Carol and Ed Soph’s electric meter runs backwards.

Not all the time, but enough to drastically cut their home energy bill.

DRC/Barron Ludlum

Carol Soph, shown in her back yard, and her husband, Ed, had solar panels installed on the roof of their home on Victoria Street to save some wear and tear on the environment while lowering their electric bills. The couple hopes more people install the systems, which link into the city’s power grid and could lessen future reliance on fossil fuels.

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The Sophs installed 16 solar panels on the roof of their northeast Denton home last year. Energy from the sun powers their home during the daytime. Any excess power goes onto the city’s power grid, and their meter arrow turns around.

“We’re a power company here,” Carol Soph said with a laugh.

When the system isn’t producing energy, like at night, the city’s electric grid powers the Sophs’ 2,200-square-foot home.

Their 2,500-watt system is among the first to hook into the Denton Municipal Electric grid. The couple hopes other people follow suit, as rising energy costs and global warming concerns have many searching for alternatives to coal- and gas-powered electricity.

“There’s no moving parts, and every time the sun comes up, our electricity is delivered,” Ed Soph said.

“It’s free delivery,” his wife added. “The sun is free.”

But the solar panels weren’t.

They cost $27,000.

That’s enough to put off many potential customers, said Jim Duncan, president of North Texas Renewable Energy Inc., which installs solar power systems.

Duncan said he’s getting more calls than ever before from people fed up with high electric rates. But installations have remained flat, he said.

“It’s expensive,” Duncan said. “But it is an investment.”

That’s how the Sophs are looking at it. They paid for the solar panels with money meant for their retirement.

“Since we’re going to retire here, it’s going to pay off, and if we were to sell the house, we wouldn’t lose any money on it,” said Carol Soph, a community volunteer. “I just looked at those two things. By multiplying this [savings] out, it’s better than if I invested this in a CD.”

They got the idea from watching a home improvement show on PBS. The show featured the makeover of a 1940s-era Austin home into a modern “green” abode, complete with solar panels.

The idea intrigued the Sophs, founding members of local environmental watchdog group Citizens for Healthy Growth. They called a person featured on the show, who put them in touch with Duncan.

Duncan surveyed the home and deemed it a good candidate for roof-mounted solar panels. The back roof faces south and isn’t shaded by trees. He installed the system, and it started producing power Nov. 6.

The system generates more than half of the Sophs’ electricity. From February through April, their electric bills were about $370 lower than the same period last year. They credit the solar panels along with other efforts to reduce their use of electricity, including switching to low-energy light bulbs and installing a timer on their hot water heater.

When residents install solar panels, it only benefits the city, said Lisa Lemons, a spokeswoman for Denton Municipal Electric.

“Any excess energy these PV [photovoltaic] systems generate means that much less that DME buys from fossil fuel sources,” Lemons said by e-mail.

Unlike some cities, though, Denton doesn’t offer financial incentives for installing the systems.

City leaders are studying the issue after council member Jack Thomson called for solar incentives earlier this year. Lemons said an incentives program is under review for fiscal 2009.

“I think there needs to be some incentives to encourage people to go in this direction,” Thomson said. “Solar panels are getting cheaper and they are getting more competitive, and if you actually calculate the cost of pollution with electric energy, I think solar energy is very competitive.”

Ed Soph, a college music professor, said Denton should look to Austin or San Antonio, which offer solar incentives.

Also, Duncan said he and other solar energy advocates have been lobbying the Texas Legislature to increase the percentage of power that utilities must buy from renewable sources.

Demand for solar power will grow as more people learn about it, he said.

“It comes down to the fact that people don’t know, so they don’t particularly trust solar,” Duncan said. “Nobody wants to be first.”

Actually, the Sophs don’t mind leading the way.

“We just want to show that it can be done,” Ed Soph said.

LOWELL BROWN can be reached at 940-566-6882. His  e-mail address is lmbrown@dentonrc.com .