Dr. James Davis was admittedly an unlikely advocate of solar energy when he began researching the topic. Since 2011, Davis has been the owner of the Montrose Animal Hospital, an East Cobb veterinary clinic, and was looking for cost savings, as many business owners do.
While the benefits of solar energy have been touted by environmentalists, Davis, who says he personally believes in nuclear energy, kept an open mind.
He noticed that as the cost for purchasing solar panels was coming down, the energy savings were going up, as far as he could discern from government estimates that he found during his research.
“I’m not exactly a save the planet guy,” Davis said, “but if I can save a little money and the planet at the same time, then I’m all on board.”
In July, his clinic on Woodlawn Drive was equipped with solar panels on the roof that produce enough electricity to seriously cut into energy use. He said the panels already are reducing the clinic’s electricity bill, which had averaged around $1,700 a month, by around 45 percent.
He said about 20 percent of Montrose’s electric bill is for lighting, and the solar panels could reduce that to four percent.
“I’ve done a lot of analysis, and it makes more sense for businesses” to adopt solar solutions, he said. In addition to federal tax credits he said that another advantage to having the panels “is zero maintenance.”
But deciding to make the switch is still a sizable investment, and one with a longer term payoff. After making a down payment, Davis secured a loan for the panels, similar to buying a home, purchasing them from Creative Solar USA in Kennesaw.
“The costs are coming down, they’re more affordable,” he said. “We could make the payments.”
The solar panels at the 7,000-square-foot Montrose clinic are projected to have a break-even effect in about six-and-a-half years. Davis said he also tracks other local businesses that have solar equipment, and said he’s found “surprisingly few” in the East Cobb area.
Davis, who also operates the Shiloh Veterinary Clinic in Kennesaw, follows solar production figures on a mobile phone app included his purchase of the panels. He familiarized himself with its features just in time to track the energy drop that came on the solar eclipse on Aug. 21.
The Montrose staff celebrated the event with a barbecue in the clinic’s back yard. Davis looked at his app, and noticed solar production was “basically was at zero” as the eclipse passed over Georgia on a bright, sunny afternoon.
Another tool Davis uses is Google’s Project Sunroof, which estimates available sunlight for a particular location.
As his new solar investment continues to evolve, tracking data like that will be helpful, not only because solar production generally falls in the winter months, but also because he’s considering buying panels for his other clinic.
