As a part of going green the University of Findlay has two student houses on West Foulke Street wired from alternative energy sources. Not only is this a learning process for students, but also is a money saver. During the storm on June 29th that knocked power out for thousands of homes in Ohio two sustainable houses were powered by the solar panels and a wind turbine during the power outage. Not only do they keep power going, the power meters rotate backwards showing the savings.
University of Findlay student Nathan Murphy said "right now during the summer they're just producing electricity and those houses are basically completely paid for electricity wise." The students say that this may be just the beginning and this is where the future is headed for power sources for homes. "We can't go forever on fossil fuels. Coal is dirty and everything else is bad. So I figure this is what the future industry is going to have to be. Houses are going to have them. Everything is getting more expensive, but yet these are going down in price." said Murphy.
Lukas Kromer who is in the masters program for environmental safety and health management said "in the United States here we have a lot of solar potential. Germany has far less than Ohio and they have multiple more solar power on every house on the countryside." The students say the solar panels will pay for themselves in five years and last a total of 30 years which gives 25 years of free use. They hope the sustainability houses start a trend. "This is a building block. It's an example. It's a theme house for a reason. To get people inspired to want to do something bigger and better on their own in the future." said Kromer. When students return in the fall it will be a competition to see who uses more energy. One house will have female students and other will be all males.
