Beware The Eco-Scams
The following is a guest post from KuleKat.
If you’re at all interested in environmental issues (and since you’re here reading this that’s probably a reasonable assumption) then doubtless you’ve seen claims that you could eliminate your electricity bills and even make money from the utility companies and that it’s so easy to do that anyone can do it – in fact a pensioner from Milwaukee did it just last week so it would appear.
Even if you’ve never so much as changed the batteries in a torch before, you too could be supplying your entire household electricity from solar panels and wind turbines in your back yard in just a few days from now. Not only that, but everything you need can be bought for next to nothing. In fact, the only upfront cost seems to be an eBook which guides you in great detail through all the necessary steps and all but guarantees success.
Better yet, for a very limited time there a special 75% discount and the price is ONLY $48.98 or $47.99 or $49.97 or something similar. But heck, there’s a money back warranty and loads of folk who’ve written testimonials about how they went off-grid over a weekend and it was real easy. There’s even a special bonus worth $59 all by itself for FREE!
Sounds great doesn’t it? Almost too good to be… Wait a minute, could this possibly be a scam? C’mon now… is Paris Hilton devoid of talent, charm and any plausible reason to continue drawing breath? Is Warren Beatty so vain he thinks *that song* really is about him? In the quest to put an end to experimenting on animals, is Simon Cowell the obvious alternative?
As Meg Ryan put it in “When Harry Met Sally” – Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!
What characterizes these odious sales pitches as total scams is the way in which they prey on ignorance, fear and greed. It is quite true that solar panels and/or wind turbines can dramatically reduce domestic energy costs (depending of course on specific circumstances) and there is some truth in the assertion that it is possible to self-build them.
Consider by way of analogy how airplanes allow you to escape the traffic and get to where you’re going much faster yet the theory and materials needed to build your own plane are relatively simple to obtain, especially if you scavenge parts from a scrapped plane. Likewise, you could build your own automobile for a lot less than two hundred bucks rather than the twenty thousand that Honda or whoever would charge you.
But the point is this – would you seriously want to actually fly or drive your DIY transport solution made from cobbled together parts and following a set of instructions you downloaded from the Internet? Even if you personally had no qualms about it, your insurer is likely to be a lot less sanguine, not to mention the relevant safety compliance and law enforcement agencies.
So how come, where previously you had to pay a qualified electrician to wire up your kitchen applicances, it’s now fine and dandy to hook the whole house up to your own mini power plant in the yard? Well it’s not – common sense ought to tell you this, but failing that your insurance company certainly will, as will your mortgage company, the guys who enforce the building codes and your electricity supplier (should you harbour fantasies of hooking up to their grid to sell electricity back to them).
The truth is, you really can save yourself oodles of spondulicks with solar and wind power but the best advice on building your own solar panels is don’t – pay for a quality system and get it professionally installed. It’s called an investment. All you’ll get if you fall for the self-build scam is a fifty buck sized hole in your bank account.
*that song*
Warren Beatty: “Let’s be honest. That song was about me.”
Carly Simon: “Warren certainly thought it was about him – he called me and said thanks for the song… The answer is on the new version of You’re So Vain.” (The name mentioned is in fact “David”)
So there you go, “You’re So Vain (You Probably Think This Song Is About You)” was not about Warren Beatty, however he was indeed so vain that he thought it was. Ironic huh? (Alanis Morissette take note).
KuleKat is interested in the defining features of our times (climate change, oil depletion, technology and so on) and what it all means and more importantly what WE as individuals can do about it.
Thanks for the great article. This is something people really have to consider when they are planning their estate. While it may seem like a quick answer to build solar panels yourself, you should be worried about quality for the long run.
Your estate is totally right, because it is going to take that long to start actually making money back on the systems that are out now. I have good friends in the solar and wind energy business. Wind is doing ok, but solar panels are still so far out of reach in terms of being cost effective. These energy systems takes thousands to set up, and that is something people have to keep in mind. You need tons of capital for set up and construction, battery cells, etc. Thanks for posting!
It is hard to beleive that there can be scammers even in the sphere of ecology! I think that ecological scammers are as cruel as medical scammers – they are playing with people’s lives!
Great post. I’m tired of seeing environmentalism being spoken of as little more than a talk point.
Well. I am really looking to replace comercial electricity at home, but it looks that we have to be careful with the “providers” of alternative sources of energy.
@ John
Soon we will be able to replace commercial electricity entirely, but untiil then we have to stay skeptical unfortunately.
It’s a shame that there are some many eco-scams out there. It makes it difficult to really do good things.
I really hope that one day technology can bring us to the point of where the “electricity bill” isn’t feared. The reason that the scams can be created is that the “big guy” is charging way too much, and that makes consumers desperate!!! TXU in my case, charges me $250 a month for a small 2 bedroom apartment. Great post very informative.
Scammers will try to make money on everything. Even if you put solar panels on every building, they will move on to some other idea. Only legal prosecution can stop them.
Carlene money is money and all in the world money runs.But i hope that the human mind to overcome greed
Yes…I have seen them. Next you know they’re going to be selling Nigerian organic soil!
@Stefanie: Great Post… thanks for this.
@Diana: Sure, i’ll agree with you.