By Claire Brown
Photographs by Brian Kaiser
Taylor King Boyles has been dreaming about solar electricity ever since he watched a Reading Rainbow episode about solar powered cars as a child. Mr. King Boyles, now 35, recalls making quips about solar power in his high school graduation speech.
So last year, when he and his wife, Hannah, 34, were ready to install solar panels on their rooftop in Columbus, Ohio, it was appropriate that their journey would fit in the plot of an educational television show: The couple got involved with a group of fellow Ohioans who joined forces to navigate the process and purchase equipment in bulk.
Today, newly placed panels shine atop the roofs of 15 Columbus-area residences, including the King Boyleses’s handsome cedar shingle house, Dr. Joshua da Silva and Jesse Pertuset’s stone and stucco home, and the Leber and Golomb family’s Cape Cod, all a result of a solar-buying cooperative they joined last year.
Area residents worked together to vet installers, demystify contracts and, ultimately, install panels. Some people learned about the group from their local library. Together, it’s estimated they will save more than $1.1 million in lifetime energy costs.
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