By Meagan Birely, Greeley Tribune, Colo.

Feb. 9--Ron Henderson might have been a bit ahead of the curve nearly 40 years ago when he became fascinated with something called solar energy.

The concept was kind of a fad back then that soared then fizzled quickly.

"It was big, but it really died down because most of the systems were made with pumps and motors that weren't efficient systems," Henderson said. "Most of them weren't worth operating."

Even though the fad faded, Henderson's drive to do something to help the environment never ceased.

Six months ago, he enrolled in the Sustainable Energy Systems Engineering Certificate Program at Aims Community College, and he decided to take what he has learned in class and put it to use.

Henderson spent two weeks installing 28 panels on his garage to convert his home to run on 90 percent solar energy. His self-installed solar photovoltaic system has only been up and running for a month, but Henderson already is seeing results.

For Henderson, a 12-year resident of Evans, it wasn't a matter of whether he could do it, but what it would take to get it done. He enlisted the help of Roger Shea, an electricity and electronics teacher at Aims and owner of AC/DC Electric.

Shea said that in the electrical business, you have to reinvent yourself every five years because change is going to happen.

"It is easy to get online and buy the package (for a solar photovoltaic system) but they aren't going to install it," Shea said.

Shea and Henderson took the technology that was there and designed their own system. In the end, it wasn't as complicated as either of them thought it was going to be.

"After six months of research, asking a lot of questions and meeting interesting, knowledgeable, helpful experts in the field, I was able to accomplish my goal," Henderson said.

In all, they spent fewer than 20 hours installing they system, but they believe they could do it now in half the time.

Henderson also partnered with Xcel Energy, which offers a Solar Rewards rebate program to customers.

A normal house needs a two- to three-kilowatt system, which would cost on average $30,000 to install. However, between the Xcel rebate and the federal tax credit, and Henderson doing the work himself, he paid significantly less, and he estimates that his system will pay for itself in three years. Henderson also estimates that he will save $960 a year on his Xcel bills.

The Xcel program credits a customer $2 per watt of solar energy generated. The customer can choose between a year-end payout or continuous rollover credits. Henderson said there was no way he would have installed the solar system without the rebate program.

He has been thinking about this since the 1970s, but he said he feels that not many people know they can install a solar energy system and get it paid for. According to Xcel, he may be right.

Xcel has 4,100 participants in the rebate program, which is only a small percentage of the 105 million customers the company currently has in Colorado.

The upkeep for the system will be minimal. Henderson will have to clean the panels off once a month with an RV brush, which is a long extendable brush that can attach to a hose. It can reach the top of the panels to spray them off.

"Electrically, I probably won't be back," Shea said. "The improvements they have made in just the inverters in the last five years is good. The wiring, you can't hardly do it wrong."

Henderson said he believes this is the grassroots of solar energy and it is growing fast.

"Everything is changing, and the way we use energy needs to change," Henderson said. "We need to become less dependent on fossil fuel, and we need to clean up the polluted environment."

As Shea pointed out, "This isn't the answer to the energy crisis, but it is part of the puzzle."

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