Solar power: Entrepreneur touts energy-saving system

IF YOU GO:

- WHAT: Sundance Solar
- WHERE: 26762 Kornegay Rd. San Benito, TX 78586
- FOR MORE INFO: (956) 276-4444

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SAN BENITO - James Snavely went green long before the concept evolved into a popular movement.

"I've always been an energy conservationist activist so to speak," said the 56-year-old owner of Sundance Solar. "I think a lot of it is because of my parents. They went through the Great Depression."

The Great Depression instilled in his parents the importance of conserving energy, a principle they passed on to their son. He learned to turn off lights and spend cautiously. Now, with the United States plunging into a frightening recession, Snavely's solar systems can help others save energy as well.

"We do both for pools and domestic hot water," Snavely said. "Right now it's pool heating season so that's what I'm pushing. But in a conventional heating system, be it either electrical, or natural gas, or propane, it's very expensive to heat pool water. For the average residential pool owner, it's really cost prohibitive."

Although the initial cost of installing solar heating systems is higher than conventional systems, they are obviously worth the extra money. Got a pool? Snavely can install a solar heating system that will pay for itself many times over and save thousands of dollars in utility costs.

"Many pool owners that I know have conventional heaters, but they don't use them because once they get them and they fire it up and they get their pool water nice and warm, then comes the electric or gas bill, $400 or $500 a month," he said. "With solar power, once you have your up-front cost, there's actually no additional cost."

He took a call for a moment from a RV park that wanted him to install a solar heating system for its pool.

"We can save them $20,000 a year and the system will pay for itself in less than two years," he said.

But the Snavelys work hard at saving themselves money, too.

"We're about as green as you can get," he said. "We use CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs) in all of our appliances. We have a fairly new home that's extremely well insulated. It's very high efficient. All of our appliances are EPA and high-rated efficiency appliances. We have about a 2,000-square-foot home and the monthly utility bill runs about $100 a month. Unfortunately, I'm still driving a 15-year-old Pontiac."

He released a hearty laugh and declared, "That's how I conserve. I don't buy new cars. Everything we do, we try to be very careful, protecting the environment, saving energy costs. Part of it is from a social point of view, and a lot of it is selfish reasons because we don't like to spend a lot of money if we don't have to."

Snavely only opened the business about a year and a half ago; previously, he and his wife Cathy lived in Indiana. In their off time, they enjoy some of the Valley's "green" activities, including visits to the local wildlife refuges.

"Laguna Atascosa is probably my favorite," he said. "We like to go to the Island; we like to go to Mexico. I like to play golf. We like to do birding. We like to walk on the beach, and you know, go out to dinner and that sort of thing, just relax a little bit, get away from the everyday life. And then we enjoy going to Progreso once in a while, do a little shopping, have dinner down there. Kind of the usual Winter Texan stuff, but we're full-time residents."