My sister lives on a mountain in West Virginia.  She pays a ton of
money in electricity every winter.  I am trying to convince her to use
solar, but she is not sure if it is economically feasible.  What
options does she have?  Are there subsidies out there from the state
of West Virginia or the federal government? Or from elsewhere?

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Request for Question Clarification by hedgie-ga on 15 Jul 2005 21:25 PDT

Are there currently any incentives or grants to assist homeowners with
solar or photovoltaic installation costs (in WV) ?

 No grants or incentives are available at this time. 

 Contact: Debi Conrad at the West Virginia Development Office at (800)
982-3386 or (304) 558-0350.
http://www.wvdo.org/community/solarroofs.cfm

Are you interested in assesing the real economics of solar,
or only in arguments supporting the belief that solar is more economical

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Clarification of Question by broke_kid-ga on 18 Jul 2005 14:52 PDT

I believe in the ecological and economical value of solar, but mainly
I am interested in helping my sister offset the cost of heating her
home in the winter.  She uses oil and it is extremely expensive.

Regardless of subsidies, will solar power in the winter make much of a
dent in her electric bills at that season?
Is she heating with electricity?  If so, improving insulation or
heating with gas or oil could be a more effective way to reduce costs.

I agree with myoarin that lloking to insulate the home better might be
more economically feasable than solar.  In some areas you can use
solar to even out your electric bill.  You can sell your excess power
during the summer to the power company and thus end up with a credit
that you draw against in the winter.  You can't sell them more power
than you use in a year. (usually)  But you could break even during the
year.  Some places will give you a subsidy or a large tax credit for
putting in solar.