The power company owes him

ST. PETERSBURG - What if, instead of writing a check to the power company every month, the power company had to write one to you?

A St. Petersburg man is counting on that happening by the end of this year because of the five-kilowatt solar system he put on his roof.

Pete Sabine lives in the historic Kenwood area of St. Pete, and you can't miss his house because it's as yellow as the sunshine.

And it generates his electricity.

"I make more power than I use. It supplies the whole house then I sell back my extra electricity to the power company everyday," he said.

Pete says his system makes more electricity than he needs everyday, even on cloudy days.

Progress Energy installed what's called a net meter that tracks how many kilowatts Sabine uses and the extra kilowatts he doesn't, which go right back to the power company.

Progress Energy engineer Jason Flynt, says five-kilowatt systems like Sabine's are still pretty rare, but they are seeing more of them all the time.

"As little as two years ago this was a one or two times a year type of system. Now it's a couple of times a week so it has definitely stepped up significantly," Flynt said.

The savings are significant too. Right now Sabine is paying $9.63 a month to Progress Energy, which is the connection charge plus fees and taxes.

So far this year, Progress Energy actually owes him. The day we visited him, he had a 721-kilowatt credit that he expects to keep on growing, even through air conditioning season.

Sabine's solar system wasn't inexpensive—nearly $20,000 after he applies to the state for an incentive program -- but he insists it makes sense for a lot of people.

"I'm not a rich person. I live off my retirement, which isn't a lot, so if I can do it, anybody can do it. Save some money. Have a little green savings account. Save your money. And every year do a little bit of something to change your house," he says.

Pete Sabine is eager to share what he has learned about solar power and other aspects of "green" living. You can e-mail him here: solarpowerpete@tampabay.rr.com