New Yorkers Taking a Shine to Solar Power

Question: What do "Entourage" star Adrian Grenier and Frank Adamick of Queens, N.Y., have in common?

Answer: The solar roofs on their New York City homes.

The actor on the hit HBO series recently installed a solar-energy system atop his Brooklyn, N.Y., townhouse.

So did Adamick, a Con Ed mechanic, who put solar panels on his single-family Astoria house four years ago.

The panels, known as photovoltaics, or PVs, are made of silicon wafers and turn sunlight into electricity _ without creating a speck of air pollution.

Contractors who specialize in installing solar roofs estimate that fewer than 50 city homeowners have them, although the number is expected to jump to about 150 by the end of next year.

And with New Yorkers buzzing about global warming and Mayor Michael Bloomberg announcing a major city initiative to conserve energy, there’s growing interest in getting them.

"It has to do with all the talk about climate change," said Anthony Pereira of altPOWER in lower Manhattan.

While the Bush administration has been skeptical about the premise of global warming, there are solar panels on a building on the grounds of the White House.

Grenier, who has installed PV panels that can generate 5 kilowatts of electricity, bubbled over with excitement when he chatted about his renovation plans with the Daily News last year: "The house that I’m building now is going to be very, very green," he said. "We’ve got solar panels, radiant heat, recycled denim insulation."

His system isn’t online yet. It needs to be inspected and connected to Con Ed’s power grid, said the installer, David Buckner of Solar Energy Systems in Greenpoint, N.Y.

Adamick _ whose solar roof went online in December 2002 _ has found that, on sunny days, it generates more electricity than his home needs. Con Ed is required to buy the extra juice from him.

The PV system has cut his electric bills in half for every month but July and August, when his family uses lots of air-conditioning.

"It has performed very well," said Adamick, 51.

His March bill was $90 _ though there are four TVs, two refrigerators, a stand-alone freezer and two computers in the brick rowhouse on 23rd Avenue, where he lives with his wife, Laene, their teenage daughter, Lorena, and a toy poodle, Miracle.

The 2.4-kilowatt system cost him $24,000 after a $6,000 rebate from the state Energy Research and Development Authority. He also got a $3,000 state tax credit. At the time, there was no federal tax credit for homeowners who installed solar roofs; now it’s up to $2,000.

The solar panels can’t be seen from the sidewalk outside his two-story house, but up on the flat tar roof, rows of panels are mounted on brackets and tilted at a 30-degree angle to catch the sun’s rays.

The panels require no special care. When it snows, they generate heat that melts the flakes.

In Adamick’s basement, a box called an inverter changes the electricity from the panels into alternating current from direct current so it can be used to power his appliances and lights.

When Adamick told his wife he wanted to install the solar-energy system, she wasn’t enthusiastic. "She didn’t see it with my perspective," he said. But he feels it was money well spent.

"I have tremendous respect for our environment," he said. And who wouldn’t be happy getting a lower bill from Con Ed?

Solar panels have come a long way since the 1970s when they enjoyed a flash of popularity. But they didn’t work well. Sometimes, the roofs they were on caught fire.

Today, PV technology is dramatically better and cheaper. Yet, many people assume they don’t work in the often-cloudy Northeast.

"It’s a common misconception that we’re too far north, that you have to be in California for solar roofs," said John Siciliani of Duce Construction in Harlem.

"In fact, Germany is the leader in solar-energy systems, and they get far less sunlight than we do," he said.

___

GOING SOLAR: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

_With government incentives, city homeowners can cut the cost of photovoltaic systems by about half, according to the state Energy Research and Development Authority.

_To get a rebate of $4 per kilowatt, you must hire a company from the authority’s list of certified installers, which are listed at www.powernaturally.org. The authority also can help arrange a low-interest loan.

_New Yorkers can get a state tax credit for 25 percent of the cost, which you calculate after subtracting the rebate.

_There’s also a federal tax credit up to $2,000.

_Once your solar roof is installed, the city requires an on-site inspection system by a testing laboratory.

_Solar roofs are a long-term investment, meaning it might take 15 years for them to pay for themselves.

_To maximize your energy savings, invest in power-conserving Energy Star label appliances and compact fluorescent lights.