Solar Power Gaining Momentum in Oklahoma

In 2012, my book entitled “America Needs America’s Energy: Creating Together the People’s Energy Plan” reviewed several forms of energy, including solar. On pages 76-77 of the book, solar energy is highlighted. Pros and cons were presented. The pros included solar energy is secure, solar energy is normally reliable in certain areas of the country, and solar energy is clean. The cons listed were solar energy can be costly to produce and solar energy is largely financed by government incentives.
Eight years later, after the book was published, I recently had a discussion with a good friend who is in the solar energy business, J.W. Peters. He and his business partner, Kevin Jones, are the principle owners of Solar Power of Oklahoma.
Jones and Peters were recruited to start installing rooftop solar for a few out-of-state sales companies. They decided that they needed to become more directly involved with the solar industry in Oklahoma. “When determining the name of our organization, Solar Power of Oklahoma seemed to be the most straight forward and inclusive name we could come up with,” according to Peters
“Most of our residential customers will see a payback period of roughly eight years, which is about 12.5 percent ROI when you factor in the year over year increase in the electrical rate increases,” he said.
“Over the last 10 years, utility rates have increased 3.4 percent per year. It is normally shocking for our customers to hear exactly what that means for them on their electric bills.
“With that being said, most customers opt into one of our solar financed programs with interest rates as low as 3.99 percent. With these finance programs, most of our customers see loan payments that are lower than their current electric bills.” he noted 
“This is a great solution for most of our customers due to the fact that they have already budgeted their electric utility bill into their normal monthly budget. Once we have shared all the facts with our potential customers, we let them make some decisions about their electrical future.” 
Here are some facts provided by Solar Power of Oklahoma: solar power is the most abundant energy source on Earth, solar panel costs have fallen 99 percent since 1977, solar energy is cheaper than fossil fuels, and solar power panels can last 40 years or more. 
Here are some facts about solar in Oklahoma: national ranking is 45th (in 2018), 4,770 homes in Oklahoma are solar powered, 0.99 percent of the state’s electricity is solar, Oklahoma is potentially the 6th best solar producing state, the total solar investment in the state is $52.41 million, prices have fallen 36 percent over the last five years and the growth projection is 479 MW over the next five years.
In the months ahead, I will continue to provide facts on solar as well as other forms of energy. As consumers of energy, we must drive the process, evaluating how we can best leverage our natural resources here at home to ensure long-term energy independence and security. America needs America’s energy!
Mark A. Stansberry is Chairman of the GTD Group, an award winning author and Energy Advocate. Visit Facebook: National Energy Talk.