Residential solar systems are suddenly becoming fashionable

It's a new trend in demand for residential solar systems, and it could prove to be a powerful trend indeed...

• NEW YORK, July 30 (Reuters) - Annette Benedict, a 77-year old psychology professor, put solar panels on her Queen Anne-style house in a leafy section of the Bronx, New York, as a hobby after recovering from extensive surgery.
• Singer-songwriter Dar Williams, 37, and her husband are topping their Harlem brownstone with solar panels to avoid running their lights on electricity from a nearby nuclear plant.
• What is it that makes these New Yorkers willing to pay $12,000 to $30,000 for solar equipment and installation?
• Perhaps its that New York Citys residential electricity costs, already the nations highest except for Hawaii, could rise nine percent next spring after power company ConEd (ED.N: Quote, Profile, Research) filed this April with regulators to raise its rates.
• About 35 solar systems been installed over the last few years in New York City with a combined output of 600 kilowatts, or enough to power 600 average homes, according to Washington D.C.s Solar Energies Industry Association.
• Breaking even on their investments can take as long as 25 years in New York, or as little as seven years in New Jersey, where state incentives are among the nations most generous.
• While Democratic Presidential nominee John Kerry promises to use American innovation to wean the nation from foreign oil, President George W. Bushs plans for incentives for residential solar installations are contained in a comprehensive energy bill that has been held up in Congress.
• In Japan, solar is beginning to be profitable and the need for incentives is dropping.