patiently tell people how in the long run..the solar energy product becomes more cost effective than the pther produts run on electricity etc....

Sometimes people are pretty ignorant and get scared just be the idea of the initial expenditure....

a good idea will be to show a comparision chart of how for example a solar heater and a normal heater use energy and in the long run..which of the two helps them save money....

[Serenity]

I don't think people are aware that they may be eligible for incentives at both state, federal and local levels which go towards the costs of adopting more green, energy efficient and renewable energy sources. You can check out what your state is eligible for here:

DSIRE (Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency)