Guiltless Green Home Theater

If you were struggling with your green conscious over whether you should get a home theater or entertainment center, but feeling guilty about the amount of power it would consume, struggle no more! Just get the new Guiltless Green Home Theater, designed by The Home Theater Specialists of America, HTSA, an association of 61 custom home theater designers.

The Guiltless Green Home Theater is powered by four solar panels mounted on the roof that help offset the electricity needs of the theater's Sharp XV-Z15000 DLP projector, a 100-inch Stewart Filmscreen, an Integra DTR-5.9 receiver, the Sharp BD-HP50 Blu-ray player and SpeakerCraft’s AIM 8-1 in-walls, MT-1 in-wall and Bass X10 in-wall subwoofer, Lutron Grafik Eye lighting system and Salamander Designs’ Geneva Twin20 equipment cabinet and Alex theater chairs and is offered for $29,575, complete with the solar panels and installation.

According to HTSA, the solar panels will pay for themselves over four years of energy savings. After that, you’re in the black…and in the green the whole time.

In addition to the long-term savings in energy costs, solar panels can add more value to your home, and a number of rebates and tax incentives exist on a state and federal level. Through 2016, the federal government will offer a 30 percent rebate on the cost of solar panels. For more information about Federal Tax Credits for Energy Efficiency, go to energystar.gov/taxcredits and for your individual state go to the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency at dsire.com.

California Company Installs Largest Corporate Solar Power System

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger dedicated a 2 megawatt solar power system at Applied Materials’ campus in Sunnyvale, California earlier this month.

The company is touting the solar system as one of the largest corporate solar power installations in the U.S., incorporating more than 7,000 wafer-based solar panels and capable of generating approximately 2 megawatts of power annually, the equivalent of powering 1,400 homes.

The parking lot-mounted system tracks the sun to increase the efficiency of the panels while also serving as shade for several hundred employee cars, and is "a great hedge against future energy cost increases,” said Mike Splinter, president and CEO of Applied Materials.

In addition, the company recently announced that it would purchase 8,220,000 kilowatt-hours of renewable energy annually from wind and solar generation sources in California.

Green Cash for Going Green!

Interested in installing electricity-generating photovoltaic solar panels on your home or small business? Want to get cash back for doing so? Many state and local agencies offer funding, cash incentives and tax breaks for energy-efficiency efforts. Find out more at:

http://www.green-energy-news.com/content/fundopps.html